[.95] The AI

from Elemental Forums


This thread is dedicated to improving the FE AI. While the AI is actually fairly intelligent and challenging it still has more then a few quirks. If these quirks are removed then I believe that most players will have a very hard time dealing with high level AIs. Here is a list of known faults with the AI.

Strategic

-AI still occasionally leaves unguarded goodie huts.

-The AI will place it's stacks within the movement range of my tougher stacks. The AI should be able to tell when it has no chance of victory and retreat to regroup. There is no reason the AI should be placing pioneers or small groups of troops within 2-3 tile of my huge army. Discretion is the better part of valor. Do not enter the movement ranges of superior forces, the end.

- Sometimes it will build up multiple max size armies that are mostly full of weak troops like darklings. If facing a tough stack the AI needs to combine it's tough units into one stack and forget the weak units.

-The still AI frequently sends out champions alone, even sending them against cities when there are troops nearby.

The AI right now is very wasteful. If the AI were to stop feeding me and actually build up a tough stack I would be in a lot of trouble. However I can abuse it's inability to concentrate it's forces or retreat in order to build up some extremely high level units. If I survive long enough to build up a tough stack the AI will just keep sending in small groups of units with no chance of victory.  If the AI could just realize when it is out-powered and regroup it would make a huge huge difference. Right now it just lacks the killing power to be a real threat.

-The AI frequently does not get Cooperation and increased unit sizes quickly enough. Currently in the xml it has a low priority and no war multiplier. Changing the priority to 100 and at war multiplier to 5 is a simple fix.

-For some reason some AI's don't research Leatherworking.

 

Tactical

- The whole not letting the player always get the first turn thing is bugged and not working. The AI is acting in ways that make no sense, like only moving one space multiple turns in a row. It still even lets me get first strike even with units with much higher movement then me!

2,993 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

You realize that Brad knows all this, but has to write all the tedious and book-long AI rules, which takes a great deal of time?

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Glazunov1, reply 1
You realize that Brad knows all this, but has to write all the tedious and book-long AI rules, which takes a great deal of time?
End of Glazunov1's quote

While it's true, we provide feedback anyway. What if he don't know, or didn't notice some of it?

For example, unit moving one tile/turn instead of charging is different from 0.915. While I am sure that it happens because of a code change, you never know what might skip his eyes...

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

I will say that the AI is still easy to exploit in tactical battles, but it is not as easy to exploit as it was in Beta 3. I know this AI personally and it has gotten much smarter than in previous versions. I especially like that armies set into a formation and designate a flanking unit. Of course sometimes they designate the wrong unit, but I see what it is trying to do.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

I'd also like to suggest a change into how might is calculated. Maybe if a particular force continues winning against stronger rated forces, its own might rating could increase?

I think this would be great for the player who favors small land gains and one or two mega-stacks over more traditionally militaristic strategies. Also, for someone focused in winning through magic, this seems like the best way to calculate might.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Tactical

- The whole not letting the player always get the first turn thing is bugged and not working. The AI is acting in ways that make no sense, like only moving one space multiple turns in a row. It still even lets me get first strike even with units with much higher movement then me!
End of quote

I was just about to create a post about this but see you've beaten me to it.  I appreciate what the AI is trying to do, but it doesn't seem to work out so well in practice.  For example, the AI's behavior makes it very easy now to take even heavily guarded cities.  The AI is so hesitant to close with me, I can just keep my units back and blast the city defenders with direct damage spells like Fireball and Flame Dart (being sure to pick off any archers first).  By the time I run out of mana or the AI finally closes to melee range, the enemy units are severely damaged and it's easy to finish them off.

I would suggest that the AI should make a decision about when to try for first strike and when it should just charge as fast as it can. It should evaluate what spells I have and whether or not I have any ranged units with bows or magic staves.  If I have a decent ability to deal damage from afar, then the AI should forget about hanging back for first strike and just charge me as quickly as it can.  If I can't damage the AI from a distance, then it knows I need to close to melee range, and then it's worthwhile trying for first strike.

The AI needs to adapt its strategy depending on the circumstances.  It's not good for it to always do the same thing in every battle.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Dorkopotamis, reply 5
I'd also like to suggest a change into how might is calculated. Maybe if a particular force continues winning against stronger rated forces, its own might rating could increase?
End of Dorkopotamis's quote

This is a real issue as well. I routinely destroy armies with much higher threat ratings then me even without magic use. Obviously the whole threat ratings thing needs tweaked. Sometimes it is obvious to me that my army is much tougher even though it has a lower threat level.

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 3
I will say that the AI is still easy to exploit in tactical battles, but it is not as easy to exploit as it was in Beta 3. I know this AI personally and it has gotten much smarter than in previous versions. I especially like that armies set into a formation and designate a flanking unit. Of course sometimes they designate the wrong unit, but I see what it is trying to do.
End of seanw3's quote

Its looking really good, and I can only help but think he will work atleast just a tiny but more with it.

This new AI behavior... I think it made the tactical combat way more interesting.

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Updated.

 

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

I am noticing that the new AI only works for some units. Things like Obsidian Golems were better off using the old rush tactics since stopping short allows me to game its low initiative. I would like to see big slow units have a completely different plan of attack from normal units.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 10
I am noticing that the new AI only works for some units. Things like Obsidian Golems were better off using the old rush tactics since stopping short allows me to game its low initiative. I would like to see big slow units have a completely different plan of attack from normal units.
End of seanw3's quote

I find the whole system to be so buggy right now that critiquing individual parts is kinda pointless. I think we will just have to wait until the AI can at least do the simple stuff right first.