SE4 - A question of behaviour...

[Black_Knyght]

I'm trying to determine something about the ways an empire will behave.

Here's my train of thought and the question of it - when I play an empire of my own for a time, and save said empire - SEIV asks me if I want to save my designs as well. This is good, but now has me curious as to behaviour. If I started another game, using a completely different empire of my own but adding the other one as one of the enemy/other empires, will it pursue the same research and behaviour I used in it, or will it revert to the research and behaviour of it's original associated AI?

[dogscoff]

It will follow its AI files. The saved designs are not used by the AI- they are there for you to use if you play that empire again in your next game.

[Black_Knyght]

How, if at all, could I get an empire to follow what I had it do?

[dogscoff]

The only way to do so would be by modding the AI files. You could probably get a close approximation of your ship-design and fleet-makeup preferences with skillful manipulation of the research and ship-design AI files, but getting it to behave like a human player in any other way would be... challenging.

[Fyron]

Further, the AI will never use any design saved in the empire file; it will obsolete all of them on the first turn, replacing them with it's own. All PBW players have experienced the joys of this after missing a turn. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Black_Knyght]

Rats - I was hoping for something else here. I didn't expect it to act like a human player, but I would've prefered it followed the same "Basic Idea" I'd set down as it's theme.

Something along the lines of getting...say the Andorians... to be a drone building race, or ... the Sallega ... as heavy fighter users. That kind of thing.

[dogscoff]

Designing a race that favours certain weapons isn't a problem - just look at the stock terrans, for example, who use lots of missiles an fighters...

(Of course, I say "isn't a problem" like I have some sort of experience with AI modding. Never tried it myslef, but I have a pretty good idea of what's possible and what isn't.)

[Fyron]

It isn't much effort; just fiddle with a few weapon family settings in DesignCreation, change the techs from the old weapons to the new ones in Research file.

[Parasite]

The trick to making better AIs than exist now is to have them design and build ships based on what they are fighting. I.E. Use more PD if fighting a fighter missile set of ships... Stop using missles if the other guy has or gets PD levels high... Make more Rad miners if you are short of Rads, or will be short in the future... Those are the If/Than questions an AI needs to be able to ask and answer if it is to play a better game.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong...

[Fyron]

Which is completely impossible in SE4.

[StarShadow]

Not completely, IIRC the AIs would build more miners if they were running low, they just didn't care where they built them. Adaptive ship design however, was/is completely impossible for the AI in SEIV.

[Black_Knyght]

I'm not so much looking for the AI to build MY design, as I am trying to stick with a specifically themed design pattern.

Is this possible, and if so how?

I am only recently attempting to mod here, and I'm still splashing around in very murky waters. Any helpful info and data here would be GREATLY appreciated.

[Fyron]

As noted earlier, the AI will use whatever designs you put in DesignCreation for that race. Make sure they research appropriate techs in the Research file.