Intelligence Projects

[Black_Knyght]

How (and where do I look for it) can I get a given race to use intelligence projects?

[dogscoff]

You mean AI? I think they will just use whatever intel projects are available to them as soon as they have some intel points to spend. Unfortunately it doesn't always do them much good: They seem to select their projects pretty much at random, which means they waste a lot of points on espionage projects that yield information they don't know how to use.

Many mods split the intel projects into 'AI-friendly' (ie sabotage) and 'AI-unfriendly' (espionage) projects, then require a (very cheap) research level to access the unfriendly ones. By preventing AIs from researching this project you can prevent them from wasting their points, while giving human players the option to research and access all the different projects.

If anyone has any less vague information to add about AI use of intel, please do so: I'll review this thread later and wiki it.

[Black_Knyght]

<font color="red">'AI-friendly' (ie sabotage) and 'AI-unfriendly' (espionage) projects</font>

Wow - is there any more information available on HOW to get an AI to do this? I'm still learning all the specifics on how things do what.

[dogscoff]

Wow - is there any more information available on HOW to get an AI to do 'AI-friendly' and 'AI-unfriendly' projects?



Well, you'd have to edit intelprojects.txt and techarea.txt so that the sabotage-type projects require a "sabotage" tech area as well as the normal intel level, and the espionage-type projects require "espionage"+normal tech level.

For example, ship bomb might require research in intel level 1 as well as research in the sabotage tech. Food contamination might require intel2+sabotage. Emabassy taps would want intel2+espionage

Make the sabotage and espionage areas really really cheap to research- they are there for AI guidance, not to represent actual research work done.

Now tweak the Race_AI_Research.txt for each race so that the race WILL research sabotage but definitely will NOT research espionage. This way the AI will be able to use the sabotage projects, which will be effective. However it will not be able to waste points on espionage projects, which are utterly useless to it.

Human players, on the other hand, can research what they want and gain access to the entire intel tree.

Of course, if the AI comes across the espionage tech via trade or ruins or something, then it will go ahead and carry out espionage anyway, but there's not much you can do to stop that short of putzing about with racial techs, and it should be a pretty rare occurence anyway.

Lots of info about intel, (http://wiki.spaceempires.net/index.php/Intel_%28SEIV%29) including sabotage vs espionage.

[capnq]

dogscoff said:

Wow - is there any more information available on HOW to get an AI to do 'AI-friendly' and 'AI-unfriendly' projects?



Well, you'd have to edit intelprojects.txt and techarea.txt so that the sabotage-type projects require a "sabotage" tech area as well as the normal intel level, and the espionage-type projects require "espionage"+normal tech level.

You can save a lot of work by just adding an extra tech requirement to the projects the AI can't handle. Then you don't have to touch the AI research files at all.

[Atrocities]

You can save a lot of work by just adding an extra tech requirement to the projects the AI can't handle. Then you don't have to touch the AI research files at all.



The AI cannot handle more than one tech requirement when dealing with Intel projects?

So for example you have your Sabotage requirement, and say a racial trait requirement as well, will the AI not use this?

If this is the case it might explain why the AI in the STM don't use INTEL.

[Suicide Junkie]

The point is that the Intel ops the AI can't benefit from require an extra tech.

The AI is set up to not research that extra tech.
Thus, the AI dosen't use the intel ops it can't benefit from!

[Atrocities]

The problem that I am having is that none of my races are building any intel structures or doing any intel at all. I cannot seem to get them to build intel facilities. What could possibly be the problem. They have access to them, I have checked and they are listed as facilities the AI can build but simply won't.

[Suicide Junkie]

Well... what about the intel toggle in the game settings?

[Atrocities]

Suicide Junkie said:
Well... what about the intel toggle in the game settings?



Good suggestion, but no joy. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Atrocities]

Could it be a problem with the Construction Facilities file?

[PvK]

Yes, maybe the Construction Facilities file (which I think is the name of the one which lists what the AI will try to build on each type of colony).