Strategy setting

[aegisx]

How do you get the AI to assign a certain strategy to a design type? Boarding Ships are assigned Optimal Firing Range (in BM), which makes them pretty useless.

[aegisx]

No where in the AI files is Sys_Set_Vehicle_Design_Strategy() set. It sets the Fleet strategy with the player preference though. I am guessing it is defaulting to Optimal? If this is true, is it even possible for the AI to invade a planet or do anything else other then run or optimal firing range?

[Phoenix-D]

Kwok probably just hasn't implemented that feature yet, since it was only added in the 1.33 patch.

[aegisx]

Oh, I did not realize it was a new function http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[aegisx]

Success...

Adding

set bool_res :=

Sys_Set_Vehicle_Design_Strategy(sys_long_player_id ,design_id,"Capture Enemy Ships")

to the designcreation file in the function Add_Required_Components_To_Design at the case statement for Boarding Ships changes the ship strategy to Capture Enemy Ships.

There is probably a better place to put it, I just put it there because a case statement was already there and it was called.

[Captain Kwok]

Yeah, it was on the v1.05 to-do list, but keeps getting pushed back. I'll improve the strategy choices for v1.07.

[aegisx]

Kwok, I added a case statement to Create_Design that assigns better strategies, want me to send the function to you?

[aegisx]

The next problem is the Fleet strategy overrides the ship strategy.

[Phoenix-D]

That's, uh, not a problem. Its how its supposed to work.

If you want ship strategies to take effect, have the ships Break Formation.

[aegisx]

The Capture Enemy Ships strategy has Break Formation Immediately set to TRUE...should that be the one that tells them to do it? Optimal Firing Range has that value set to True as well.

In order to get the Boarding Ships to work in the fleet, I had to set the Defensive Strategy to Capture Enemy Ships. Otherwise they always ran.

[Phoenix-D]

Yeah, that's it.

[aegisx]

Break Formation doesn't seem to work, as they both were set to True and the ships just run away.

[Phoenix-D]

Are they unarmed? If a ship doesn't see anything it can hurt, it'll always run away IIRC.

[aegisx]

They have PD but no weapons. Since they are using the Capture Enemy Ships strategy they should not be running.

[Captain Kwok]

PD doesn't count as a weapon, so the ships will still retreat.

[aegisx]

That is not what I am seeing.

A Boarding Ship (no weapons) with a Capture Enemy Ships strategy will not retreat. It attempts to capture the enemy. Works great.

If the same Boarding Ship is in a Fleet, it will always retreat UNLESS the Fleet has a Defensive strategy of Capture Enemy Ships.

[aegisx]

So I am guessing this is a bug.

[Captain Kwok]

Well I wouldn't call it a bug. Usually a fleet with capture ships should be set to capture. However, what happens when the fleet is set to break formation - the Boarding Ships should engage.

[aegisx]

Then thats the bug, as the Boarding Ships do not engage when the fleet is set to.

[Q]

What would be needed is an option in the fleet strategy like : break formation but keep fleet strategy for individual ships.
Another really annoying feature is that ships remain at the end position in the sector after combat and the next combat will start at this position. Warp point defense can be completely messed up by this. Again an option like "remain at position at end of combat" with true/false would be ideal.