AI DEATH MATCH 2

[Rexxx]

Originally posted by Master Belisarius:
About the problem with the "Low Bonus", I have my own guess: think the AI doesn't consider the bonus to select the kind of colony.

I can confirm this. In recent test games (with AI bonus) my AIs quite freqeuntly didn't follow my calls in the planet_types-file. They built up mining colonies on planets with a mineral value from 50%-99%. After realizing that I switched off the bonus (setting the AI to human control) and found everytime that the minerals net production per turn had become negative.
I think you're right. The AI didn't take the bonus factor into account, the colonizing decisions are based on the "basic" not the "bonus" income.

BTW I'm quite sure that this safety device (overriding my colony calls) only takes place if the planet has a value of 50% or more. I never had an AI (no bonus and bonus games) using a planet with a min/org/rad value lesser than 50% as a mining/farming/refining colony. No matter how big its lack of resources was.

[Master Belisarius]

Originally posted by Rexxx:
I can confirm this. In recent test games (with AI bonus) my AIs quite freqeuntly didn't follow my calls in the planet_types-file. They built up mining colonies on planets with a mineral value from 50%-99%. After realizing that I switched off the bonus (setting the AI to human control) and found everytime that the minerals net production per turn had become negative.
I think you're right. The AI didn't take the bonus factor into account, the colonizing decisions are based on the "basic" not the "bonus" income.

Ok, thanks!

Originally posted by Rexxx:

BTW I'm quite sure that this safety device (overriding my colony calls) only takes place if the planet has a value of 50% or more. I never had an AI (no bonus and bonus games) using a planet with a min/org/rad value lesser than 50% as a mining/farming/refining colony. No matter how big its lack of resources was.

Good! Then it was fixed, because in the past, I saw the AI select a planet as Mining Colony, when the planet had 0% in Mineral!!!

[Mephisto]

I guess, the "overriding mechanism" is only invoked if the AI really has a negative income. As the EA has no negative income (the maintenance setting keeps it just above that) it will follow the Ai files (i.e. too few radioactive planets for this map). Well, you cannot create an AI for every map. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[Master Belisarius]

Originally posted by Mephisto:
I guess, the "overriding mechanism" is only invoked if the AI really has a negative income. As the EA has no negative income (the maintenance setting keeps it just above that) it will follow the Ai files (i.e. too few radioactive planets for this map). Well, you cannot create an AI for every map. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Thanks.
But it worked in the previous contest...
Don't understand how the low bonus can affect the AI.

[Mephisto]

Originally posted by Master Belisarius:
Thanks. But it worked in the previous contest... Don't understand how the low bonus can affect the AI.

With no boni the AI can quite easily run in a deficit by just adding 1 or 2 ships (or a large expensive ship like a star creator) because at least in the beginning you normal have just a surplus of round about 5k to 10k per mineral. In the bonus game, you don't hit the deficit quite as fast as you have at least 10k to 20k surplus. If the AI now adds a expensive ship, it will still have a surplus but will not another ship because of the maintenance threshold. In the no-boni game it will already have a deficit. It won't add another ship either but you are already loosing money from your storage and it will assign the next planet for the deficit resource.
The other problem is the “only 2 radioactive planets per system” setting as nearly all the good radioactive planets are in one system on this map. Nevertheless I think this setting is useful as it prevents the AI in a normal game to only build one type of colonies. Ok, I stop *****ing now.

[Master Belisarius]

Originally posted by Mephisto:
Ok, I stop *****ing now.

But still don't understand how a resource unbalance makes the AI to stop build ships... If this is as you said, it's a bug, not a feature.

At the turn 100 in the game Fazrah vs EA, the EA had this resource production: Minerals 475371, Organic 78489 and Radioactives 53580.
Why then, the AI should not build more ships?? Doesn't look very smart.
Now I'm running a game, then, can't test anything. But later will change a bit the EA vehicle_construction file, to see if they would like to build more ships.

[Mephisto]

Ok, I was a bit unclear. The AI does not stop building ships entirely. But when they come close to the maintenance limit, they will only put one or two ships into the build queue, "dancing around that limit”. If the AI loses a ship (and gain room to the maintenance limit) it will put one more ship into the queue. It takes around 5 turns to build one ship. It will not build another ship for 5 turns as it is (with production) now at the threshold. It's no bug at all, just an inefficient use of the resources.
Let's take these numbers: Minerals 475371, Organic 78489 and Radioactives 53580.

Assume that a ship costs 25k Minerals and 10k Radioactives.
The AI will only round about build 3 ships because this will set the radioactives to 20k and which point it hits the threshold. 400k minerals are not used.
If the AI had more radioactives and less minerals, it would build more ships and would efficiently used all resources. The EA AI has to few radioactive planets and therefore is wasting mineral production that would be used if the had somewhat less minerals and more radioactives.
You see, no bug at all, just something the AI is not doing very well (resource management). With nearly all the radioactive planets in one system, the EA AI has this problem more then some other AIs because it will only take 2 radioactive planets per system, wasting other minerals that are not used. Give them 2 more radioactive planets per system and they will use up their resource much more evenly. In fact I have dedicated only one more breathable planet of the EA for radioactive production on turn 110 of the Fazra-EA match and it changed to whole game for the EA. The game is still undecided in turn 130 but very even with a slight advantage for the EA at the moment.