So...the customers wont be cheated this time?

[Kristoffer O]

MStavros said:

!! You cant be serious Kristofer. I hope that you are just kidding, I mean what is the point in NOT fixing an AI?

Can't I
There are exactly seven points in NOT fixing the AI.
Three of them are PR related.
Three are secret.
Last tone has to do with strange cults and the orbital mind control lasers of the swedish 'Svärmöga', who sees it all.

Seriously though: there is no *point* in not fixing stuff. Fixing is good. That is why people do it from time to time.

[Oversway]

Both of these would be doable if the format for .trn and .2h files were released.

Perhaps the AI should be given some "recipes" that it seeks

Then Id like to see changes made which would heavily support 3rd party scripting. Im not much interested in Dom3 for multiplayer but Id be VERY interested if it got to the point that really involved scripts that made the host take hours to do a turn could be generated. That would turn the AI into something exciting.

I think the main concern is cheating, but you already can cheat even without the information.

I know others have asked for this, although I never saw an offical response. Perhaps there is some problem that I'm not aware of. The community could make some interesting AIs with this info.

[PhilD]

Oversway said:I think the main concern is cheating, but you already can cheat even without the information.

Cheating, as in "alter the world state", can be addressed by using a signature scheme on the .trn file. If the .trn file doesn't match its signature, then it means someone tampered with it.

Cheating, as in "peek at what other players can see", can be addressed by encrypting each nation's section of the .trn file (assuming there is one) with the nation's password. Leave an unpassworded section unencrypted.

But then, this would proabably require a complete overhaul of the game's turn files. It would be nice, though, to have the turn and order file formats open, so players could use their own external programs to help in their micromanagement (generate partial .2h files, like, or generate "report" files that tell them, say, where everything is and so on). Most likely, though, this will not happen until Dom4 or Dom5...