Note from MM - AI MODDERS MUST READ THIS

[jpinard]

I'll be sending the suggestions tomorrow evening EST (Sunday). In the meantime, if you have fixed specific AI problems - SEND THE FILES TO ME:

jpinard@home.com

This will greatly aid the speed in which MM can develop and deploy the fixes. The more REAL examples we can SHOW them, the easier the fixes will come. Thanks.

[Jubala]

Just remembered a couple more.

The AI is too scraphappy. Why not mothball for later use? When production file calls for something check if it exists but is mothabelled and unmothball it if does.

It also scraps still useful ships to build bigger ships instead of keeping the smaller ships around and retrofitting them to keep up with technology.

I don't know if the AI retrofits at all, but if it does (haven't seen it), it doesn't do it enough as I often see AI fleets with a few brand spanking new ships and a bunch of old buckets of rust. If all ships (or a majority) had been upgraded to the latest and greatest it could have stood a chance in defeating me.

It also needs to build more storage facilities to store the resources it generates so it can upgrade ships and bases.

It also needs to get rid of old weapon platforms and build new ones either by spacing them or moving them to a big planet with lots of cargo space where they are not in the way. Best would be if we could scrap units to get resources back. The AI likes to scrap so that would be good. It often has alot of very old weapon platforms on it's planets late in the game that can't even fire at the enemy. Give them extra range like bases. To sats too but not as much.

Repair Ships. The AI needs to use repair ships. Badly.

Strategic combat AI when it comes to boarding. Boarding just doesn't work unless you control the boarding ships yourself. Even if you arm the boarding ships with shield busting weapons they hang way back from the action and only moves in when an enemy ships shields are down. Problem is 99 times out of a 100 that ship is destroyed before they get there which means they will move back out of range. I tend to build armed boarding ships that can take alot of beating capable of knocking down shields, not always with shield busting weapons (don't have them yet). They work perfectly in tactical when I can control them myself but in strategic they do ****. Even against an unarmed freighter with shields they are impotent in strategic. If armed they need to get in there and pound away and if not they need to designate a target ship for boarding (decided in strategy, highest tech, strongest, whatever (I'd like to be able to specify specific known enemy designs)) and when the shields of ships flagged for boarding are down the rest of the fleet should stop shooting at it. Both if the boarder is armed and helps bring the shields down or is unarmed and hangs back until they are down. And they should start moving in before the shields are down so the enemy ship doesn't fly around shooting for too long before it is boarded. Related: Self Destruct Device should not work if ship has no engines left (description says it overloads the engines. change desc. or function). Also, it should not automatically destroy the boarding ship. Way to powerful (10kT instnatly destroys ship some distance away, 50kT ramming charge doesn't automatically destroy ship upon contact at high speed?). Random amount of damage between a set min and max, yes, but not instant destruction imo.

That's it for now. Will undoubtedly come up with more.

[Eisenhans]

Hey anyone read Barnacle Bill's remarks? I like all of his ideas! We need that!
Barnacle Bill!
Thanks for your comments in the mines thread too. I'll think about an answer as soon as I find time.(Might need some days though)

[Trachmyr]

Three more issues with how designcreation.txt works...

1) Min/Desired Speed is currently the number of engines a ship is to be built with... this needs to be changed to the actual speed achieved (so we can actualy use the ENGINES PER MOVE field)

2) When the AI tries to fill a requirement (i.e., cargo or supply) it looks for the componet with the biggest amount regardless of the componets mass... change this so that it looks at the ratio (for Instance, say I want to make colonizers hold 200 tons of cargo, but then when the AI is to place cargo room it would rather use Colony modules which would weigh 1 ton per ton storage, than cargo bays which get 7.5 tons storage per ton of weight)

3) The AI will not correctly use componets/facilities that satisfy multiple requirements.... Say for instance I wanted to make all spaceports also be able to resupply, or to create an improved crew quaters that also provides lifesupport... but in both cases the AI will build TWO of those facilities, one to satisfy each requirement, rather than just one to satisfy both requirements.

Additionaly, I too would like to see the AI scrap facilities to allow for better ones... place an additional field for these that tells the AI WHAT to scrap to make room for this fac when it is available but no room is left. (Example: On a Mining Colony, add the field to Robominers that tells it to scrap one mineral miner facility to make room for the robominer if there is nno room available when robominers become available)


On a final note I NEED the ability to limit componets to ships of certain tonnages, this can be done one of three ways:
1) Min Tonnage/Max Tonnage fields in componets.txt
2) allow us to put "%" after componets tonnage... this would raise a flag that tells the game that this componet weigs x% of the max of the vessel (also the structure, cost and supplies use could also have the %, which means that that would be the value per 100 tons of COMPONET weight)
3) Get the custom Groups and requirements fiels in vechiclesize.txt working
(I prefer that you implement #1 and #2)

Lastly, add a SUPPLIES DRAINED field to componets, so that componet would ALWAYS use x amount of supplies at the beggining of every turn (before resupply), and if supplies are not available the componet becomes damaged

Thanks MM for the support...

[Talenn]

Well, as far as AI and modding goes...I'd really like to see the ability to add more ship types to the Construction Queue instead of only 'Attack Ship' and 'Defense Ship' etc. Same goes for units.

I want to be able to add 'AA ship' and 'Torpedo Ship' or whatever is appropriate. This should allow modders to flesh out the AIs fleet designs a little bit more intelligently..

Also, add another BIG vote for combat initiative or else an attack or defender ALWAYS goes first system.

I'm sure there will be more, but I think the earlier Posts cover most of the rest.

Thanx,
Talenn

[Mac]

1)The AI doesn't handle minefields or black holes well.

2)Does the AI use the race AI's of the Default, if so, when?

3)The AI doesn't upgrade with a number but rather a new name. As mentioned, names.txt have to be alot bigger if this is going to continue.

[Atrocities]

Talenn, You can. Just edit the Data files and add what you want. I did.