Screenshot of the Day #42: Oil

Thunderfall

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Sometimes I wonder why the AIs bother to trade maps, when they already know the entire map at the beginning of the game...

Why would China settle on this island, Refining is far away in future. There are plenty better spots to settle. but they decided to settle on 100% icy island. Because they know oil will come. (Warlord level)

http://www.civfanatics.com/sotd/sotd42.jpg

Oh well, at least the AIs pretend they don't know the map and are willing to pay big bucks for your map. :crazyeye: Thanks to Civddict for the submission.
 
LOL...insane cheating AI!!!

But as long as they still pay for the map :D
 
TF, you just opened up that can of worms again. We're going to hear people b*tching about how the AI cheats and they can't win but the refuse to use the editor or go to a lower level.

LOL, ohwell, if you didn't post it someone else would have brought it up again. :)

But i have to admit, i like the fact the AI pretends it doesn't know the map.
 
I often settle these islands early in games, too. I "know" from experience that there will be oil on a few of them. One could equip the AI with a farely simple neural net that lets it recognize which terrain is likely to have which resource...but the easiest thing to do is just to let the AI know.

So, my point is, unless you can prevent the human player from "cheating" in this case, you must allow the AI the same advantage.
 
Originally posted by Copernicus
So, my point is, unless you can prevent the human player from "cheating" in this case, you must allow the AI the same advantage.

It's not quite "the same" advantage because tundra islands are not 100% certain to have oil. However, you are correct that these small tundra islands seem much more likely to have oil than tundra on a continent. Some rule that the map generator follows I guess. Does the AI settle small tundra islands that do not have a useful resource?

Marines may be useful after all.... :)
 
Wrong Thunderfall - they will pay big bucks for your map only if they don't somehow already "know" that they know more than you! I have often encountered new civs who have met others who know me and had them laugh at attempts to sell my map. The AI instinctively knows alot more about the player than the player does about them. I would get upset about it but I almost always seem able to beat the AI!
 
There is a difference between knowing the map and knowing the units and resources on the uncovered portion of the map.

The AI doesn't know the map in the beginning of the game. But when it uncovers the map by exploring and trading, it always knows the resources and units in the part which is non-black.

So, selling the map to the AI is actually valuable to him, since he can now see resources that he couldn't otherwise see.
 
Doesn't really matter that China built a city on oil in this case. The AI will never bother to build a harbor or airport in that city. They won't bother to build any culture either. Just a cold frigid lifeless island with some black stuff oozing out of the ground.
 
Originally posted by Copernicus
I often settle these islands early in games, too. I "know" from experience that there will be oil on a few of them. One could equip the AI with a farely simple neural net that lets it recognize which terrain is likely to have which resource...but the easiest thing to do is just to let the AI know.

You don't even need a neural net - you could just let the AI know the probability of oil appearing on each tile type (without completely giving away its precise future location).

It would be interesting to apply NN's to some aspects of the game, though; for example, the probability of a human attacking the AI in the near future. With the following inputs, a NN should be able to predict with high accuracy whether or not a human will attack it soon:

* espionage in 1-2 of the human's production cities -- are military units being produced, and if so, of what type?
* troop movements along the border (especially cannon & artillery)
* are there trade agreements between the AI and the human, and if so, will they expire soon?

If the output of the NN exceeds a certain value, the AI can attempt to defend against the human threat, by, e.g., staging a pre-emptive strike before the human is ready, or signing a mutual-protection pact with another AI.
 
Originally posted by Furry Spatula
TF, you just opened up that can of worms again. We're going to hear people b*tching about how the AI cheats and they can't win but the refuse to use the editor or go to a lower level.

LOL, ohwell, if you didn't post it someone else would have brought it up again. :)

But i have to admit, i like the fact the AI pretends it doesn't know the map.

The AI never cheats, it is simply designed to behave in a certain manner depending on the input into its variables. If it subroutines accept too much input (i.e. information on future resources) then the computer which has no emotions :scan: is not cheating... it was simply designed poorly.

Now can we go back to the bad design/too many bugs argument? :D
 
Im going to mention something that frequently happens and indicates that the AI is very much cheating.
In wartime I usually defend all of my cities but not always, I sometimes when in a tough fight leave cities far away from the front with no defenders, because the units are needed on the front. Then the AI goes into much trouble to advance to those cities leaving ill defended cities much closer to the front alone. Note: This is often BEFORE espionage and therefor that can not be the explanation for this phoenomenon.
 
then AI cheat engine is simple: I wonder why nobody figured that out (maybe because it is not true :D) : AI uses espionage tools even if they are not available yet.
 
What really annoys me is when during the initial land grab phase of the game, I create an outer perimiter of cities and the AI miracously slips into the centre to build a city. How can the AI move so many squares so fast? Also, it isn't funny how an AI settler moves 1 square (no road), and plomps a city on the same turn (right next to one of my fortified units). Hellooooo. We humans need 2 turns to do the same thing.
 
You should check the complete cheat guide thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27273&highlight=complete+cheat+guide

Basically, the AI cheats by having more information than the human player. It knows where resources will pop up when they become avaliable, it knows where you have all your units etc.

But the AI units don't cheat at all, they follow exactly the same rules as the human units. What smallstepforman describes must be something that he has overlooked - as the AI settlers follow the same rules as the human settlers. If you're sure about this mallstepforman, I would really like a save game, or at least two snapshots - before and after the AI turn.
 
I've also seen that the AI will plop down a city anywhere there's land. Even if there were no resources there, it's land with no one else on it.
 
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