Testing AI+Air Army trick

Hello

Inspired by my AI+Artillery research I decided to try something new with Air units.

You know how the AI likes to build the strongest of all units? I wanted to have an additional specialized bomber in my game that is stronger than the regular bomber, but best used against ground units.

I wanted the A-10 Warthog to take on that task. This is what I did and my tests are showing positive results so far:

1- I made the warthog stronger than the bomber on purpose but with lower range, so the AI would choose to build as its primary bomber, but I gave it the army flag, so that it is capped at some point and no more could be built. The A/D values are unavailable however the AI strat flags are intact, so the AI understands how to use it.

2- To specialize it different from the bomber I left the bomber with Deadly sea bombard, and gave the Warthug Deadly land bombard. It gets even better! Because the warthog doesnt have any A/D values it will instantly be shot down by naval forces with at least 1 point of AA if a strike is attempted vs them giving you the feel that its really a land based bomber. For the same reasons the warthog will not be able to damage fighters, but it has a chance to evade interception unlike the naval scenario, but if you were to get caught you would be downed for sure. They are very strong, but you will not be able to use them vs cities since their range is limited, and any AA will shut them down instantly (exept fighters).

3- The range is so short that The AI will be able to use them as intended, which is close combat against ground units. Since they are technically an army they will have a build limit, and then the AI should continue building the next most powerful bomber available (Bomber, Stealth Bomber)

I've tested from the human perspective and it works flawlessly. I gotta go to sleep, but when i wake up I will test if the absence of A/D values affects how the AI will build this units, and if it does I already got the fix for it.

The only issues I need to fix for real is that using the army flag requires you to mess with the unit's colors to turn it into an army color unit which is super hard to do for me for now, but this is looking seriously promising now!

I imagine you could do something similar with artillery, remove reg armies from the game since the AI sux at using them as they are. I think the Ai will be better off using them as I propose as 'normal' units, and instead turn the army limit into a logistic number which would allow you to build select unit combinations depending on the situation. As for the AI they might just build random stuff, but at least they will get to use armies for special units hehe.

I will finalize my testing after i wake up today 4/5/2015. Good morning already Its not even night time here anymore.

You know I just also realized this unit could be turned into a helicopter as well. Something the AI can use because even if its stronger than a regular bomber, so the AI could build it, it will cap at the army cap, then the AI will resume with the normal air build options.

iNTERESTING

UPDATE:

After testing even more im pleased to announce that the AI WILL build these and use them, and hit the army limit leaving them unable to build more for the moment.

Also I was wrong. This aircraft will bombard first any aircraft in the city and kill it before killing ground units (As long as there isnt a AA to ruin your day)

The Only disadvantage is since its an 'army' unit it will not consume movement points when bombarding roads and rails which means you could take out every road within your range in one turn with 1 unit. Thats why i also recommend low range to limit cheaters since the AI wont do this (I wish they did). It would be nice if a way to stop this could be found.

The last thing I need to test is if the AI will build a A=0, D=0, Bomb=50 Warthog army unit over a A=0, D=3, Bomb=25 Bomber. I wonder if it prefers bomb value over defense value for units flagged as bombers.

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Oops now that I think of it I dont think range would be much of an issue since its a 0attack-0defense unit it will get instantly shut down by any interception or AA, which also helps reinforce their role as an air support unit on the battlefield and not an air unit to take cities or bombard resources.

I see the AI armies pillaging lengths of roads/rails all the time, it will take out as many as it can each turn, it is frustrating when I'm trying to encroach on some territory while my neighbours are fighting and the are destroying all the roads before I can get my city built, AI armies will take out the whole length of road/rails in one turn before it attacks. They should do it with your air armies as well, I would think.

LATEST UPDATE:

It all works!!! The AI prefers warthogs over regular bombers, and after they cap their limit they begin building regular bombers.

This is amazing now I can add a specialized air bomber that the AI will use.

And Pounder that is awesome. My AIs will be more challenging now, since they sucked at using regular armies in my games till i gave armies this new unit.

Now all I got left is go learn how to change the palette of the unit to turn it into an army's. That actually is my biggest challenge. If i could just find a tutorial for dummies. I need a tutorial that doesnt assume i know anything, because in reality i dont know anything about graphics.

Now im working on giving 'Mobile Sams' the 'Intercept' flag, change whatever graphic is being used for interception to missiles only so it doesnt look odd, and I need to find a way to allow ground units to flag for 'Air Defense' if thats even possible, so the AI knows how to use them.