[NFP] [1.0.2.39] AI often not improving ressources over long time

[Pfeffersack]

This is not the kind of issue, where one can clearly proof there is bug at work...but it is very glaring that for some reasons AI often leave ressources in their territory unimproved for dozends, if not hundred of turns.

AI neighbour Canada at the begin of T241:

...and ten turns before:

As you see in the 1st pic, they have workers running around and no one is threatening them currently. For the strategic ressources, lacking tech could be a factor - but all that unimproved incense? Perhaps storms have destroyed plantations in the past - but why do they rebuilt then everything else, but not that important luxury plantations?

To reproduce with the attached saves:

Investigate the unimproved ressources in Canadas territory and what the AI logic "thinks" about them. Feel free to ask for an earlier save if needed - I have saved plenty times in that game.

 

[ggalindo001]

I am seeing this all over the place ever since the last patch. I have seen unimproved niter, iron, horse, stone as well as many other bonus resources.

The issue is not builders either, they are running around.

I wonder if the AI is "holding them back" to harvest them -- but even in late game, they aren't being used. It really cripples the AI from both a production and a resource perspective. I'm hoping this will get addressed by Firaxis in a fix soon.

 

[bbufa]

It really cripples the AI from both a production and a resource perspective.

I play deity & disaster lv4 and see "not improving tiles" make AI harder, deity AI get tons of buff (especially x100% production), they don't build improvements and still get great yields & don't have to replace improvements every few turns. Human players tend to build more improvements, when disaster occurs, lots of improvements are destroyed.
I feel it's an hidden buff for AI because the more effort human player put on building his empire, the more punishment he get from natural disasters.

 

[Pfeffersack]

I play deity & disaster lv4 and see "not improving tiles" make AI harder, deity AI get tons of buff (especially x100% production), they don't build improvements and still get great yields & don't have to replace improvements every few turns. Human players tend to build more improvements, when disaster occurs, lots of improvements are destroyed.
I feel it's an hidden buff for AI because the more effort human player put on building his empire, the more punishment he get from natural disasters.

I doubt the saved builder charges for the destroyed improvements (and not always all of them get destroyed - most of the time they just get pillaged and can be repaired for free) make up for the missed out extra turn yields, the amenities from luxuries and especially the lack of strategic ressources (which leads to outdated units, combat penalties and energy shortages costing them further yields). So I neither think that this is intended nor that it benefits the AI - whats e.g. the point in not improving your precious Aluminium ressources with a mine, instead keeping a farm there? It is surely not that Wilfried Laurier is drowning in Aluminium. Or take the Spices and the Incense - has WL really that many luxuries that leaving them unimproved is a good idea?

The following pic are more than 150 turns later than than those of the OP...

Spoiler :

 

[ggalindo001]

I've run three games with the Ethiopia patch in full AI autoplay to look at build behavior.

There are my broad observations.

1. I have only seen one instance where copper has been improved and only very rarely will improve stone. Many cases of aluminum, niter and coal going unimproved (in some cases, under a farm, but in most cases, without anything on the territory).

2. The AI builder improvments appears to be better than pre Ethiopia patch -- but still too many examples where there are two horse next to each other, one improved, the other not. I honestly don't know if there is a desire not to improve every resource for later harvesting, or if the AI just gets inherent bonuses and just don't need to do it.

3. City states since the patch appear to do a better job improving their limited strategic resources (horse, iron, coal, niter)

4. Worker logic appears to be very weird. I have seen workers run all across 9 or 10 hexes to get one resource, then go 9 or 10 hexes back to get another resource (when they could have got that second resource first).

5. Logic for plantations appear solid - not seeing many instances of the AI not improving plantation related items.

6. AI still loves to spam farms even well away from water. Almost a prioritization of workers to farm everything first,.

I just don't remember any of this erratic behavior pre NFP.

Bottom line, IMO there has been improvement in the Ethiopia patch, but it is still irregular.