A Better AI.

[marioflag]

I would know if the modified dll of the mod can have some impact on starting position of civs.I have played 2 games with Better AI mod where me and another civ had settlers in adjacent tiles.This never happens to me playing without the mod active so i think it is due probably to the fact that i'm using a modified dll.
In the screenshot i'm playing as carthage, english settler had to found london one turn after, becuase he was inside my territory when Carthage was founded.Map options are Pangea,High Sea Level, Temperate Climate, 18 players, difficulty noble

 

[marioflag]

ok how to add the screenshot to the post?

 

[marioflag]

 

[kettyo]

I think the same way as Arlborn.
I don't see any major bugs in 2.08 related to Blake's imported fixes.
And you can see only a part of the Blake's improvements was taken to the patch.

And you probably know all civ versions have some bugs even major ones.
Even Civ1 still has bugs.
Every complex program have them.

 

[kettyo]

I would know if the modified dll of the mod can have some impact on starting position of civs.I have played 2 games with Better AI mod where me and another civ had settlers in adjacent tiles.This never happens to me playing without the mod active so i think it is due probably to the fact that i'm using a modified dll.
In the screenshot i'm playing as carthage, english settler had to found london one turn after, becuase he was inside my territory when Carthage was founded.Map options are Pangea,High Sea Level, Temperate Climate, 18 players, difficulty noble

I also had the same anomaly once.

 

[Arlborn]

Now THAT was a nice starting position, but I dont think it has something to do with Blake's AI..I think 0.o
And I didnt have any problem like that, already played 4 times(started 6 games actually) with his AI..

 

[Harrier]

@ToddHawks

Well I have played at least 2 games with 208 and 1 with blakes 11/17- 11/18 version with no game breaking problems.

Have you posted bug reports about all these problems you have had?

 

[Iustus]

- 0 gold for trade
With 18 civs, the typical thing is to see 10 civs with 0 gold, 5 with very small amounts and two with decent amounts.
This means I'll get raped even more on many tech deals, as the AI won't be able to add some gold to even the already biaised trade. Of course 100 gold traded can equal 200 research beakers, so this translates into another malus put on the human, not because of game/difficulty settings, but because of how the AI manage their economy.

-> Question is : Does the inability to add gold in trades hurt some AIs too between themselves, as without cash, they very well may miss many deals?

Actually, there was a bug I tracked down that was causing AIs to run 90% all the time (or think they were, even when it was later getting chopped lower because they were out of money).

This bug should be fixed in the 11/22 build, which should give the AIs more cash. There was an intentional change to will keep a bigger reserve which they will not trade, which 'hid' this other bug.

AIs will no longer run at 90% research virtually all the time, they go back to trying to keep their target gold amount, they are just willing to dip into that amount if the current tech can be finished before spending more than 2/3rds of their reserves.

The latest patch also has some big improvements on when the AIs decide to build financial buildings, so they should be much less likely to get into cash trouble. (In one game, I had 6 of 7 AIs all in financial trouble).

Are there any plans for more big changes to the AI??? The great changes so far make me hope for more.

There are still some changes coming. This is really a work in progress.

Every release so far has been what is classified as 'bleeding edge', or in software development parlance, alpha builds. Sometime somewhat soon, we will do a feature cutoff and release a beta, which will be beta 1.0. From that point, we will do only bugfixes on that line, while continuing development on the main line. Once all the bugs seem out, (or if none are reported for a couple weeks), we will call that release version 1.0. Any further fixes in that line will be 1.01, etc.

The next version with real features will be 1.1, and so on.

Versioned releases, with a version number, will be posted here on civ fanatics, and will get their own branch in the svn source code. The bleeding edge versions will always be built off the absolute latest, and will be available for download from sourceforge, and do not get a version number, only a date.

Hopefully this clears things up a bit.

-Iustus

 

[Powerslave]

I just finished a large, continents game with the latest AI. This is a noble game, with my workers mostly automated, saving trees. Obviously, I'm slaughtering the AI on Noble, but I'm playing more to watch the AI than to get a serious challenge. Also, it's fun to have double or triple the score of everyone else.

I ate up Gandhi's land relatively early, then annexed Tokugawa's land in the industrial age. So, I've got just about three empires worth of land (I think Brennus might have conquered one or two cities before I could). I also had Brennus as a peace-time vassal, which isn't really important.

Seeing as how I didn't even conquer my own continent fully (Brennus and Ramses were still alive), I might have expected someone to equal my stats. Unfortunately, I don't think the AI did too well.

I noticed a lot of farming, still. I think maybe that the AI workers need to make more cottages and workshops, and less farms. I even had to stop an automated worker from making a farm on a town! I double-checked to make sure that "preserve old improvements" was checked, too. Maybe he was simply a bit too over-eager.

Anyways, the AI is playing well, but it needs to be a little more aggressive, I think. Also, it should probably try to prioritize Currency, Metal Casting, Assembly Line, and Industrialism. They need the help of those markets, forges, workshops, and factories. Never hurts to have aluminum, either.

Oh, I almost forgot: I bribed Tokugawa into attacking Ramses, then did a sneak attack on Tokugawa. He should have settled with Ramses, then concentrated on me. I took advantage of the fact that his armies were much further north than our shared border. Also, Tokugawa didn't have enough units to properly defend his cities.

 

[kettyo]

In my current game with 11/22 build it seems AI-AI relations are more reasonable than before.
There are much more annoyed and even furious relations developing easily which is great.
In my home continent Brennus and Asoka are annoyed with each other.
Asoka is more advanced and Brennus has more troops.
I think there should be a war but until now there isn't.
Maybe Asoka's technology edge scares Brennus off?
Also Brennus has 4 cities while Asoka has 7 but as i see Brennus's army could take 2 cities in an initial strike.
I can bribe Brennus to attack Asoka though. But by his own decision he still not attacked.
I shall post a save later to check this out.

Ps: Asoka leads the culture race very much. He must be aiming for culture victory

 

[Mutineer]

I would know if the modified dll of the mod can have some impact on starting position of civs.I have played 2 games with Better AI mod where me and another civ had settlers in adjacent tiles.This never happens to me playing without the mod active so i think it is due probably to the fact that i'm using a modified dll.

That has no connection with AI mod.

I had the same situation in one couple 1.61 native games.

I believe in some maps AI do not take wrap around in account correctly and think cities are on other side of the word, but because of wrap in reality they are next to each other.

 

[kettyo]

This is the save i talked about.
Look how much troops Brennus has in the capital Bibracte and also has quite some in Vienne.
Asoka's army is very weak (though in technonogy he is more advanced than Brennus).
They are annoyed to each other.
I think Brennus should attack at once but he doesn't.
In the long run it will be just worse for him.

I would cerainly start an immediate move on Madras in his place.

Also worth to see the culture graph how powerful Asoka is culture-wise.

 

[DevilJin]

Do financal leaders build more cottages ?

 

[Arlborn]

Do financal leaders build more cottages ?

Every leader builds as more cottage as they can! It all depends of their terrain I saw! If they have grasslands and rivers, they will cottage spam with 1 or 2 famrs here or there! At least that is what I saw in late game hehe

 

[Arlborn]

My city was defended by 2 infantaries with city garrison 2, 1 marine also with CG2 and other 2 Marines, a tank and 2 cavalaries..


Look the number of Tebruchets in this stack. 22, not normal.




Look that:




Now WTH?




Conclusion? Tebruchets are WAY overpowered. And AI by Blake = scary.

 

[Elhoim]

Wow!

A backwards army kicked your ***!!

That´s amazing!

 

[Arlborn]

Wow!

A backwards army kicked your ***!!

That´s amazing!

For you maybe, for me it was a shock!

Never saw the AI using siege weapons so effectvely! Congratulations Blake!

 

[Arlborn]

Kettyo: In your game, if you are not carefull, Asoka prob wins a cultural victory hehe. But if Brennus attack him, he gets owned and is no longer a problem, I suppose you must try it(I did). And I dont know if you know, but Isabella will declare war on you I think! I played like 10 turns, and she demanded something, I refused and she changed for vassalage heh
I suggest start to buy military and also convince Brennus to atack Asoka if you want ot win! And attack togheter, you can get some nice cities from him Just keep your cities defended because Isabella WILL attack heh..

 

[kettyo]

Conclusion? Tebruchets are WAY overpowered. And AI by Blake = scary.

Not at all.
Trebs strenght is 4 with 100% bonus when attacking city.
It's not overpowered at all.
Cannons are strength 12 so without any bonuses they would slaughter your forces even much more.

CONCLUSION: If you see 22 trebs with defensive support closing in your city then GET THE HELL OUT OF IT

It's so simple and the same applies to cannons and all siege weapons.
If you can't muster a powerful counter-stack then you better leave.
If facing a lot of trebs it's probably better scatter to good defensive terrain (forest/hills etc.) that way the trebs lose their city attack bonus and YOU'll get a lot against them.
Shaka only had 1 knight and 1 musketman as normal attacker units. Good defensive terrain was a bit far that's true but even being in an open ground is better then in a recently captured city (no defensive bonus) when facing trebs.

This was tactically the worst possible setup for you.

BTW that's THEIR capital why you wonder they kicked you out so ferociously?

I hated in Civ3 that cities were too powerful strongholds in war especially they gave too much air cover by themselves (even a 1 pop fresh city).
In this aspect the Civ4 system is much better.
Sometimes it's even better to fight outside the city

 

[Arlborn]

Since when you will see a Treb in real life kick the butts of some tanks, infantaries and Marines? And dont forget the cavalry!! >.<

And I didnt see that it was 22 trebs! Only after I was already there and and..Ah well

And yes, Trebs are too overpowered! Man, thgey can kick butts so badly, a medieval defensive force even if equal in number didnt have much of a chance out there!