A Better AI.

[Jimdigriz]

BetterAI Handicaps - where does this file go etc ?

 

[Pfeffersack]

BetterAI Handicaps - where does this file go etc ?

I can only tell you for the mod install...
put it inside of: .../Mods/BlakesAI/Assets/XML/GameInfo

(you need to create the XML- and GameInfo-folder manually)

 

[HardCoder]

BetterAI Handicaps - where does this file go etc ?

Hopefully it goes in the appropriate spot in CustomAssets, which is where I put it.

And in other news: ha ha ha ha ha!! Slippery Jim! Takes me back to high school!

 

[jonpfl]

All,

I tried using the DLL from this mod with the HOF mod and when I start a game, there is no interface and just the civ world. Has anyone got this to work with the HOF mod or is there a way to turn the interface back on?

Thx
jonpfl

 

[HardCoder]

All,

I tried using the DLL from this mod with the HOF mod and when I start a game, there is no interface and just the civ world. Has anyone got this to work with the HOF mod or is there a way to turn the interface back on?

Thx
jonpfl

It'd be nice if it worked, but as an aside, it doesn't make any sense to use BetterAI with HOF ....

 

[Elhoim]

Perhaps he is uses the HOF mod just for the mods themselves (which are inserted into the game in a nice way) but not for HOF competitions.

 

[Tyrole]

Blake - should you get to read this (the thread is definitely getting a bit long), I would like to sincerely thank you. I've been playing the Civilization series since the early days of the original Civ. After purchasing Civ3, however, I quit. I couldn't stand how terrible the AI was, and even worse, I couldn't stand that cheating for the computer was the only way the game creators had of making the game more challenging.

I bought Civ4, played it for awhile, and found these problems to be the same.

Your modification gives me new hope for reliving the countless hours of fun I used to have.

 

[Harrier]

Just won a comfortable victory. Comments: Zulu got two vassals and looked to be on his way to win a domination victory in the early game, but then somehow got stuck. He never declared war on anyone else (off his island/continent) and his power rating slumped. He also started falling behind in tech.

Napolen had twice the power of the 2nd civ and at least 5 times my power. Still he traded Aluminium to me and never attacked his much weaker neighbour, Roosevelt. I think, even if he was friendly/pleased with him, he should have taken him out.

In summary: Civs with very high relative power ratings need to declare war more often, even on friends.

What game level are you playing? As that can have an effect on the AI behaviour.

 

[Uncle_Joe]

After having played a few more game, I think the AI's unit over-spamming needs to be reigned in before we can get a clearer look at how well it will perform towards other victories.

Currently, if you leave the massive upgrade bonus in place, sure the AI is hard to beat, but it feels like its only because it gets to 'cheat' like hell on a HUGE expense. On the other hand, if you reduce the bonus to something more sane (like 50% as in the new Handicaps file), then the AIs are definately choking themselves with ungodly piles of obsolete trash.

On top of that, the AI's reluctance to attack non-neighbors really hurts the game IMO. On multiple occasions I see same-religion continents all 'Pleased' with each other, but still stock-piling massed armies. If they are all buddy-buddy and they arent going to attack the OTHER continent, then there is little need of massed armies. Personally, I'd like to see the AIs a bit more willing to carry out long-distances wars again. It might not be 'optimal' in some cases, but it keeps people honest unlike now where they can truly be ignored in their requests/demands/relations etc.

I think the AI will be VERY good indeed once this build is fully tweaked. But until then, its still overbuilding and stockpiling units even in games where there hasnt been a war in 100s of turns. And the reluctance to go into overseas wars makes the AI even more passive (and thus non-threatening despite possession of huge and costly armies).

 

[sveint]

What game level are you playing? As that can have an effect on the AI behaviour.

Monarch. Will try next game on Emperor when I have time. I was actually in a rough starting spot, isolated on an island with Montezuma.

 

[ori]

All,

I tried using the DLL from this mod with the HOF mod and when I start a game, there is no interface and just the civ world. Has anyone got this to work with the HOF mod or is there a way to turn the interface back on?

Thx
jonpfl

Since the HOF Mod comes complete with its own .dll you either have to exchange those and hope for the best (Some of it will work while other things won't...) or merge the .dll files which will require some work...

 

[Doomed_UK]

You are aware of the no bombard over cultural boundaries bug.

Could you please remove the drydock (or whatever it is called) from the list of govenor buildings to build.

Could you add in bunker and jail if the city can build them quickly (say less then 5 turns)

 

[Zuul]

Are you considering adding in Fort AI?

 

[HardCoder]

About the "new handicaps" - they might have put the difficulty levels back where they belong/used to be. It was getting pretty boring finding garrisons of 10 longbows a few turns after an opponent got feudalism. Now, I'm still seeing garrisons of up to 20, but they're not the latest and greatest.

 

[HardCoder]

I'm playing a Marathon Prince game on continents, tropical climate, and as 1500 came and went I was wondering, "where is everybody?" I had 5 civs on my continent and things under control, but I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Eventually Monty and KK show up from across the water ... and ... when I see the map there's more territory taken up by barbs than there is by the two AI civs.There are about 4 barb cities size 8+ filled with riflemen, grenadiers, cats, and such, and they divide the continent nearly in two. Meanwhile Monty and KK are barely out of the stone age. Monty is rock bottom on the list, about 1/2 as powerful as any other civ including my thoroughly beaten vassal HC, and KK is has just over 1/4 my score.

How the heck does this happen? Is something out of whack with barbs now? Are AI civs not able to defend themselves against barbs as well as before? I have found the barbs to be a little brainer, or at least I think so, and they can often eff you up if you aren't ready for them.

I could build some ships and "sail through" a domination win in this game, but I think I'll take one of Isabella's culture cities first just in case, since I'm 1-2 mil techs ahead of her and everyone else.

This is balanced the way that I think "Prince" ought to be. It was an uphill climb before the xml changes.

 

[HardCoder]

Could you please remove the drydock (or whatever it is called) from the list of govenor buildings to build.

I know people complain about the drydock because of its pollution, but it's a particularly important building. Perhaps the governor should only build it if the port is acceptably "clean" - say, if it would have a couple of health to spare after building a drydock.

 

[jonpfl]

Perhaps he is uses the HOF mod just for the mods themselves (which are inserted into the game in a nice way) but not for HOF competitions.

You are right, I am using the HOF mod for all the extras

 

[jonpfl]

Since the HOF Mod comes complete with its own .dll you either have to exchange those and hope for the best (Some of it will work while other things won't...) or merge the .dll files which will require some work...

Oh, I never thought about that. I will look into it and maybe merge them if I have time.

Thx

 

[Elhoim]

So it´s confirmed that there is a bug with bombarding? Any news on a fix? At least a quick one?

 

[Roland Johansen]

About the "new handicaps" - they might have put the difficulty levels back where they belong/used to be. It was getting pretty boring finding garrisons of 10 longbows a few turns after an opponent got feudalism. Now, I'm still seeing garrisons of up to 20, but they're not the latest and greatest.

I haven't played a full game with the latest betterAI mod and I don't think I will install the new handicaps. Especially not if they result in this kind of AI behaviour. You don't want AI's building new units while they don't upgrade their old units. 20 units not of the latest technology will do a bad job defending a city compared to 10 units of the latest technology level and they will cost a lot of money in upkeep.
Also upgrading old units is cheaper for the AI as building new ones. One costs gold and the other hammers, but the conversion factor of gold into hammers for upgrading is very good for the AI. Upgrading is cheap for the AI and a really attractive way to get strong up to date units. For humans it is a tough choise because upgrading is expensive, but for the AI it's cheap.

Another factor: when the AI immediately starts upgrading its units after a new technology, then it will see its power rating rise quickly and thus it might consider war against those that don't have that technology yet. In this way the AI can get a military advantage out of reaching a military technology first. That is definately something that would benefit the AI's military behaviour.

I'm in favour of the AI quickly changing its economy into an upgrading machine after researching a new military technology. Whether with the new handicap file or the old one, it's still beneficial to do it. With the new costs, it's more costly and it will take more time, but it's still worth it.