(Constructive!!!) AI Suggestion Box

[sumthinelse]

Originally posted by Sirp

What I mean is this: early on, when the AI has say, two cities, and it is working out what to build next, it is choosing our of a settler and a worker. It should be able to say "now if I go for a settler, it will be complete in x turns, will be able to get over to that square in y turns, and build a city; in 20 turns time, the productivity of the settler will be xyz. If I go for a worker, it will be complete in n turns, will be able to build that road there, mine there, and will increase production for the city which will then be able to build a settler in m turns" and thus weigh up the different options. I don't think it does anything like this at the moment...

I think you are correct. The best it can do is probably the same evaluation function (in the human city display) that calculates when a city improvement will be complete without adding the extra shields when the pop. increases.

Thanks for your ideas.

 

[Doc Mahem]

I think every civ should have a friendliness number for each other civ, beyond the simple "gracious-furious" diplomatic screen. To mimmick real intercivilization affinity and antagonism.

Story: I had a ROP w/ the greeks, who were being successfully conquered by the Japaneese. I rode around and took back greek cities from the japaneese, then gave those cities to the greeks, as I didn't want the pain of managing them myself and wanted them to gain an instant defender.

After reclaiming 5-6 cities for the Greeks, they turned around and stabbed me in the back for no real purpose except to fulfil their AI trading obliations, thus garuteeing their own destruction. It's anologous to China suddenly declaring war on America in 1944, while remaining at war with the Japaneese. It's ridiculous -- the Chineese liked America, because they were saving their asses, and they hated the Japaneese because of the massacres. Furthermore, such a foolish tactical mistake garuntees their destruction. So too should the Greeks have loved me and hated the Japaneese. And so too did that decision garuntee their demise.

This problem could be easily solved by a affinity score, seperate from the "polite/ annoyed" diplomacy ranking. Modern Germany may disagree with modern America in may respects (polite/ annoyed), but due to the Marshall plan assistance, when the **** hits the fan they are fully behind America. Consequently, I think this score should be primarily raised by gifts and honorably completed alliances, and lowered by betrayals and massacres. War should not affect the score much, so long as the war was followed by adaquate assistance by the victor to the deafeted, and the war was not excpeptionally brutal to civilians.

The diplomatic ranking would influence how willing the AI was to trade with you, but matters of war and alliances would be decided by the affinity score.

Such a system would ensure that real allies would not be suicidaly betrayed without very good reason, and would create a more historicly accurate system of friendships and rivalries.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

I just HATE how the AI does not use artillery offensively. That should be an EASY fix! Cmon Firax....please...pretty please...pretty please with a cherry on top.....PLEASE!!!

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by Doc Mahem
It's anologous to China suddenly declaring war on America in 1944, while remaining at war with the Japaneese. It's ridiculous -- the Chineese liked America, because they were saving their asses, and they hated the Japaneese because of the massacres.

How unrealistic!?! They had a communist revolution and decided we were the enemy. Who lost China, anyway?

 

[Sirp]

Lieutenant Dan: I tend to doubt the AI using artillery offensively would be an easy fix. To begin with, I'm betting we would have numerous posts and examples of how hilariously easy it is to capture artillery used for offensive purposes.

 

[IDSmoker]

The comparision of the Civ3 AI to chess is completely specious...

Chess offers a very limited number of possible moves/combinations... you can actually use a calculator to figure out the total possible moves for many chess situations.

Games like Civ3, on the other hand, open up the number of possible moves exponentially!!! From a mathematical stand-point this makes a huge difference... more so as the game progresses, and the possiblilties increase.

Of course, there are still some programmatical holes in the Civ3 AI that a blind and deaf programmer could drive a truck through! <grin>

But it still isn't fair to compare the Civ3 AI to a simple chess AI...

 

[Gastric ReFlux]

The number of chess moves increases exponentially too. The difference, I feel, is there's just a lot more fuzziness at the base of Civ3, plus the fact the board itself keeps changing.