FfH2 AI Mod (Highly Experimental!)

[JFSebastian]

My vote is to keep working on the 0.41a AI until the 3.19 adjustments get resolved.

Question, does the code that govern's worker production take into account that some races work slower than others? I feel like the Elves are falling behind because they aren't improving their forests fast enough.

 

[Skyre Noktis]

I haven't noticed elven leaders struggling much. Thessa, especially, tends to do very well. I have noticed they seem a bit reluctant to improve forest squares over flat squares, though. There might be something that needs looking at there.

 

[Snuis]

Griffons don't spawn anymore in my games. Is it the mod responsible for this?

That aside i quite like the mod. I mainly play High-to-Low games but even on Noble (used to play on Prince) it can take ages to get to the high score (almost invariably held by the Lanun).
Since i'm reluctant to drop to Warlord (settlers from huts!, may be fun actually), i boosted the already raging barbarians even more. That, and the rather random maps i play on makes a comparison of the AI's a bit hard. Expansive leaders seem to do well usually.

It's a welcome change to have the most urgent techs already researched when switching to the lowest civ (Sheelba in tundraland had hunting, took a lot of effort to push the barbarians back and regain Renegade Hill though).
The only time the AI was clueless was when i switched to Amelanchier who was on a small cut off corner of the map and it was clear i had to research sailing as soon as possible. That's the only thing i'd like to see improved: Naval transport of settlers and armies. I actually witnessed Sandalphon settling a city overseas so the start is there.


On the version issue: I keep playing 41a until the bugs are solved.

 

[JFSebastian]

I've been playing around with The Splintered Court scenario and the Ljosalfar are casting March of the Trees at the drop of a hat early in the game. I just saw Amelanchier cast it to apparently take out a Lizard Man and its Ruins that was in sight of his border after his capital reached 10 culture.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

Now that .41 is being worked on again and a bunch of the bugs are already fixed, it would now be a good idea to move up to 3.19.

 

[Tholal]

I've played two games with this mod and I really like it so far!

The AI definitely is much improved in the early game, though they still seem to have trouble expanding if they start on an island. The AI is fairly aggressive about settling on islands from a continent, it's just getting off the islands that give them trouble. Is there a way for them to know when they're island-locked and need to focus on researching maritime techs?

On a related note, I have had the AI instigate naval invasions with some success. They actually landed two waves of troops on my shores and took a city, but then they moved most of their troops out of the captured city to engage my army in the field, which led to a quick removal and recapture of my city. Not sure if it's possible to make the AI smart enough to realize that this city is in a far-off land with no easy way to provide reinforcement. (note: this invasion was from the Lanun).


Some general observations:
* Basium and Hyborem are more effective. Basium has done well in both games, capturing Dis the first time around and flaying several Evil civs the 2nd time. Hyborem has a nice-sized empire of ~8 cities in the 2nd game.
* The Lanun build lots of pirate ports and seems to always have a large navy
* The Cardith Lords keep their main cities spread out, sprinkling settlements in-between as needed.
* The AI overall is more aggressive about settling new cities


Overall, some great changes to make the game against the AI much more interesting and enjoyable. I look forward to seeing future versions!

 

[Zen Black]

I was wondering if this was still something that is going to go through updates or if it has lost it's creative force?

The only reason I ask is because this mod works *excellently* and moved quite quickly through the variety of AI issues and I personally was anxious to see it as you found and squashed the bugs.

If it's an issue of desire or need, I can say that the AI still needs tremendous work and I think FF2 *needs* an AI mod and with all the work that has already been done it would be a waste if it fell apart.

So thanks Skyre, it is a great mod that I can't wait to be updated, since the last version worked so well and started to make the AI a real challenge where previously it was braindead.

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

part ( most? ) of this mod is included in Wild Mana, which is compatible with BTS 3.19 and FFH 0.41d and does a damn good job of improving the AI ( I mean, they even terraform their empire! ) , plus the BUG mod for ehnanced interface and some features the get rid of micromanagement ( autocasting, autoterraforming ) . I suggest you try that out. of course, we're all hoping that Skyre will continue to improve the AI since he has proven he is definitely capable of doing so in a great way, and I'm sure he will

 

[Skyre Noktis]

I haven't had much motivation to work on it recently, to be honest. I'm sure I'll get back to it soon enough, but I think I've burnt myself out on FfH a bit after working on this almost non-stop for about two months.

Of course, having a single, combined AI mod would help things a lot. A drain on motivation for me is the feeling of 'competing' against other mods, and it would be difficult to keep up with people like Sephi without devoting every free moment I have. *shrugs*

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

that's why you, turinturambar and sephi should cooperate to create something incredible after all, you all have your own expertises it seems.

 

[Tholal]

I have been really enjoying this mod as well. I have been avoiding upgrading to the latest versions of Civ and FfH just because I didn't want to lose the improved AI.

part ( most? ) of this mod is included in Wild Mana,

The problem with mods like Wild Mana is that they do too many things. I don't want any gameplay changes included in my AI mod. I want improved AI.

That why I like Skyre's mod. It doesn't try to change the gameplay mechanics. It just teaches the AI how to work with them.

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

well, Wild Mana BARELY changes the gameplay. all it does is fix the exploit of using AoE spells to DoW vassals, and fix the annoyance of being unable to use those spells if even one single unit is sitting in the middle of enemy land, and allow lumbermills to be built in ancient forests, fixing the annoyance of having to build them ASAP BEFORE a forest becomes ancient. the clan of embers worldspell is going to be changed back to normal in the upcoming version... none of this seem like gamebreaking changes to me honestly. let's face it, FFH is NOT complete right now. it's great, but there's still lots that can be changed in order to improve it. clinging to base FFH like it's 100%% perfect doesn't help making it a better game imho

 

[Tholal]

well, Wild Mana BARELY changes the gameplay. all it does is fix the exploit of using AoE spells to DoW vassals, and fix the annoyance of being unable to use those spells if even one single unit is sitting in the middle of enemy land, and allow lumbermills to be built in ancient forests, fixing the annoyance of having to build them ASAP BEFORE a forest becomes ancient. the clan of embers worldspell is going to be changed back to normal in the upcoming version... none of this seem like gamebreaking changes to me honestly. let's face it, FFH is NOT complete right now. it's great, but there's still lots that can be changed in order to improve it. clinging to base FFH like it's 100%% perfect doesn't help making it a better game imho

Well then I guess its the fact that I dont agree with any of those gameplay changes in the Wild Mana mod. And if they do 'BARELY change the gameplay', then I'm not even sure what the point is of slapping them onto the mod in the first place. My 2 cents.

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

to fix annoyances ( major micromanagement for lumbermills, exploits for AoE spells ) , while the Clan of Embers worldspell currently spawns the new units in the capital, but that's just to fix one bug that would otherwise arise, and will be switched back to normal soon. all in all, I think the benefits far outweigh the downside of having a couple small gameplay changes. watching AIs terraform their lands makes for a far more interesting game, and being able to automate spellcasting and terraforming lets you enjoy the fun aspects of the game a lot more instead of "damn, I forgot to cast spell xxx AGAIN!"

 

[Tholal]

exploits for AoE spells

Is it really possible to have 'exploits' in single-player games? It's up to the player whether or not to abuse that particular game mechanic. If doing so makes them game fun for them, then I guess its their choice. And after all, the World Builder is only a keypress and a click away at any given point. How about a mod to fix that 'exploit'?


But anyway, this discussion doesn't really belong in this thread.


Back to the original subject. I love the mod, Skyre! I hope that you at least update it for 0.41!

 

[arstal]

Can this mod be merged with the Tweakmod from Rystic at all? I think that would be the best option for a merge- as his changes are good for balance, with your AI even better.

 

[bread smith]

Is there a version for FFH2 040y or 040z?

I'd really like to try your AI mod but got too much CTDs during the late game with FFH2 041