Improving the AI

denyd

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If you were the programming manager for CIV III, which of these would be your #1 area for the staff to work on to improve the AI.

As always, most people would say fix the bugs first, but that's a given, so pick the one area where you'd like to see the AI get better.
 
  • The ability to use artillary for more then defense.
  • The ability to use workers: not irrigating grasslands in despotism, having endless fields of irrigation when their stuck at size 12, making hooking up lux's a priority.
  • Them actually producing close to enough workers: at least 2x what they do now.
  • The ability to use the lux slider instead of having half their cities being clowns.
  • Prioritze defensive needs: if the risk to that city is low, move some defenders elsewhere. I'm tired attacking Civs and having them have X defenders in each and every city, if they put some of those defenders from interior cities in the outside ones maybe I wouldn't have taken them in the first place.

Just a basic list but that's my main gripes.
 
Wow, Genghis ,you hit most of mine. The main other one I would add is the ability to coordinate an invasion better.

YOur first two would make the AI much tougher.
 
Yeah, Gengis hit them all but let me expand on what warpstorm has, the Ability to conduct a serious sea invasion. I usually only see 1 or 2 units being transported for an invasion. If the AI could do this plus do "combined arms" attacks the AI wouldn't have to have such unrealistic beginnings on High levels "i.e. Settler Diahrea, practically free unit support, etc.
 
The main other one I would add is the ability to coordinate an invasion better.

This is the big one for me. they should attack only when they have a enough units to be fairly sure of doing some damage, rather than sending the units to your teretory as and when they are built. Also they should keep the fast and slow units together most of the time, instead of letting you kill all their cavalry first then their infantry coming up behind to attack. Unless of course most of the cavs can reach and capture your city, rather than using all their moves to sit outside your fortress city just waiting to get hammered.

Possibly could me harder to implement, but if the AI could choose the order in which they move their units, rather than just in the order they come. At least it should order them fully healed before damaged, and attackers before defenders, possibly?

Haddling the sliders generally should be imporved as well. Not only the lux one, but if they discover iron working and have a load of wariours, then they really want some money.

I would prioritize the use of armies before the use of artys. Armies are so powerful now that the AI should use them as the defult for MGL, perhaps after the forbiden palace. Unless to solve my first complaint they make huge a SoD, I cannot see how they could use artys without getting totally abused by the human.

Still the AI does improve with each version, so they are going in the right direction. The meja tell us that the games industry is aiming at a more diverse sector of the population now, so with any luck it could be comercialy viable to prioritize this over flashy graphics, features they can advertise. I am not convinced though.

[EDIT] I just remembered another really easy one - Someone tell the AI that workers no longer blockade the coast.

And I just noticed, why is there a poll as well as this thread?
 
I'd like to see the AI be reasonable when it comes to wandering through the human's territory. Far too often the AI will send a regular spearman and a settler through my land only to have me tell him to leave. He refuses because he wants to get to that one little patch of tundra halfway across the world. I say "leave or go to war" and he goes to war... and subsequently his civ is eliminated from the game by my military forces. It's stupid. The AI should realize they can't get away with walking through and either ask and pay for a RoP or just get out before they get killed.
 
Of course, if I were the manager, I'd move the AI guy onto Civ4, rather than spending major money on an older title where even if I improved the AI incredibly it wouldn't get me any significant sales as most of the people who would care own the game already.
 
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