Iceciro
Special Ability: Decimate
(While I have a thread for my modules, this one is my real baby and the one I expect to see the most discussion on, so I wanted to keep it seperate.)
Welcome to Less Psychotic AI Relations!
This module was spawned from discussions I'd had with my playtesters about the difficulty in having AIs that reacted to your actions instead of randomly declaring war on you. This is what, I felt, made it difficult to play a peaceful game. So I took it upon myself to learn just what makes the AI tick - in particular, why it declares war and what variables control it.
I was surprised to find out some rather interesting things - mostly, that the AIs in Fall (much like the AIs in Civ) are coded to like to declare war. A lot. And also, that there were hidden modifiers that would apply from AI to AI, making them treat computer players differently than humans! This was quickly excised from the code for the Less Psychotic code - no more will you be a civs worst enemy purely because you are a human!
Another example was that the Elohim had the exact same chance to declare war on a nation already at war (we'll call this a Dogpile war, for the sake of what it reads in the code) as the BANNOR. The peace-loving elohim were rather apt to jump on you in the middle of another war, rather dishonorable if you ask me - that went out the window. AIs in general are less likely to declare war on you for no reason. This applies more heavily to peace loving civs like the Dural and the Elohim, and far less to the Doviello - who are still relatively psychotic. It also varies from leader to leader, even within the same civ.
But no wars would be boring! Perhaps, but the state of constant war is a drain on the resources of both AIs and players - and one players are better able to take advantage of. The Less Psychotic AIs have time to build up stacks and respond in true force, sending stacks on multiple fronts to your doorstep when you overstep your boundaries. Rather than rely on a simple random number generator that tells the AIs to war now, and often, the AIs will first begin to pressure the neighbors they are unhappy with, for tribute. Much more often than they used to. Giving up tribute will make them think slightly better of you and stave off a war - after all, you are being useful - while refusal will generally start a downward spiral where you will either find yourself on the end of enemy stacks, or pressured for bigger tribute... which could lead to the stacks at your door. As stated above, this varies from leader to leader - while Falamar will generally make demands and war if you refuse them, Hannah is as unpredictable as the Sea itself, and you may find yourself facing Lanun warships in a sudden bout of her rage. The barbarian and warlike civs are obviously, more likely to declare war - and as Keelyn is a spoiled brat, refusing her demands is especially dangerous!
Each leader takes its own specific modifiers into account for relations, and relations lead to demands which lead to war. For example, Sabatheil cares more about your religion than Capria does, but both are more respecting of a shared war than the Elohim. The Scions of Patria in general appreciate Open Borders more than other races, thanks to the bonus it provides them in creating Reborn, while the Clan both care less about open borders, and more about how much your borders squeeze the expansion of the Orcish hordes.
Another thing is that years of peace add up between both players and AIs, and you will find yourself facing blocks of old friends should you decide to declare war on a neighbor. In many cases this can lead to sudden relations breakdowns, and becoming a Germany-like warmonger may find you on the end of a sudden group of allies dedicated to putting you in your place! It is also more hazardous to be the only nation of a certain religion in a location, or avoid joining the Overcouncil.
This brings about another dynamic - World Wars. While the crazy AIs would find groups in conflict with each other, the relations of Less Psychotic AIs often mean that two blocks of friends end up squaring off, as relations suddenly deterioriate between those who declared war on old friends. As AIs seek to defend their friends from agressors and rack up penalties with the friends of those AIs, instead of falling into mindless wars, often two strong groups of AIs will stare each other down, leading to bigger, more impressive wars between sides (especially down good/evil/neutral lines) and less of many unaligned nations dogpiling a smaller one looking to carve up pieces for themselves like rabid dogs rather than civilizations.
Lastly, this means that a player can, through gifts, trade, and proper attitudes, form up with AIs who will stay true, rather than suddenly reversing stride and pouncing. Accruing penalties from trading with war enemies and lack of help prevent a player from being best friends with the whole world, however - try to please everyone, and you will fail, horrifically!
Less Psychotic AI Relations is in a constant state of development flux - as I find things I can do to make the AIs act more like nations and less like frothing madmen waiting at your gate to pounce. Questions, comments, and concerns are welcome, but most of all, please pick up the module and play! And I hope you enjoy it.
Download it here! MPAI Version 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?nayjzv4myyq
Install instructions: It's just a module - put it into your Fall Further 051/Assets/Modules/NormalModules/ folder. If for some reason you think I've horribly broken your civ after a game or two, first, post here explaining why! Then, delete the MPAI folder.
(Sadly, this module does NOT make the AI any better at the mechanics of war like building stacks and attacking cities specifically, but the time spent in peace should make them slightly more impressive in numbers and empire size.)
Special thanks go out to the unsung heroes of my modules: my testing team, as always, but especially for this one as it took many long hours and games: Inquizitor, Ascadia, Pratz Strike, Minimal Rose, K.
Welcome to Less Psychotic AI Relations!
This module was spawned from discussions I'd had with my playtesters about the difficulty in having AIs that reacted to your actions instead of randomly declaring war on you. This is what, I felt, made it difficult to play a peaceful game. So I took it upon myself to learn just what makes the AI tick - in particular, why it declares war and what variables control it.
I was surprised to find out some rather interesting things - mostly, that the AIs in Fall (much like the AIs in Civ) are coded to like to declare war. A lot. And also, that there were hidden modifiers that would apply from AI to AI, making them treat computer players differently than humans! This was quickly excised from the code for the Less Psychotic code - no more will you be a civs worst enemy purely because you are a human!
Another example was that the Elohim had the exact same chance to declare war on a nation already at war (we'll call this a Dogpile war, for the sake of what it reads in the code) as the BANNOR. The peace-loving elohim were rather apt to jump on you in the middle of another war, rather dishonorable if you ask me - that went out the window. AIs in general are less likely to declare war on you for no reason. This applies more heavily to peace loving civs like the Dural and the Elohim, and far less to the Doviello - who are still relatively psychotic. It also varies from leader to leader, even within the same civ.
But no wars would be boring! Perhaps, but the state of constant war is a drain on the resources of both AIs and players - and one players are better able to take advantage of. The Less Psychotic AIs have time to build up stacks and respond in true force, sending stacks on multiple fronts to your doorstep when you overstep your boundaries. Rather than rely on a simple random number generator that tells the AIs to war now, and often, the AIs will first begin to pressure the neighbors they are unhappy with, for tribute. Much more often than they used to. Giving up tribute will make them think slightly better of you and stave off a war - after all, you are being useful - while refusal will generally start a downward spiral where you will either find yourself on the end of enemy stacks, or pressured for bigger tribute... which could lead to the stacks at your door. As stated above, this varies from leader to leader - while Falamar will generally make demands and war if you refuse them, Hannah is as unpredictable as the Sea itself, and you may find yourself facing Lanun warships in a sudden bout of her rage. The barbarian and warlike civs are obviously, more likely to declare war - and as Keelyn is a spoiled brat, refusing her demands is especially dangerous!
Each leader takes its own specific modifiers into account for relations, and relations lead to demands which lead to war. For example, Sabatheil cares more about your religion than Capria does, but both are more respecting of a shared war than the Elohim. The Scions of Patria in general appreciate Open Borders more than other races, thanks to the bonus it provides them in creating Reborn, while the Clan both care less about open borders, and more about how much your borders squeeze the expansion of the Orcish hordes.
Another thing is that years of peace add up between both players and AIs, and you will find yourself facing blocks of old friends should you decide to declare war on a neighbor. In many cases this can lead to sudden relations breakdowns, and becoming a Germany-like warmonger may find you on the end of a sudden group of allies dedicated to putting you in your place! It is also more hazardous to be the only nation of a certain religion in a location, or avoid joining the Overcouncil.
This brings about another dynamic - World Wars. While the crazy AIs would find groups in conflict with each other, the relations of Less Psychotic AIs often mean that two blocks of friends end up squaring off, as relations suddenly deterioriate between those who declared war on old friends. As AIs seek to defend their friends from agressors and rack up penalties with the friends of those AIs, instead of falling into mindless wars, often two strong groups of AIs will stare each other down, leading to bigger, more impressive wars between sides (especially down good/evil/neutral lines) and less of many unaligned nations dogpiling a smaller one looking to carve up pieces for themselves like rabid dogs rather than civilizations.
Lastly, this means that a player can, through gifts, trade, and proper attitudes, form up with AIs who will stay true, rather than suddenly reversing stride and pouncing. Accruing penalties from trading with war enemies and lack of help prevent a player from being best friends with the whole world, however - try to please everyone, and you will fail, horrifically!
Less Psychotic AI Relations is in a constant state of development flux - as I find things I can do to make the AIs act more like nations and less like frothing madmen waiting at your gate to pounce. Questions, comments, and concerns are welcome, but most of all, please pick up the module and play! And I hope you enjoy it.
Download it here! MPAI Version 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?nayjzv4myyq
Install instructions: It's just a module - put it into your Fall Further 051/Assets/Modules/NormalModules/ folder. If for some reason you think I've horribly broken your civ after a game or two, first, post here explaining why! Then, delete the MPAI folder.
(Sadly, this module does NOT make the AI any better at the mechanics of war like building stacks and attacking cities specifically, but the time spent in peace should make them slightly more impressive in numbers and empire size.)
Special thanks go out to the unsung heroes of my modules: my testing team, as always, but especially for this one as it took many long hours and games: Inquizitor, Ascadia, Pratz Strike, Minimal Rose, K.
Now I just have to do it for all of the Minor leaders/new civ leaders.... 
