Queued Auto move AI cheat?

[blasto]

I could swear that whenever I set an automove queue for a settler to a primo spot and there is an AI nearby, by the time my unit gets there the AI will have camped that spot.

I started to auto move to a location just short of my target as a work around and haven't seen the same issue since.

So is it my imagination or does using automove help with AI cheating? Anyone else notice this?

 

[joncnunn]

The only way it would help the AI is to the extent that auto move is using inferior path finding (mostly due to traffic jams + ongoing automoves being after you've moved everything else) compared to only moving one turn at a time.
It is normally though a good idea to send a military unit to hold down your city spot (mostly fog busting against the barbs but being ready to stand on your spot if an AI unit comes close) while you are still building the settler.

 

[MyOtherName]

I could swear that whenever I set an automove queue for a settler to a primo spot and there is an AI nearby, by the time my unit gets there the AI will have camped that spot.

I started to auto move to a location just short of my target as a work around and haven't seen the same issue since.

So is it my imagination or does using automove help with AI cheating? Anyone else notice this?

It's most likely coincidence. But here's a quick test:

Do you now notice the AI camping the incorrect location? i.e. the spot you were moving to rather than the spot you wanted?

If the answer is "no", then that's a pretty strong indicator (albeit not a guarantee) that it's simply coincidence (or even just selective memory) you find an AI unit in the positions you wanted to move to.

 

[Nigel_Tufnel2]

Is it the only tile that can be settled in the area? That would be nice AI programming if units started camping spots!

 

[Ryika]

I started to auto move to a location just short of my target as a work around and haven't seen the same issue since.

Do you think the AI has realized that you're no longer sending your units to the location where you want to settle and has therefor stopped using that strategy, or for what reason would you stop experiencing the issue on the tiles that you've sent your units to?

Overall, this sounds pretty silly to me, there's absolutely no reason for why somebody would program it like that.

 

[blasto]

Actually it makes plenty of sense to me. Almost all AI "programming" in this game is silly. Heck, even the difficulty differences are just bonus plus/minus instead of any kind of meaningful skill difference.

I see AI all the time doing things like camping choke points and also purposely blocking my paths, not just for settlers. So for the programmers to add a check for proximity of enemy to milk a bit of efficency seems to make sense. Otherwise a unit might get wasted just camping something no one even wanted in the first place. But "Oh, you want it, then I want it".


So it wouldn't surprise me at all if it was found that the AI would prioritize a camping action when it sees a player dedicate a 5+automove to that location and it knows it can beat you there. And to have this action happen only on meaningful spots so that its not just camping any old automove target.

But yeah, I also seen them move off their camping once I feigned disinterest by moving away. So they clearly camp for preventative measures against players, not just so they secure their own use.

And I'm not saying that this is for sure what is happening, but it sure seems that way sometimes.

 

[joncnunn]

5+automove to that location and it knows it can beat you there.

The path-finding problems combined with traffic jams is sufficient to cost someone attempting to automove 5+ turns at least a full turn compared to just moving one turn at a time without any other help to the AI.