wolf_brother
King
Hmm... how does the AI react to that? I think we all know how stupid the AI when it comes to artillery
Scenario: American Civil War (18611865)
- Thread starter Cimbri
- Start date
Hmm... how does the AI react to that? I think we all know how stupid the AI when it comes to artillery
Balthasar
Wise Man
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2005
- Messages
- 3,293
Hmm... how does the AI react to that? I think we all know how stupid the AI when it comes to artillery
Yeah, but that's the beauty of it. The AI has no choice but to react to the reality on the ground, from its perspective. So you don't have to change the behavior of the AI at all. Just change the situation it has to react to.
I'll be bookmarking this idea, for sure.
Hmm... how does the AI react to that? I think we all know how stupid the AI when it comes to artillery
Well, this is one experience playing as the Rebs. I placed an army at Manassas, four artillery guns of varying types, and eight or ten or so infantry units of the same type. The Union sent three armies (small stacks of doom) into bloody and futile frontal attacks, doing little other than providing combat experience for my guys and causing grief to AI families in New England. By the way, combat experience is divided into +2 Untrained, +4 Green, +6 Disciplined, and +8 for Hardened infantry. Each time the survivors withdrew to Washington (presumably to cry at Abe Lincoln's shoulder). The fourth time, the Bluejackets bypassed Manassas completely, crossed the wilderness (after killing a few hapless Georgia infantrymen who were on their way to Manassas), and captured the lightly defended Fredericksburg. By then I had to go do some adjustments and left the game. Oddly enough, there is rarely any real action in the western theatre. Usually I mass an army at Bowling Green in Kentucky, and capture a few Kentuckian Union cities along the Ohio River. I thought it might be a transportation issue, but the fourth blue stack of doom at Fredericksburg had troops all the way from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. (I initially named all infantry after regiments from each State to keep an eye on them using debug mode)
I have seen both Union and Secesh move artillery along with small stacks of infantry. And Rebel artillery always cheerfully blast away at my Yankee ships when I get to close to shore.
I have no idea what compels the AI to bring artillery on campaign. They don't seem to have a preferred type (of the four types in the game).
Blue Monkey
Archon Without Portfolio
It's okay to PM one of the moderators with a polite request. We don't always have enough time to read every interesting thread.
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Thanks.
I got the idea after reading about Civil War battles like Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, and Pickett's Charge (at Gettysburg). Infantry attacks in open ground versus fortified riflemen got slaughtered. I had to implement this into the game somehow.
There will be 49 Techs in all.
12 in Era One, 11 in Era Two, 12 in Era Three, and 14 in Era Four.
Eras three to four will be the main game eras (game starts in era three). Eras one and two included for an antebellum (Bleeding Kansas) style scenario or future American Revolution or War of 1812 scenario.
12 in Era One, 11 in Era Two, 12 in Era Three, and 14 in Era Four.
Eras three to four will be the main game eras (game starts in era three). Eras one and two included for an antebellum (Bleeding Kansas) style scenario or future American Revolution or War of 1812 scenario.
wolf_brother
King
No.. because the "AI" isn't a hard-ai, it doesn't actually think. It only acts within the very stringent parameters that have been programmed into its source code.. which is hard-coded, so we can't look at it, or edit it.
Look, this is exactly my point. The AI didn't "react to the reality on the ground," it didn't compensate for the changes made. It just did what its programmed to do - and since it wasn't programmed to use artillery effectively, it doesn't do that. Changing the terrain bonuses doesn't change the way that the AI acts or "thinks" (and I use that term very lightly here); it doesn't suddenly realize "Oh, I should soften up this target with artillery." It just does what it always does - because that's all it can do.
Yeah, but it still decided to abandon the attack on Manassas and bypass the city.
wolf_brother
King
BUT it didn't use the artillery. That's my point
According to how you're trying to set up this game, it'll be all but impossible to win unless you use artillery... which means the AI will almost never win.
Wyrmshadow
Deity
I'm not making any promises as to when, but I have a couple models I want to make into units for this timeline. Only a few mind you... no infantry.
BUT it didn't use the artillery. That's my point
No, then you misunderstood, its not at all impossible without artillery. Combat has been designed with AI deficiencies in mind. Artillery is not any more of a necessity than an opportunity to avoid bloody loses.
This is about maneuver. The AI likes the good ground and will be drawn to it like lemmings. And even though it may not be the smartest AI, you still have to take some factors into account when you invade their territory or attempt to drive them out of yours. Artillery or no artillery, the AI gave me a scare when they took the fortress outside Washington and made off with three cannon. They can still fight, and they can still win.
Unit Names
What kind of name would be best for the units?
For instance, for the second type of main Union infantry:
Union Infantry (.58 Springfield Rifle)
or
Three-Year Volunteer Infantry
And another example:
Coloured Infantry (.577 Enfield Rifle)
or
Coloured Volunteer Infantry
And yet another example, this time for the Confederates:
Volunteer Infantry
or
Rebel Infantry (.577 Enfield Rifle)
So regimental type name or primary weapon name? I do not want the name to be too long.
The main type of infantry units that can be built is: four for the Union, three for the Rebs. Then there are two militia units, one for each faction, and a non-buildable Zoauve unit for each faction. The Union also starts with a non-buildable regular infantry unit, slightly better than the volunteer infantry types. Then there is an assortment of artillery and naval units. Cavalry also features two for the Rebs and two for the Union.
So thats:
Union:
5 Infantry units
4 Artillery units
2 Cavalry units
*2 non-buildable infantry units
Confederates:
4 Infantry Units
4 Artillery units
2 Cavalry units
*1 non-buildable infantry unit
...featured in the game so far (and I am pretty sure that's the final count, though one of the Union infantrymen might be omitted).
What kind of name would be best for the units?
For instance, for the second type of main Union infantry:
Union Infantry (.58 Springfield Rifle)
or
Three-Year Volunteer Infantry
And another example:
Coloured Infantry (.577 Enfield Rifle)
or
Coloured Volunteer Infantry
And yet another example, this time for the Confederates:
Volunteer Infantry
or
Rebel Infantry (.577 Enfield Rifle)
So regimental type name or primary weapon name? I do not want the name to be too long.
The main type of infantry units that can be built is: four for the Union, three for the Rebs. Then there are two militia units, one for each faction, and a non-buildable Zoauve unit for each faction. The Union also starts with a non-buildable regular infantry unit, slightly better than the volunteer infantry types. Then there is an assortment of artillery and naval units. Cavalry also features two for the Rebs and two for the Union.
So thats:
Union:
5 Infantry units
4 Artillery units
2 Cavalry units
*2 non-buildable infantry units
Confederates:
4 Infantry Units
4 Artillery units
2 Cavalry units
*1 non-buildable infantry unit
...featured in the game so far (and I am pretty sure that's the final count, though one of the Union infantrymen might be omitted).
I'll pipe in. I've been following this and am pretty excited about giving it a try when it comes ready for that.
I'd prefer regimental type names. I think they make most sense and are the least cumbersome. The type of regiment gives an inclination as to their strength/training. Union/Rebel is self evident by the civ they are in, and you can give weapon information in their pedia articles.
I really liked your early screen shots with units named after the states they were sent from (e.g. 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry) as they are actually referred to in Civil War histories. It would be fantastic to be able to script their names based on where and the order in which they are built...clearly not possible, but not an idea to dismiss outright.
So...I tried to brainstorm a way to do this before realizing you can NOT set a unit's required resource to be within the city radius like you can with improvements (BAH!!) <RANT>Being able to do that, or have units require a specific building or any other combination of connections that Firaxis didn't think of so didn't allow code for would make modding so much more dynamic and interesting...and salvage so many of the ideas I've had over the years that I've not been able to work out</RANT> I've left my thoughts here in case any others have a way to do that...for what it's worth.
Spoiler :
Virote_Considon
The Great Dictator
You could script their names based on the order they came out, by giving them the "leader" flag in the Abilities section (I'm pretty sure this is the only function of the flag, and thus there should be no other side effects other than named units!)
againsttheflow
unpolitically uncorrect
But then would the units not have to come out in a specific linear order?
I think he means if there were special Iowa, Wisconsin, Connecticut units, etc.
States uniforms, especially those the fellas' went to war with in 1861, were very different form one another. Some Union boys had grey, some Rebs had blue.
Edit: Doh, of course not. The Leader names would be fixed no matter what.
Anyway, I’ll stick to the units already on the game now. I always wanted to keep this scenario somewhat simple.
Improvements: Right now the scenario features improvements like Daily Newspaper, Hotel, Warehouse, Seminary, Telegraph Office, Post Office, and so on. They’re civilian improvements, leftovers from the original game this scenario evolved from.
But since this is a scenario for the bellicose, perhaps the improvements should reflect that?
Like Recruitment Office, Field Hospital, Casualty List Office, Quartermaster’s Office, Arsenal (already in the game), Trenches (also there already), Signal Station, and so on?
I’m leaning towards keeping the civilian improvements and maybe adding some military ones.
Improvements: Right now the scenario features improvements like Daily Newspaper, Hotel, Warehouse, Seminary, Telegraph Office, Post Office, and so on. They’re civilian improvements, leftovers from the original game this scenario evolved from.
But since this is a scenario for the bellicose, perhaps the improvements should reflect that?
Like Recruitment Office, Field Hospital, Casualty List Office, Quartermaster’s Office, Arsenal (already in the game), Trenches (also there already), Signal Station, and so on?
I’m leaning towards keeping the civilian improvements and maybe adding some military ones.
Balthasar
Wise Man
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2005
- Messages
- 3,293
Really? What original game was that?
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