What does the AI_ESCORT_SEA script do?

[Tholal]

I posted this in the python forum but was directed here to hopefully get the attention of all you AI gurus!

My question is, how does the default AI_ESCORT_SEA script work? Ships with this AI very rarely do anything. Only once have I seen them actually escorting. Otherwise they just sit around in the port cities. Is there are certain minimum number of them needed before they will venture out? As it is, it seems that the transports just head out alone and unprotected.

 

[jdog5000]

They are supposed to be escorts and join transport invasion groups. (Settler transports should be escorted by RESERVE units iirc)

Are you using BBAI? A lot of naval logic has changed, in part because it was seemingly never given the same attention as land logic by Firaxis and in part because there was a big bug with transports. Military transports would stay in a city until they happened to be filled because they were trying to pick up the units they already had on board. Not kidding. Fixing that issue made transports hyper active, constantly chasing attack units around ... that's been toned down a lot to something much more functional, but I intend to give it another pass.

Escorts were setup to join transport groups loading up in cities. This was easy for them to do when transports never left whatever city they happened to be in until full. I have a plan for how to change how they link up with transport groups so that invasions will be guaranteed to be well defended, but it hasn't happened yet.

 

[Tholal]

I wasn't using Better AI. I was looking at the AI in regular Civ and Fall from Heaven and it was suggested that I post here since this is where most of the AI gurus live!

Anyway, the reason I ask is that I'm trying to work on some improvements to the naval AI for Fall from Heaven, though it sounds like I'll need to learn C to get anything useful done.

 

[Yxklyx]

I have seen the AI use Battleships to escort Carriers quite often.

On a related note, how does AI_RESERVE_SEA work? I noticed most naval units have this as default but a couple (Trireme and Ship of the Line) have AI_ATTACK_SEA.

 

[Tholal]

The ESCORT_SEA script works great in the most current version of Better AI! The ships actually find transport ships to group up with. Great job!

Units with the RESERVE scripts are the first ones the AI looks to when it wants to try and switch out unit AIs. Not sure what it does otherwise.

 

[jdog5000]

I have seen the AI use Battleships to escort Carriers quite often.

On a related note, how does AI_RESERVE_SEA work? I noticed most naval units have this as default but a couple (Trireme and Ship of the Line) have AI_ATTACK_SEA.

RESERVE_SEA are the sea defenders, they guard bonuses and go after enemy ships around their owner's cities. They also escort settler sea units sometimes, and may shadow assault transport stacks occasionally.

The ESCORT_SEA script works great in the most current version of Better AI! The ships actually find transport ships to group up with. Great job!

Units with the RESERVE scripts are the first ones the AI looks to when it wants to try and switch out unit AIs. Not sure what it does otherwise.

Thanks! The assault transport/escort coordination has been a very long project, and it's finally working pretty well.

 

[Yxklyx]

The default AI role is not used by the AI then? I think I read that somewhere...

 

[jdog5000]

The AI will assign any of the allowed UNITAIs to a units, so it will assign the default role sometimes. However, the AI places no weight on the fact that it is the default role and so it effectively ignores whether a role is the default or not.