AI Text Files Tips & Hints (Modders Please Read!)

[Rollo]

Thanks for the info and for the good news about the boarding, kamikaze and troop ships.

What I do like about defense ships is that you can have a totally different ship-of-the-line in fleets and use different weapons/tactics with that. So while all attack ships/fleets will have direct-fire, your defense ships could be all seekers. This way the player never really knowns what he'll be facing and could be in for a surprise.
Not sure yet, what I'll do. I'll probably delete defense ships in some AIs, leave them in others, and see how it goes.

Rollo

[Mephisto]

Fear no more, the AI will now integrate kamikaze and boarding ships into attack fleets with like any attack ship and the boarding ships will even work now.

quote:

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Originally posted by Atraikius:
I've been seeing some benifits of defense ships, but that is only becsause I have been trying to figure out how to make the AI use kamikaze ships effectively and consistantly.

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[God Emperor]

Atraikius and others,
Thanks for the info on Defense ships. I too had noticed some odd things with them (and fleets) but didnt realise that they were the source of the problem.
Regards,
GE

[Tampa_Gamer]

Bumped thread - for the sake of the recent AI discussions. I would also recommend a read into the individual readme.txt files for the races in the TDM-ModPack. Although the main readme.txt just indicates that they the AI is tweaked, many authors use the race's individual readme.txt to keep a "diary" of what worked and what did not on each version as they "learned" the AI files.

Example from my Dra'kol readme:

HISTORY
Ver 2.10 - RELEASE #13
- Modified designs (once again) based on AI inspection reports 2-1-03 through 2-1-04
- Removed all calls to build Drones and Drone Carriers (just not worth the resources)
- Removed all Drone research (why research if not going to build)
- Reduced ratio of LR attack ships to SR attack ships from 2:1 to 3:1
- Added all 3 types of colony ships specifically to Explore & Infrastructure state due to bug in AI end-game call systems (thanks Mephisto)
- Reduced ftr groups from 15 to 8 and eliminated type priority firing in strategy file
- Created new .emp files to match changes in strategy file and eliminate special ships
- Corrected typo in fleets.txt file; lowered % ships to use in defense
- Reduced max. maintenance threshold in Settings.txt file
- Added a queue for colony type "Resupply Base" in case they capture one (thanks Mephisto!)
- Eliminated Ship Capture, Mil Sci 2 & Shield damage weapons research (no longer using boarding ships since not worth the resources spent)
- Added Computer Combat 1-3 in research file to utilize virus weapon on Kamikaze Ships
- Increased % of revenue to use for units production from 20% to 30% (need more troops)

Ver 2.00 - RELEASE #12
- Created "Drakol_Construction_Units.txt" to take advantage of new unit control
- Stripped most unit purchases from "Drakol_Construction_Vehicles.txt" now that we have the _Units.txt file (left in WPs in explore mod and "capper" at end of each queue
- Added "Attack Sweeper" and "Scout Ships" designs and to build queue (left in even though purchases based on unique names (as opposed to types) is not working yet
- Added Troop Transport design and applicable research now that we can control the AI production of troops
- Increased variety of vehicle purchases in "Defend (Short Term)" state since AI is in this state most of the time
- Separated queues for each AI state in both Construction files
- Modified designs based on AI inspection reports 4-5-02 through 4-7-02
- Increased max. turns before next attack, # systems to defend & fleet % based on research by Mephisto and my experimentation
- Streamlined design file for single ship call approaches
- Increased recon sat production based on AI inspection reports
- Put mid-way points into attack ship vehicle purchases due to choke symptoms
- Adjusted research file to "33" to avoid unused points after certain projects
- Modified Drone attack strategy and design based on research by Mephisto and my experimentation

Ver 1.90 - RELEASE #11
- Reset/verified certain Empire options (moving through minefields, etc.) now that they are working
- Increased # recon sats in different queues
- Removed rad/org extract tech level 2-3 due to monolith strategy
- Revised strategies based on testing, including overall fleet
- Added Kamikaze ship design (fleet support) and construction queue now that they are seeking fleets
- Added Boarding ship design and construction queue now that they are seeking fleets
- Added Ship Capture, Drone and Shield Damaging Weapons to research queue
- Added Drone designs and construction queues (still testing)
- Removed Cargo Transport and design since could not detect use by AI
- Changed fleet strategy back to optimal firing range b/c not hitting anything
- Added Drone Carrier to design file and construction queue
- Added new settings for fleet and overall AI, tweaked Drone cargo settings

Ver 1.85 - RELEASE #10
- Additional boost to # research facilities located on rad/organic colonies
- Moved up CA, BB, DN in tech tree, moved down Stellar Harness
- Increased # colonizers in all states to min. of 3
- Adjusted Stellar Manipulation designs to take into consideration 250/400k component sizes
- Changed SRLT/HV designs back to Optimal Firing Range b/c not hitting a damn thing
- Moved up "Create Planet" ship in construction queue
- Added new lines to Settings.txt
- Added Drone designs and strategies based on default AI files (tweak pending usefulness)
- Eliminated Shield Regeneration components in all but attack/defense base designs
- Reversed treaty levels back to default based on testing
- Overflow queue for farming colonies converted to intel facilities
- Increased # attack ships in attack/defense modes
- More tweaks to all designs based on testing
- Added Cargo Transport back in based on Population Transport Design
- Added recon sats back in now that the construction bug is fixed
- Fixed grammatical problems in speech file
- Converted both "Fighter Attack" movement strategies to "Point Blank"
- Fixed .emp files that had emperor name/title reversed
- Changed strategies fire to reflect revised firing priorities

Ver 1.80 - RELEASE #09
- Removed recon sats from build queue pending bug removal (placed sensors on other platforms)
- Totally reworked research tree based on tech min lines working now
- Totally reworked designs all the way through late game attack bases
- Limited pop. transports to 600kt b/c taking away whole planets of population
- Removed defense ships from design and build queues
- Tweaked strategies file for larger units launched and to use "Type Priority" first
- Confirmed cloaked colonizers used properly by AI, new dual-class colonizers added
- Tweaked build queues for late games where player has 100+ planets
- Reduced # of auxiliary ships AI not using fairly well (Sat Layer, Pop Cargo, etc.)
- Changed carrier strategies and load-out
- Limited size of mines to 10k to avoid wasted efficiency
- Converted most auxillary ships to max. range with engine overloading weaponry
- Turned off certain boxes in empire options when creating .emp file (no move through minefield, autoclaim)
- Turned on "damage until weapons gone" in .emp file strategy settings
- Removed cloaking from spaceyard ships b/c ministers having trouble using while cloaked
- Converted latter part of farm planets to research havens
- Re-tooled planet selection to boost research planets
- Eliminated "Ancient Race" as selection since this was causing havoc for the colonization minister
- Changed strategies for weapon platforms and sats based on changes MM made in recent patch
- Eliminated emissive armor (again) from designs since reports show that it is still not working
- Boosted desire of race to accept treaties early on when struggling
- Eliminated certain techs from research queue that were not efficient for AI (extraction 4-9)
- Forced AI to have a recon ship in the first turn with all supplies via the .emp file

Ver 1.70 - RELEASE #08
- Moved stellar manipulation up the research tree
- Tweaked fleets file to attempt to get higher % of ships in fleets
- Created a mandatory research planet in every system in the Planet_Types file
- Due to fighter design problems, reduced number of valid designs to one
- Increased number of research & intel facilities in the Construct_Facilities file
- Removed duplicate facilities in the Construct_Facilities file when a facility has more than one ability
- Totally reworked Epoch 1 research to attempt to provide stronger early game ships
- Removed blanks from the end the design name file
- Redesigned early game mine/sat layers to provide more laying ability
- Increased # of PD weapons on small attack/defense ships

Ver 1.65 - RELEASE #07
- Removed minesweeper as component to larger attack ships (sweeper components do not work while cloaked)
- Tweaked planet selection to decrease farming and increase research colonies
- Modified default formation "Dark Wing"
- Further tweaking to research tree and ship designs based on testing

Ver 1.60 - RELEASE #06
- Fixed error in 3000 point start in General.txt where all points were not spent; added new design name file; removed cloaking from sweepers and colony ships due to bugs
- Created new .emp files with strategies (previous ones had some bugs)
- Tweaked Anger/Politics file for better reactions re: trade and treaty policies
- Made dramatic changes to research tree, designs, construction and facilities queue file

Ver 1.55 - RELEASE #05
- Modified .emp files since unique strategies file still not working in race folders
- Modified unit launching designs to use cloaking
- Modified construction queues based on extra resources & unit caps

Ver 1.50 - RELEASE #04
- Deleted Kamikaze & Boarding Ships (again) b/c still not used in fleets by AI
- Added back unique strategy file now that it is usable by AI
- Modified Construction Queues and Vehicle designs
- Added back defense bases and research of cloaking now that these are fixed

Ver 1.40 - RELEASE #03 (shipset graphics by Voidhawk now added)
- Deleted all calls to "Defense Ship" (until bug fixed) and completely overhauled construction queues
- Fixed several range error bugs and added multi-class attack/defense ships

Ver 1.35 - RELEASE #02 (shipset based on Xiati)
- Additional tweaks to designs and construction queues based on tech levels 2 and 3 playtesting
- Overhauled planet selection file to make decisions more consistent with human player and limit number of facilities built in early game
- Overhauled research, construction and design files to eliminate under-utilized tech and ships (i.e. boarding, troops, kamikaze, cloaking, etc.)
- Fixed spacing errors

Ver 1.30 - RELEASE #01 (shipset based on Xiati)

[Atrocities]

bump nudge