Better, Simpler Programming Contest

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
BTW, that I was pondering... a "Combined Arms" bonus. The value of a unit would be based on the number you build, so that (for example) the first of any unit was worth 2x the normal value, the second was worth 3/2x the normal value, the third was worth 4/3 of the normal value, and so forth. Not only would this be good for an AI (which would not always produce the same 2 or 3 units), but I get the feeling that it would ensure the problem was NP and not P.

Well, if you were to offer a combined arms bonus, you should also offer a massing bonus. A single archer is rather useless. Of course, to evaluate this, would then require a longer-term view than single-turn production: Now you're looking at a puzzle of multi-turn strategic production.

Naturally, if somebody were to actually create a good solution to this problem, he'd have permanently solved the solution of bad unit composition in AIs for every single strategy game in existence!