AI Modding 101? - Page 3

Litcube · #21 February 23rd, 2004, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
If we can get Atraikus' permission, I would be happy to include this in SEIV Modding 101 Tutorial.

Sweet.

For the past month or so, most of my requests for AI Modding help have been met with, "Read SE4 Modding 101".

Litcube · #22 February 23rd, 2004, 08:07 PM

Baron Munchausen,

I'm assuming that this debug mode doesn't exist anymore. I'm curious why a game that is purportedly modder friendly would disable an invaluable tool such as this; but again, I'm assuming.

Have you ever seen the AI go back into "explorer" mode after initial contact with a race?

[ February 23, 2004, 18:38: Message edited by: Litcube ]

hicksz · #23 February 23rd, 2004, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:
Originally posted by hicksz:
This was taken from the TDM-Modpack.

Keep in mind that there is no "right" way to create an AI. There will always be dissenting opinions (once you get beyond the mechanics, of course).
I know Imperator Fyron. I was debating on telling Rollo that but when he said bad choice, I laughed out loud and had to say it came from the TDM-Modpack. I'm very happy with the TDM-Modpack (and every other mod I tried) and I'm using it as the template for my private mod.

Quote:

I am really happy with Atraikius AI_DesignCreation_CheatSheet.doc but I'm bothered that this post and the document will get buried again when this post becomes old news. I was wondering if the document could be link to "Frequently Asked Questions for Newbies" or to Imperator Fyron SEIV Modding 101 tutorial since the doc is a modding subject?

If we can get Atraikus' permission, I would be happy to include this in SEIV Modding 101 Tutorial.

I will contact Attraikus when I get home from work. His E-mail is listed on his profile and I will try to seek permission. I will let you know if I get it. Hopefully this can be a start to completing your modding 101 tutorial. I remember reading on your forum that the AI mods were being considered. As soon as all of the AI mods are added SE V will come out and we will have to start all over again.

[ February 23, 2004, 20:05: Message edited by: hicksz ]

Mephisto · #24 February 23rd, 2004, 10:51 PM

This mode only existed in the beta Versions, never in the public Version to prevent cheating. The AI will return to "Exploration" when the AI has no contact to another race.

Quote:

Originally posted by Litcube:
Baron Munchausen,

I'm assuming that this debug mode doesn't exist anymore. I'm curious why a game that is purportedly modder friendly would disable an invaluable tool such as this; but again, I'm assuming.

Have you ever seen the AI go back into "explorer" mode after initial contact with a race?

Fyron · #25 February 24th, 2004, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Litcube:
Sweet.

For the past month or so, most of my requests for AI Modding help have been met with, "Read SE4 Modding 101".

I have no idea why those silly people would direct you there, as it does not currently cover AI...

Quote:

Originally posted by hicksz:

I will contact Attraikus when I get home from work. His E-mail is listed on his profile and I will try to seek permission. I will let you know if I get it. Hopefully this can be a start to completing your modding 101 tutorial. I remember reading on your forum that the AI mods were being considered. As soon as all of the AI mods are added SE V will come out and we will have to start all over again.

SEIV Modding 101 was never meant to include chapters on AI modding, as my knowledge on such is rather limited. The only thing that prevents it from being complete is the empty Miscellaneous Files chapter.

[ February 23, 2004, 22:44: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

Paul1980au · #26 February 24th, 2004, 12:44 AM

Im sure that once this latest patch is realised that there will be a need to upgrade and enhance the AI and its strategies etc. I would like to see a "smarter" and "more adaptive" AI instead of just pushing for weapons to bLast you - pursuing shields easily nullifies this. The other big AI research ship upgrade tactics is its special weapons.

More adaptive research targets and a smart selective based upon feedback from battles might make em more challanging ?

That said we will also need some work on a AI Modding FAQ.

hicksz · #27 February 26th, 2004, 09:37 AM

Imperator Fyron, it looks like I'm not going to be able to get Atraikius permission to post his AI_DesignCreation_CheatSheet on your website. I e-mailed him three days ago and didn't get an answer. I also did a search on his name and he hasn't posted since June of 2003.

Litcube, I ran into this post entitled "My AI Design Q&A" looking for Atraikius. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...3;t=009267;p=1
I don't have the time right now to read through every post but I notice a lot of AI Modding subjects including AI states. Maybe something here will interest you.

On another note, I have a question. Why do we have a Max Size Tonnage in the AI_Settings.txt for up to three turns? I was playing with the VehicleSize.txt ship and base tonnage sizes (Increasing them) and noticing that the AI was not creating all of it's ships and bases after turn 1. It took a while to notice the problem because I thought I did something wrong in the component.txt.

Fyron · #28 February 26th, 2004, 09:54 AM

Does anyone that knows/knew Atraikus think he would object if I included his cheat sheet in SEIV Modding 101?

Quote:

On another note, I have a question. Why do we have a Max Size Tonnage in the AI_Settings.txt for up to three turns?

Those settings are used for Low Tech Start, Med Tech Start and High Tech Start, respectively. I believe start 1 is low tech.

hicksz · #29 February 27th, 2004, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:
On another note, I have a question. Why do we have a Max Size Tonnage in the AI_Settings.txt for up to three turns?

Those settings are used for Low Tech Start, Med Tech Start and High Tech Start, respectively. I believe start 1 is low tech.

Thanks Imperator Fyron.

Your exactly right. Once you explained it all, I understood perfectly.

The text is tricky because:

"Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 1 Amount" does not equal "The max ship size tonnage for selecting low tech at start of new game".

Also I discovered that "Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 1 Num Turns" is referring to a full game year. I did this test with a race and they didn't develop full ship designs until 2401.0 after adding a value of 1. Now correct me if I'm wrong but I thought after you completed everything you wanted to do you press the "End Turn" button which is a transition of 2400.0 to 2400.1. It's an area that I just find confusing (but understand now) because of the way the text in the AI_Setting is written.

[ February 27, 2004, 04:43: Message edited by: hicksz ]

Rollo · #30 February 27th, 2004, 07:44 AM

[quote]Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

Quote:

On another note, I have a question. Why do we have a Max Size Tonnage in the AI_Settings.txt for up to three turns?

Quote:

Those settings are used for Low Tech Start, Med Tech Start and High Tech Start, respectively. I believe start 1 is low tech.

nope, that is not correct. These settings are used to restrict the maximum design size for a number of turns. Here is an example:

Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 1 Amount := 510
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 1 Num Turns := 20
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 2 Amount := 610
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 2 Num Turns := 40
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 3 Amount := 0
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 3 Num Turns := 0

That means the AI will not make designs bigger than 510kt for the first 20 turns. And no designs bigger than 610 for the first 40 turns.

Note that these settings don't really come into play unless you use a full-tech start or increase the hull sizes in your mod.

[ February 27, 2004, 05:46: Message edited by: Rollo ]