Dom 3 Single-player - I don't get it.. - Page 3

Gandalf Parker · #21 April 4th, 2006, 12:42 AM

I see that as pro and con. The biggest problem being that most of the pros are on the side of solo play and most of the cons on the side of multi play

DominionsFan · #22 April 4th, 2006, 10:47 AM

I still play Dominions 2. singleplayer on my laptop when I am on my way to somewhere. I really enjoy it. Well yes the AI could be better, but some things will be fixed in Dominions 3. I think the fans could do AI fixes if Illwinter could support it somehow...well not me, I don't know programming, but some people surely could help to the devs.

Oversway · #23 April 4th, 2006, 11:36 AM

If you know the trn and 2h formats, you could write an AI and also write a cheat-detector

Gandalf Parker · #24 April 4th, 2006, 11:59 AM

Along with a bot player and a cheat maker

Its a never ending battle that Ive seen happen in other games.

That doesnt mean that Im against the idea. Its still up to the developers. Im just pointing out that there are reasons for them to decide either direction.

Oversway · #25 April 4th, 2006, 05:21 PM

A bot player IS the AI.

As I said in another post, people seem to be able to cheat now without the formats being officially documented. I agree it makes cheating easier, but also makes it easier to detect cheating, if you are worried about that.

But yeah, I guess its just a rehash of all the arguments about open standards vs security by obfuscation.

Fate · #26 April 4th, 2006, 05:23 PM

What if the game had two formats? I know it would be harder on the developers, but it would solve the problems relatively simply.
The player merely specifies whether it is a single player game (which would use a non-encrypted format, allowing for external AI's) or a multiplayer game (which uses the normal, encrypted format).

Gandalf Parker · #27 April 4th, 2006, 05:42 PM

Two formats might be interesting.

The thing about Bots being AIs is dependent on how they are used. If its recognized by everyone as an AI players thats fine. If its used as a false human player to help one person then its not. Believe me, every online world for decades has had a problem with that distinction

Sammas · #28 April 4th, 2006, 09:30 PM

Hmm, replied before but it mustn't have been processed.

The fact that a pretender ascends after a game is *not* an issue. The ascension is only implicit, after all. Is it really not possible to vanquish enemy pretenders one at a time? eg. after defeating on pretender, you may receive the information that on a distant shore, the followers of X are growing in number..

On AI, I think if someone writes a bot that is a threat to human players, then that would be terrific. I think it's fairly obvious that such a bot would be more of a benefit to the game than a negative. Think about it: there is no advantage in running a bot over a period of weeks in order to win a Dominions game. No money-making opportunities, no immediate visual feedback (eg. headshots), no special status etc. But having a bot that could provide a challenging game for skilled players would be a really good selling point.

Gandalf Parker · #29 April 4th, 2006, 09:53 PM

That hasnt stopped people from cheating. With a bot I could create 2 more players per game and have them feed me money and gems. That could be done anyway but with a bot its easier. Bots are commonly used for cheating in games.

BUT I do agree that it would be great if we could have bot AI's. Ive requested from the beginning the ability to script clients (not thru open trn files though, in fact I wish the game had more encryption). With Dom1 and Dom2 the attention was obviously on MP over SP. With Dom3 we will have to wait and see how much additional ability we have to improve solo play