Automated site searching request

[vfb]

Could the new and improved automatic site searching please skip over capitol provinces. Some nations have just one magic site in their capitol, and automated site searching means 15 wasted gems or micromanagement.

According to Edi's DB, the capitol sites all have frequency 5. So if any province has a frequency 5 site, it could be skipped, just like provinces with 2 or more sites are currently skipped.

Please?

I'll give you some cake in advance. [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Cake.gif[/img]

[Zeldor]

So there is any logic in that site searching? For me it works fine, until it decides to get stuck on the province where searching mage is.

[vfb]

It starts at the lowest-numbered province with less than 2 known sites. If you own no provinces with less than 2 known sites, then the search will target the province the caster is in. It would make more sense to target the lowest-numbered province with less than 3 known sites next, instead of the current province, and then finally those provinces with 3 known sites, but I don't want to ask for too much!

[Zeldor]

I am pretty sure it chooses provinces with 2-3 magic sites. It sometimes also just ingores newly conquered provinces that have 0-1 magic sites.

[vfb]

No, that's not how it works. It never targets a province with 2 or more known sites (except when it has run out of sites to search, it targets the caster's current province). It will not skip a newly-conquered province with 0-1 sites, but it will target an pre-existing province of yours first with a lower province number, if it has only 0-1 known sites.

If you've got a save file where automated searching is not working like I describe, could you please attach it. Perhaps something was changed in the last patch? But in all my 3.15 games, it's working as I described.

By the way, I was not the discoverer of the logic behind the auto-site-search algorithm. But I can't remember who figured it out, sorry!

[Edi]

vfb is correct in his description of the autosearch mechanics. Though autosearching also skips over any provinces where any level of that type of search has been performed.

I have no idea how feasible it would be to change the site searching spells to check for the frequency attribute of already discovered sites, but I suppose it could be done if Johan is feeling like it.

[thejeff]

vfb is correct. It never chooses provinces with 2+ known sites. Except, obviously, when it defaults to the caster's current province. But that's not really choosing that province, just telling you it can't find a valid target.

The only bit vfb left out was that it also doesn't target any province that has been manually searching in that path. So if you had a level 1 mage search, that province will be skipped.

But I think what may be confusing you is the timing. A mage you have doing automated monthly casting of a site search spell picks his next target right after casting his spell. This means he may choose a province and then have other mages casting search spells find sites in it, bringing it to 2 or more sites.
Since ritual magic happens before battles, it also means provinces conquered that turn aren't eligible targets. You didn't own them when the target was chosen.
This also means that a caster could be targeting a province you lost that turn, possibly giving your opponent free gems.

[Hully]

Hi

ok, automated site searching? has this really been implemented? If so how do you turn it on...

Also is there a complete list of keyboard commands anywhere?

Thanks


Hully

[Edi]

Shift+M and select site search ritual. It'll keep on going until it runs out of targets.

[vfb]

Hully said:
Also is there a complete list of keyboard commands anywhere?

Hully

Last page of the manual has the list. It doesn't list the '?' keyboard command though. The '?' command in the game lists all the keyboard commands too.