It’s not that I have to blame Derek, it’s that I can…

from JoeUser Forums

Stardock is a pretty silly place to “work” at.  So my new rule of thumb is, blame Derek for all my problems.  Compiler problem? Derek. VPN issue? Derek. Incredibuild glitch? You get the idea.

Now, if the airs are let out of my tires again…well, who knows what caused that. Smile

…

Anyway, thanks to Derek, I get to work primarily on the parts of our games I’m traditionally used to working on.  With GalCiv, I knew exactly what I wanted.  With War of Magic, we kind of did the kumbaya approach (everyone gets to throw in something..).  In FE, Derek has the final word. And it has made a tremendous difference in terms of focusing the game design.

Sometimes, it means features get cut.  For example, I wanted to let players and the AI to trade items back and forth. But that could turn into a real time sink code-wise for all involved so we have had to put it up.  That leaves more time to focus on other parts of the AI.

Of course, my view of the world is ugly. Everything is turned off. But every day I get to see new stuff.

 

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I don’t even know what this is, new today. Cool!

It is interesting to see where AI design and game design meet.  As the advocate for AI rights, I am constantly requesting game design changes. Sometimes they get in, sometimes they don’t.

I’ve been really pushing for a way to let players (ahem computer players especially) fast build things. I hate having to wait 18 turns or whatever for something to build if I’m “rich”. Punish me massively but let me get things out quickly if possible.

The tech tree and magical spells area are another area that I lobby a lot because the AI can do so much with these that you…humans…won’t because you guys just aren’t good enough at math to come up with optimal strategies compared to computer players. So the “richer” the tech tree and the more varied the spells are, the better.

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Today’s updates to the tech tree start it out smaller but have it grow. You can now see how many turns it takes to get somewhere with your current research.

 

The AI is doing a lot of work on “scouting” the world. But today’s question is, how intelligently will the AI make use of this scouting? The AI can uncover squares quickly…

But it does not good if it squanders its knowledge.

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and so…

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FAIL.

Back to the drawing board.

22,079 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

The AI must have liked being next to that river better! 

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I blame Toby for you blaming Derek.

WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

I'd want my city there too.  Access to fresh fish, my kids could take a nice dip when its hot, I could wash my clothes and myself so I don't smell like raw sewage and offend my pretty wife, etc. etc.

 

But in seriousness, yes, distance from other cities should be a big factor in the AI's choice of next settlement for defensive purposes.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

I am just happy the AI will not know the entire map from turn one. Something very annoying about AI knowing where every unit and every resource is.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Will the AI do quests?  I've been asking this question off and on over the last year, but I don't think I've heard an answer.   If so how do you determine the path it takes in quests (i.e. how does it answer questions in quests)?

 

 

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

"I don’t even know what this is, new today. Cool!"

 

An arena that allows all factions to participate in with one champion every 25 years (100 turns) with the winning faction getting a diplomacy bonus untill the next contest & a prized item being rewarded to the champion along with some 'champion of the turny trait'? Or maybe a turny for Both Kingdoms & Empires?  " General Krull of the Kraxis, champion of the turny, leads the invincible armies against us my lord"

 

champion of the turny trait: maybe adds a chance to cause fear in enemies and/or add moral to friendlies

 

Could also make it easier to recruit more champions

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Okay, so maybe you'd have liked the scout to pick your spot - but is the spot the AI picked in the end particularly bad? Maybe it is worth it early on to build a 2nd city far-off; then consolidate by building a 3rd city later in-between. Is an effective strategy to deny more resources to enemies.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

If the AI was supposed to be scouting for new town placement, it did a pretty poor job not checking out the northern area that is covered in fog in the screenshot. Should do a better sweep of nearby neighborhood if emphasis is on empire expansion.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm... not sure that is fog. Could be a swamp, or  a lake. I see a river leading to it.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

What? Of course that's the fog of war. Don't be silly.

EDIT: On the other hand, in the new post Brad just made there's a rimilar looking area in the map:

http://content.screencast.com/users/draginol/folders/Jing/media/c14def07-e143-497e-8fe4-9683c9725a0c/2011-10-27_1453.png

.. maybe it's a chasm?

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Definitely not fog of war, anyway. You can join me in the silly corner any time you want.

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

It is fallen lands. Probably home to the big bad. 

Reply #13 from Elemental Forums Top


Now, if the airs are let out of my tires again…well, who knows what caused that.

 

**Cough Cough** Handicapped parking **Cough Cough**

Reply #14 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Heavenfall, reply 11
Definitely not fog of war, anyway. You can join me in the silly corner any time you want.

Thanks!

Possibly a placeholder texture, since it looks pretty ugly.

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

It's "Chasm" terrain, but don't read too much into Brad's AI maps...they tend to be designed to test specific things in a controlled environment.  On random maps those chasms are never a big circle, so it's cloth texture doesn't look as jarring :) 

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

Aww... a wider chasm could be cool too! The more different types of terrains like lakes, swamps, rivers and so on there are, the better!