One of the things that is giving me fits in Fallen Enchantress is getting delicate units to a dangerous place safely.
The classic case, sending a pioneer to claim a new area – but without getting killed on the way.
The hardest part of writing AI isn’t coming up with *A* away to solve a problem. It is solving the problem that doesn’t require a lot of coding time AND doesn’t doesn’t eat up a lot of CPU.
So, for instance, I don’t have the luxury that you humans have of looking at the path a unit generates between A and B and see what’s dangerous. That would be immensely expensive.
Similarly, while providing a body guard for a unit is another path to take, the problem there is that you could really slow down your expansion and get wiped out by the human player who is able to make better decisions.
Yes, I agree.
Okay guys, keep in mind that this problem that Frogboy is attacking is *not* about a pioneer getting somewhere; it is more generically about smart movement of units of all types. The early-game example that is easy to grasp is the pioneer scouting - but it is also about routing low-power reinforcements to main armies; exploring dangerous territory with capable stacks and so forth.
The AI needs to explore into lethal territories (effectively making a gambit calculating the loss of the scout into its equation) just for the sake of more game-world knowledge. Similar to how Starcraft players/AI sends a sacrificial unit exploring the map just to locate important resources/enemies.
This makes sense.
Evaluating options every time the A.I move and with that information, perhaps changing actions is what was done in Heroes III and that worked.
I just don't understand what takes a great deal of CPU power. The A.I needs to keep the wandering monsters (WMs) in memory and then manouver around them.
It can also attack a monster and then run around the battlefield while the Sovereign blasts the monster with spells and conjures monsters of his own.
An important thing about this is sightdistance and movementspeed. How far into the FoW can units see? Do all units see the same distance or do some see further? How much will the 'Scout Pack' enhance sightdistance?
How far do different monsters move? Do some low-midlvl monsters have both a good sightdistance AND a good movementrate? They are death for pioneers then. But put a military unit with them and you can fight that monster.
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