How to improve the AI?

[Axe99]

Sorry if I sound too negative but this games AI needs some serious love from the devs because eye candy and features that only the player can use does not cut it and is becoming old rather quickly.

At least you've now had three AI threads in a month . Fingers crossed it'll step up again, we can only hope. Deffo agree it's the #1 feature in the game.

 

[BarrosRodrigues]

At least you've now had three AI threads in a month . Fingers crossed it'll step up again, we can only hope. Deffo agree it's the #1 feature in the game.

Indeed *Crosses fingers*

 

[Smileyou]

we don't need so much of improved AI than at least functioning to a degree AI, .. like how about using some common sense, like
not exceeding stacking penalty, or taking in account logistic supplies when sending troops so they don't starve out, or sending 60 ships
into a port that can maintain 60 ships and not 6 ships!) ..

Or using TAC, CAS on those provinces that their troops are loosing the most or are of need for a breakthrough..

in hoi3 i always wondered how is it so hard for AI to be coded to keep its HQs in line, meaning Corps HQ would be less than 200 km
from its divisions, Army HQ less than etc etc.. i can't accept its impossible to code it to hold the lines in said distances..but the fact it
wasn't programmed at all..

 

[ringhloth]

we don't need so much of improved AI than at least functioning to a degree AI, .. like how about using some common sense, like
not exceeding stacking penalty, or taking in account logistic supplies when sending troops so they don't starve out, or sending 60 ships
into a port that can maintain 60 ships and not 6 ships!) ..

Or using TAC, CAS on those provinces that their troops are loosing the most or are of need for a breakthrough..

in hoi3 i always wondered how is it so hard for AI to be coded to keep its HQs in line, meaning Corps HQ would be less than 200 km
from its divisions, Army HQ less than etc etc.. i can't accept its impossible to code it to hold the lines in said distances..but the fact it
wasn't programmed at all..

Because sometimes you need to exceed the stacking penalty, or send 60 ships into a port that can maintain 6.

 

[Wminus]

Not really. You can just put in a rule that forbids the AI from having a stacking penalty above X % and make AI ports support 5x the amount of ships the player's ports would. Sometimes you just need to do workarounds to keep things simple.

It strikes me that much of what the player is doing when they look at the map and create a plan of attack is shape-recognition - they identify salients, and opportunities for encirclement, based on the shape of the front-line.

Couldn't the AI in a strategy game like HOI identify salients and the opportunities to encircle the enemy by analysing the shape of the front line? And then deploy armour/mobile forces to the places from which it wishes to launch a pincer attack?

I have to admit that I am far from an expert on AI, but it strikes me that if software can easily identify faces in a picture (OK, most of the time at least) then detecting salients, and the location of their "roots" would be far more easy. Applying a template plan-of-attack to the situation would then also be relatively simple (by which I mean doable with a research team and enough time/money, a not necessarily doable by Paradox).

It's much harder than it seems because everything is interconnected. However, I suspect it shouldn't be too hard, and it would get much easier if its line of sight was improved to 3-4 provinces at land.

 

[ringhloth]

Not really. You can just put in a rule that forbids the AI from having a stacking penalty above X % and make AI ports support 5x the amount of ships the player's ports would. Sometimes you just need to do workarounds to keep things simple.

Simple workarounds work poorly, as you need so many of them they become convoluted workarounds.

It's much harder than it seems because everything is interconnected. However, I suspect it shouldn't be too hard, and it would get much easier if its line of sight was improved to 3-4 provinces at land.

Allowing the enemy computer player to access more data doesn't necessarily result in a better computer player. AGEOD games, for instance, are generally recommended at keeping the detection bonus for the computer quite low.