Switching AIs: The colonial dimension.

[unmerged(5605)]

Hey all. Sorry for starting a new topic, but I couldn't figure out anywhere else to put this.

Now that EU2 supports switching AI, many people have been switching the AI attack lists with different kings. However, another clear area that could be fooled with is the colonalnation on/off and the areas to colonize.

I first started thinking about this as a trigger for majors. For example, why not have an alternate AI turn on for a major nation who performs poorly, shutting off their colonial venture. a 3 province Spain or England might make a decision not to expand overseas.

However, upon thinking further, I can see far greater uses for this than that. *this* is the way to stop the ahistorical early English and French colonizing. Further, different colonial AI's can come after each other, so that the French can concentrate first on Acadie then Lousiana, or the English build up the East Coast before the Hudson Bay.

Thoughts?

 

[Garbon]

I support this fully. If you do a search in the EEP forum, somewhere I started a list of AIs that need switching and I don't think they were ever attended to. Also, when I was trying to get Portugal to work with my *complete* (as opposed to the incomplete setup in EEP) setup of East Africa, I was playing around with Portugal having various specific colonial AIs. Never did enough testing to see how that worked out. On rulers.org or something like it, there is a timeline for each major nation listing out specifically when they colonized or gained ROTW areas.

EDIT: Its not rulers.org, but I could find the site.

 

[unmerged(13277)]

Originally posted by eschaton
Hey all. Sorry for starting a new topic, but I couldn't figure out anywhere else to put this.

Now that EU2 supports switching AI, many people have been switching the AI attack lists with different kings. However, another clear area that could be fooled with is the colonalnation on/off and the areas to colonize.

I first started thinking about this as a trigger for majors. For example, why not have an alternate AI turn on for a major nation who performs poorly, shutting off their colonial venture. a 3 province Spain or England might make a decision not to expand overseas.

However, upon thinking further, I can see far greater uses for this than that. *this* is the way to stop the ahistorical early English and French colonizing. Further, different colonial AI's can come after each other, so that the French can concentrate first on Acadie then Lousiana, or the English build up the East Coast before the Hudson Bay.

Thoughts?

Unfortunately is not that simple.

See the colonization value covers two things in the ai files. A zero value means zero colonization, but it also means zero exploration! That means his explores and conquistadors, will come and die where they arrive, without ever doing anything.
When you then pushes up the colonization value, he has nowhere to colonize, and then wild case colonization kicks in, - which is that if an ai needs to colonize (has a colonization value) and has nowhere to colonize, he will colonize anything the somehow pops up.

Furthermore what to colonize and explore is also one and the same string. Partically unlucky made if you ask me. It makes it quite hard to make the ai explore the vast places major nations did, but not colonize it. Great care has to be done here, believe me! and in the end its all about timing. This is hard work and without SERIOUS playtesting nothing is gonna work they way you think it will.
Ai file editing is 99% playtesting and 1% changing values.

Another issue is that shifting colonization values up and down on ai file load kills ai colonization completely! Yes it is strange but it does somehow. Ex starting at 5 pulling down to say 2, kills his colonization desired. But shifting it up again does not recover it. He is dead in colonization!
I don’t know why it is so, but it is so (another indicator that in-game memory data is not read correctly or cleared correctly or something – which is my main suspicion why the ai falls asleep)
The only thing that works bug free is continually shifting it up or remain on the same (never lower then it was)

Anyway I have fumbled with this for a looooong time, to get it right.
You can try my ai mod if you like, which I believe is the best possible way it can be done, give the very limited ai parameter and the rules of the game (missing a few but very desirable commands and triggers).
Not flattering or anything, I believe I have made the best and most historical colonization and exploration ai to date for this game.
I know few has tried it, but they don’t know what they are missing

 

[unmerged(5605)]

Your AI mods seem very interesting, but I'm not sure I want to load them into the EEP without knowing if it will cancel out anything. Are you planning to include it in the EEP/ACG merger?

 

[Jester]

Originally posted by eschaton
Your AI mods seem very interesting, but I'm not sure I want to load them into the EEP without knowing if it will cancel out anything. Are you planning to include it in the EEP/ACG merger?

I must agree with Daywalker. His AI and accompanying event files lead to the best historical development I have ever seen in EU2. I am pushing for the completed AGCEEP merger to be compatible with Daywalkers MOD.

Late,
Jester