@rogercooper said...

@igbi Be careful with making every VC a capital. The AI can overdo it, focusing too much on it.

But Roger, unlike your mods, there's no nuance or sophistication to my mods. They're a brutal reduction.

Ha, ha. You tell me one thing. TheDog tells me another. A rock. A hard place. I'm between them? No, no, I'm over to the side, just a blip on the screen. Only the storage scope will show that I've been here.

It would be good if the AI had direct support for victory cities, at a level intermediate between capitals and normal territories.

Don't know the details in any way, manner, or fashion. But the best of AIs would require no tweaking by us, except to weaken it, which would be in the options.

There are things of number value all over the map. Those numbers, along with the tagging of what has to be captured should be enough information for a super-strong AI to calculate a plan.

A strategy, with battle tactics to carry it out, adapting as needed to what the opponent does.

But maybe you're talking about something else.

--IGBI

@igbi Be careful with making every VC a capital. The AI can overdo it, focusing too much on it.

It would be good if the AI had direct support for victory cities, at a level intermediate between capitals and normal territories.

@igbi said in ww2v5 AI Stacking, No Good Reason to Fix It:

Okay, so I loaded 1941 Global Command Decision and I saw how there's a flag in every sea zone.

Those are Convoy Flags, in GCD they are used to show ownership of the PUs. GCD does not display capital xml code as Capitals as it is used to influence the AI. In A&A maps they are used as Capitals of a nation.
In GCD you see if a territory is a Capital , by using the Territory tab.

.

<option name="capital" value="Russians"/>

Search for USSR instead of Russians

@thedog said in ww2v5 AI Stacking, No Good Reason to Fix It:

Yes, every Victory City/Centre should be a Capital

I'm glad I've made every victory city a capital, and switched from a triggered victory to the old-style total victory, but the problem remains.

The end result will be a more general import of the log files in my hypothetical application.

With the changes, I saw the problem on the 2nd or so game I ran. This falls under the category of a bug, because the AI mostly takes Brazil last, and only occasionally goes into the bad loop. The original AI dev could look at it and probably figure out why in an hour or a day. But there are times in life to move on to the new stuff.

Every Capital should be important to the AI like;

Victory City - usually used to the win the game, also a focus for the AI

Check. Got that.

Resources - like Oil Fields, Lend Lease Depots

Doesn't apply to me because I'm sticking with standard older games.

Player focus - Panama Canal, Suez Canal

(I wrote some stuff, but what you're saying here is part of your bullet point list on the other page, which I comment on below.)

A Sea Zone/Territory 6+ locations away from another Capital - like in the middle of the Pacific (The AI needs focus)

Okay, so I loaded 1941 Global Command Decision and I saw how there's a flag in every sea zone.

But in trying to do my homework about sea zones as capitals, I searched through 1941_global_command_decision.xml, and there's no more use of settings like <option name="capital" value="Russians"/>.

So that's being taken care of somewhere else now.

OKAY NOTE: Okay, a your bullet point on the other page describes what's done now: Liberal use of "capital" xml code that tells the AI what is important to players.

But putting markers all over the map should be only done with precise understanding.

And I like the idea of starting with a blank slate, were 2 to 13 territories have to be captured, and the AI makes the best possible strategic choices based on the best of battle tactics, in the context of geographical constraints.

There are quick fixes, and then there are long term fixes. I'm in no hurry.

This might help again, now you have a better understanding.
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/3743/how-to-make-a-map-ai-friendly

So in searches before I made an account, I briefly looked at that. And then a little again after you recommended it, and now again.

(Each time I gravitate towards reading what @black_elk has to say about AI.)

That page is nice because it's one page. Each time I've gone through the bullet list, I say, "Well, I don't use things like technology and politics, so I already meet most of the requirements for AI friendly."

ITEMS 1,2,3 ("capital" code, no objectives, no politics): Doesn't apply to ww2v5 because it's in the basic "WW2V3" class of games.

ITEM 4 (No A&A style technology): I guess you're talking about technology features you can play in TripleA, not technology per the rules in a PDF, for a boxed set game. I delete the technology in the XML files, so it doesn't apply.

ITEM 5 (isAI): Seems complex. The TripleA people should release an official modified ww2v5 using it, if they think that's the way to go.

ITEM 7 (only PU): Doesn't apply. ww2v5 is limited to that.

ITEM 6 (stacking rules/upkeep): Worthy of more comment.

You say, "As a guide if your map has 20+ units of the same type in a territory you need stacking rules." For normal play, I suppose, but even then maybe not true.

A legitimate, naive tactic is to take the conservative approach: never attack if you're not guaranteed to win the battle. But if two opponents are both using that tactic, large numbers can build up. Why not let them do that? They start thinking they're good, and then someone comes along and takes advantage of that and beats them.

A more sophisticated tactic would be, "Always attack with the absolute minimum of forces which your calculator tells you to use."

But regardless, I constrain the battle and create choke points. With all territory values being value 5, large numbers build up, like 100 or more infantry, or 50 tanks.

Thanks for the tips.

--IGBI