Timskorn

I've definitely noticed the US AI transfer their air to Europe. In my current game they have 2 bombers leveling cities in France. Not sure about how the Axis AI would handle bombers though, would be interesting to see.

Yep, I have a feeling someone will come out with a LR and Heavy Bomber strategy that'll rip up German MPP's in France and Germany. There's probably at least 50-80 MPP's there to be knocked out, even more if they are getting IT bonuses.

IT is your #1 MPP ticket. Production is nice, but maxing out IT will give you a significant boost in MPP's. Over the long-run it's almost necessary to have at least level 2 or 3 IT, if not maxed. Especially if your opponent is investing in it.

It just means that the harsh winter has set in Russia, historically a big reason why Russia is such a tough country to invade. In SC2 this is represented by reduced attack abilities, and is usually a good time to reinforce your troops and upgrade units.

Thanks HC. No, I like the system, I just wanted to get a better idea of how to work with the %'s. And as you said, we could make very specific scripts to buy certain units if we want.

Another question on the scripts and script order. Production, for example, has % rates on whether the AI builds that particular unit. So is it entirely possible that the AI would not build ANYTHING if it happens to get a bad roll on the percentages? In my last game I turned FoW on occassionally and saw, at one time, the US had 600 MPP's and Russia 500. It seemed like they had plenty to spend at times, but it almost looked as if they'd get bad 'rolls' on the percentages and wouldn't produce/research anything.

As far as I know, if you upload a scenario it includes the scripts that are meant to be used for it. So I think when scripts are uploaded for public use (separate of the campaign they are used in) there should be a note about its intended use. For example, my garrison scripts for Russia are intended to be used with my production scripts because they require a lot of units, and the production script optimizes Corp production so all the tiles are garrisoned. Using one or the other separate from each other may still work but not as effectively.

This is one area I haven't checked in the editor, but theoretically it could probably be done. You could set a bunch of conditions for this to be true, such as specific cities that need to be in Allied hands. Personally I'd like to add one that automatically surrenders them after Germany surrenders.

Ah, that's probably it, thanks.

This is a thread to detail the changes I'm working on for my first mod release, get feedback about possible issues and/or suggestions, and to know when it's available to download and where to get it. I'm focusing exclusively on the Allied AI for this mod, tested to be played on Hard with +1 Experience. So for all intents and purposes this mod, until I finish Axis AI, will only work differently if you play as Axis. USA --- - Early focus (1939-1941) on research will be centered around IT and Production, with Bombers and infantry weapons after. - From 1941 on research scales back on IT and production and focuses on Infantry, Air and Armor in that preference order. - US will have a chance to attack North Africa sometime in 1942. - If N.A. secured, US will invade Palermo or the Italian mainland directly. - US D-Day buildup will occur shortly after N.A. offensive has commenced. - D-Day currently occurs mid-1943 to late 1943. May code to occur as soon as enough units are available. Earlier the better, I believe, especially against a human opponent to take pressure off Russia. UK --- - Focus on Advanced Air, Infantry Weapons and Anti-Subs (primarily). - Production favors Corp and Army in first few years (Preparation for D-day, and helps with any Sealion attempt)). - AI chooses between attacking Tobruk or Iraq, depending on tactical and strength situation in Alexandria. May further code to allow attack more in Middle-East as well. - D-Day landings occur simultaneously with US. Last attempt saw 3 US units and 4 UK units attack in mid-1943. Russia ------ - Major revision of the Garrison AI code. AI forms primary around Moscow, Voronezh and Stalingrad behind the rivers. Moscow mostly in the trees and nearby mountain tiles. Script AI was also tweaked so units don't operate/move out of position all the time. - Early production is primarily around Corps and Armies, respectively. - Early research is primarily around IT and Anti-Infantry weapons. - Mid to late production adds in a lower chance for corps and higher chance for armies and tank groups. - Mid to late research lowers anti-infantry and IT research and focuses on heavy tanks and production. - (experiment) Going to try and code around the Siberian reinforcements, so they are grouped together in an offensive plan to attack German lines instead of being dispersed around Russia. - Overall, the plan for the Russian AI is to hold out for as long as possible and to optimize their research and production. Currently scheduled for first public testing by the end of next week (May 4th/5th).

Ah, thanks very much for the clarification Hubert. Makes my life a lot easier with less guessing. Hmm...I can see both the pro's and con's with not sending an HQ over until an objective is met. The good thing is that an HQ won't get dropped off first and bushwacked, or get in the way of offensive units. The con is if the attack fails to get the objective within a few turns, the lack of supplies will make them ripe for a turkey shoot if the player decides to counter-attack. At any rate, this helps in deciding how to plan amphib attacks! More units! As for the sending of naval vessels, I noticed the US sent ships with the transports that were sent to the UK. Not sure why they went.

Not that I know of. I've been focusing primarily on the Allied AI, and probably won't be ready to test publicly for another week or so. Check out the scripting forum to keep up to date on different scripts people are working on.

HC, or Edwin, any idea on how to include ships in a plan? I'm doing my US North Africa invasion, but I can't get any ships to head over there. Ideally I'd like them to send a couple ships ahead of the invasion force. Do amphib plans take into consideration nearby sea units as well? I also saw that the US sent their Eisenhower HQ to the UK, but never dropped it off in France for D-Day. I'd venture to guess that HQ's move ok if doing a normal transport, but seem to be broken if part of an amphib plan. BTW, I finally managed to get 7 units to land for D-Day (mid-1943). 4 UK units and 3 US units, on top of the 3 the US sent to North Africa. Good stuff!

Thanks! At first it was a little daunting to take in all of the info, but you did a good job in the structure of the scripts and the explanation of each section. For the Stalingrad script I altered the existing one, no need to add a new one. If I want to add a whole new script though I usually just copy and paste a similar one and then start altering each line. I've found it comes in handy to write down coordinates, especially when I was doing the Russian garrison scripts. Helps editing go quicker. I also recommend once you start getting a hang of the scripting, to open the .txt files separate of the editor. Anytime you open the scripts or save the scenario or update the scripts it has to verify there are no errors (which is awesome, thanks HC), but it takes a long time to finish. Working on the .txt files outside the editor saves a lot of time, as when you're done you only need to verify it once or twice.

Thanks DD. I have a feeling Hubert's patch will solve a lot of the current issues the AI is having, but we're getting good practice in the meantime. Plus we've made scripts (especially Edwin) that are pretty much guaranteed not to be in the next patch that we can simply transplant once it's out. Good stuff!

I thought I'd post a simple breakdown of how PLAN scripts work for those interested in doing a few tweaks to their game. Mind you I'm still learning a lot, and I'm sure Edwin can add to this (and/or correct me if I'm wrong on anything), so I'm going to keep to what I (pretty much) know so far. Below is a sample PLAN taken from the game. I'm at work so I'm using one that has been posted somewhere on the forum already. ; Garrison script { #NAME= USSR Garrison - Stalingrad Defensive Line #POPUP= #FLAG= 1 (this basically turns it ON) #TYPE= 2 #COUNTRY_ID= 4 (Which country this script is for) #TRIGGER= 100 (% chance the script will activate) #LEVEL= 0 (min difficulty level this script will fire) #PLAN_ID= 0 (0=Garrison, 1=Offensive 2=Amphib 3=Transport) #SIZE= 1 (# of units involved for the script. For example, the German attack on France calls for 8. This does not include HQ's, planes and bombers, which are, I believe, automatically assigned if available.) #LENGTH= 1 (How many turns pass for the AI before the script goes into motion) #GOAL_POSITION= 127,16 (Since this script is a Garrison script, the Goal_Position is the coordinate where the AI will place a unit to garrison. This is a good way to form defensive lines, as I'm doing here for Stalingrad. These coordinates are all behind the river around the city. Garrison scripts always default at #Size=1, but by placing multiple Goal_Positions it'll place 1 unit for each one you give). #GOAL_POSITION= 126,16 #GOAL_POSITION= 127,17 #GOAL_POSITION= 125,15 #GOAL_POSITION= 126,18 #GOAL_POSITION= 124,15 #GOAL_POSITION= 125,18 #GOAL_POSITION= 123,14 #DATE= 1942/03/03 (Earliest date this script can be activated. If other conditions are required below, it'll wait until those are met.) #STEAL= 0 (0=no and 1=yes. If other Plans are going on, this particular plan will 'steal' units from other plans in order to fulfill it's #Size requirement. Good for urgent/priority plans that absolutely must be done). ; Set friendly positions: ; 1st Line - Stalingrad #FRIENDLY_POSITION= 127,16 (This line basically states that Stalingrad must be in friendly hands in order for this script to be true. If Stalingrad is in enemy hands, the script will no longer try to garrison the area around it). ; Set variable conditions: ; 1st Line - USSR politically aligned with Allies and not surrendered #VARIABLE_CONDITION= 4 [2] [100] [0] (This is typically used to check to see which countries are aligned to whom, if they've surrendered and what their minimum war % needs to be.) ; Set tactical conditions: ; 1st Line - Sverdlovsk not tactically threatened (dummy condition) #TACTICAL_CONDITION= 135,5 [3] (The tactical condition checks to see if a particular resource is threatened. In this case, if Sverdlovsk is threatened by Axis land forces (the 3) the script won't activate. So if you wanted to make a script where the UK invades Iraq from Alexandria, you could check to see if Alexandria and Cairo are threatened before the offensive takes place so they don't attack Iraq when a bunch of Axis units are about to capture Alexandria). ; Set activate position ; 1st Line - Axis within range of Moscow (About to Fall) #ACTIVATE_POSITION= 112,10 [1,1] [2,2] [1] (Activate position is a condition that checks a specific criteria before the script is set into motion. In this case 112,10 is Moscow. [1,1] is the min/max range around Moscow that it checks. [2,2] is the min/max # of units that it looks for in the 1 tile radius. [1] is the political alignment of the units it is checking for. 1=Axis, 2=Allies. In this case, as soon as 2 Axis units are within 1 tile of Moscow, this script will activate (as long as the other conditions are true as well, such as Stalingrad not in enemy hands). So I'm having the AI abandon Moscow and beginning the Garrison of Stalingrad at that point). ; Set cancel position ; 1st Line - Axis within 1 tile of Stalingrad ; 2nd Line - No Axis units within range of Stalingrad (removed) #CANCEL_POSITION= 127,16 [1,1] [3,3] [1] (The cancel position ENDS the particular script as soon as one of these are met. This script will continue to try and garrison the Goal_Positions above until 3 Axis units are within 1 tile range of Stalingrad. As soon as this is true, the AI will cease to try and garrison the goal positions listed above, essentially giving up further defense.) } Hope this helps a bit. As I'm at work I'm not able to reference the instructions Hubert left in the scripts detailing all of these lines, so it's going by memory. [ April 26, 2006, 07:30 PM: Message edited by: Timskorn ]

We don't have control over individual units' choices, but we can definitely put in scripts that mimick a particular players' strategy. IE, focus solely on Advanced Sub and IT as Germany until mid-1940, and switch production for that time-frame to include an extra sub or two. Or as Russia, focus soley on Anti-Infantry and IT research until late 1941 and then switch over to a Corp-heavy production script. Someday we'll have scripts that'll be damn tough to beat, just wait.

Awesome, it's a good feeling when your scripts actually work...well, the intention of the script anyway. I would definitely like a solution to the 1st two questions you posed. It could really save a lot of much needed MPP's. The way I do it now is simply give the AI a time-frame to do research (ie the USA between 1939-1941), and whatever they end up getting out of it is what they get. After that the majority of their MPP's will go to production. It still leaves room for waste though, but mostly just for that time frame. Thanks for the reply HC and looking forward to more info on the AI.

Good question, it'd be nice to know if the Production script I set up for the AI will have a high chance of bankrupting them and screwing up their research, or vice versa.

Great! Was actually going to post a question about this today...

No, that's a good idea DD. Right now there really isn't much, if anything available, but in the future this sort of thing may come in handy if there's a lot of scripts and mods out. There is cmmods, but you have to register for that which can deter some people. I used to have a small website using freewebs.com to host RTS scenarios I made, so that could be used if need be.

Exactly, and as the scripting system allows for easy sharing, I imagine months from now that we'll have dozens of scripts to incorporate for each side. Also, one big help would be for the top multiplayers like Rambo to share their common strategies against their opponents (you can keep the trade secrets ) so scripts can created to mimick a player. For example, Rambo's Advanced Sub attack could be a script that's called 25% of the time. Against a casual player, he'll be caught off-guard and dominated at sea. I'm working towards improving the general AI right now, but later a 1939 campaign can be created by someone that specifically uses different player strategies, even little things like sending a bomber to Malta. Eventually we'll have a pretty competent AI that'll be able to choose between 4 or more different overall strategies each game, then many more area-specific strategies.

Check out Negative Nancy here. We're just trying to add some stiffer competition, not the next Deep Blue.

I haven't tested this yet either, but I think there may be a way to make sure the Siberian reinforcements aren't snatched away and separated. I looked under the unit.txt file in the Events folder and located the conditions for which the Siberian transfer takes place. I think if we set up an Offensive_Plan around those exact coordinates and make it "wait" for the oppropriate # of units, it would activate the plan and group those units into a single offensive group to throw back at the Germans.

Yes, I'd love to see scripting like this. I'm so used to having this kind of control in editing. It makes sense to be able to switch AI research on the fly, for example, if they find out the Germans have level 4 subs. I'd like to be able to script the ability to switch research over to compensate for this. On another note, I think I've found why the Russian AI has been acting so newbishly. I've done a bunch of changes and plan on testing them soon, but here's the gist of it: In the USSR Garrison scripts, they are set to 'loop' until the Cancel position condition is triggered. For all the USSR scripts, these are: 1. If Axis is 1 tile away from (city). 2. No Axis units within range of (city) So once a single Axis unit reaches a tile outside the city, the garrison script stops. But the BIG thing is #2. The AI will never 'dig in' their lines to the rear because the Garrison script is only meant to activate when the AI is getting close to the city (#Activate condition). The scripts activate the Garrison script, typically, when 2-4 Axis units get within 3-4 tiles of that city. So they don't have time to dig in. I've redone the scripts so front-line cities like Riga and Minsk aren't garrisoned via script. Also, cities like Voronezh, Moscow and Stalingrad (and their tactical surrounding locations) get garrisoned as soon as the 1st German units enter into Russian territory. This should give them time to 'dig in' a proper defensive line well before German units reach them. I still have to test it, and I'll post an example script of what I have for Stalingrad. The Garrison is triggered when 2 Axis units are next to Moscow, and it is cancelled once 3 Axis units are adjacent to Stalingrad: ; Garrison script { #NAME= USSR Garrison - Stalingrad Defensive Line #POPUP= #FLAG= 1 #TYPE= 2 #COUNTRY_ID= 4 #TRIGGER= 100 #LEVEL= 0 #PLAN_ID= 0 #SIZE= 1 #LENGTH= 1 #GOAL_POSITION= 127,16 #GOAL_POSITION= 126,16 #GOAL_POSITION= 127,17 #GOAL_POSITION= 125,15 #GOAL_POSITION= 126,18 #GOAL_POSITION= 124,15 #GOAL_POSITION= 125,18 #GOAL_POSITION= 123,14 #DATE= 1942/03/03 #STEAL= 0 ; Set friendly positions: ; 1st Line - Stalingrad #FRIENDLY_POSITION= 127,16 ; Set variable conditions: ; 1st Line - USSR politically aligned with Allies and not surrendered #VARIABLE_CONDITION= 4 [2] [100] [0] ; Set tactical conditions: ; 1st Line - Sverdlovsk not tactically threatened (dummy condition) #TACTICAL_CONDITION= 135,5 [3] ; Set activate position ; 1st Line - Axis within range of Moscow (About to Fall) #ACTIVATE_POSITION= 112,10 [1,1] [2,2] [1] ; Set cancel position ; 1st Line - Axis within 1 tile of Stalingrad ; 2nd Line - No Axis units within range of Stalingrad (disabled) #CANCEL_POSITION= 127,16 [1,1] [3,3] [1] }