Edwin P.

In combat, there are two paths to conflict - threats (offensive actions) and responses (defensive actions). From my reading of the scripts it handles offensive actions very well, and allows for events to be canceled based on tactical conditions and Condition Postions. Yet I can't imagine how to create an event that will respond to a threat. Example: Take my UK expendition to the Mediterranean. If I set the plan to cancel if London or Manchester is threatened does this mean that the Royal Navy will be recalled to the UK or will they merely sit in the Mediterranean. Example: Axis subs are raiding convoy routes. How can I trigger the Royal Navy to search out and sink these subs or perhaps base a bomber in Iceland or Ireland or Nova Scotia? Example: Axis forces are building up to Attack Egypt, how do I tell the UK to send reinforcements to Egypt by way of the Horn of Africa, and not via the Mediterranean where they will likely be sunk (unless the reports screen says that they have no navy . Example: Russian forces are about to cut off the AI controlled armies in the Crimean Peninsula. How can I tell them to withdraw? The current SC1 AI often allows 3 to 4 Axis armies plus an Axis HQ unit to be isolated here in the Fall Blau scenario. My guess is that HC probably has more commands that he is planning to add later. --------------------------------------------- What I would like to see is some sort of Conditional flag based on the reports. Then the AI can adjust its actions based on the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the human player. Ie: Report_Condition:= Unit Count that must not be exceeded for event to occur. Format: Country_ID [Tactical ID Reference] [limit] Example: Report_Condition:= 6 [2][4] I.e. If Italy has 4 or more naval units this event will be canceled. (I assume that the Condition_Position can't be used due to FOW). 6 = Country Code 2 = Tactical ID Reference Value 4 = Unit Count Limit PS: Perhaps this script, or a variant thereof would also be useful in guiding AI research and purchase decisions? ------------------------------ Example: I am playing Ike99 now in a PBEM game. According to the Reports Screen, after a fierce naval battle the relative naval strengths are: UK 9 (probably including 1 transport), USA 2, USSR 2, Italy 2 with todate losses of 5 Allied Naval units and 11 Axis Naval Units. Based on this aggressive naval action by the Allies is warranted, and the Axis probably wants to undertake a defensive naval strategy. Simarily, according to the reports screen, in the game vs Ike99, he has 5 German Air Units and 1 Italian Air Unit. I spotted all of them in the Eastern front when he attacked. That leaves no Air Units in Western Europe. The AI would never take advantage of this, unless FOW is off, but a human player will. [ February 16, 2006, 07:48 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Many thanks HC. Looking forward to reading your comments when you have time. In the meantime, The Naval AI has always interested me, as Naval combat is totally different from Land Combat. Why - Naval ships are expensive. You lose a fleet or two and you will likely never replace it. If the UK loses their navy (as I learned the hard way from Rambo a long time ago when he used his Axis carrier strategy) they are sunk. So, here goes the first of several attempts at a naval AI. The Goal is to sink the Italian Navy at upon their entry into the war, and then take their ports in North Africa. The plan is broken into three main parts with subparts in each one; 1. Position the Fleets 1b. Move the Royal naval ships to position (GARRISON) 1b. Move the French Naval Ships to Position (GARRISON) 2. Order them to attack once Italy enters the war. (OFFENSIVE) 2a. Royal Navy Offensive 2b. French Navy Offensive 3. Then conquer/liberate Libya. 3a. Sea Transport 3b. Offensive I wonder if I can link the execution of one plan to another? I.e. if UK chooses to execute Sink Italian Navy Strategy, can I have France always (100%) choose a related plan also? :confused: and also activate the Sea Transport Plans in Phase 3? :confused: I would most certainly not want either the French Navy or the Royal Navy to attempt this on their own. The two fleets operating together can certainly decimate the Italian fleet, but alone, both sides will be decimated and the UK navy too weak to stop a German submarine campaign. Scripts to Position the Fleets: { #NAME= POSITION Royal Navy TO SINK ITALIAN NAVY #POPUP= #FLAG= 1 #TYPE= 0 'A single check at the start of the game #COUNTRY_ID=1 'UK #TRIGGER= 20 '20% of the time the AI will select this option. #AI_FLAG= 4 'THE AI will only execute this script at intermediate (4) and higher (Expert=5) AI levels (This Flag is not in the scripts yet, but I think it would be useful, so I am including it as an example of what it could do.) #PLAN_ID=0 'Garrison plan to station 8 Royal navy ships around Malta, so they will be prepared to strike when Italy enters the war. #SIZE= 8 'Most of the Royal Navy is committed to this. #LENGTH=8 'Eight turns to get ships into position #GOAL_POSITION= xx,yy (sea tile fot 1st fleet) #GOAL_POSITION= xx,yy (sea tile for 2nd fleet) #GOAL_POSITION= xx,yy #GOAL_POSITION= xx,yy ................. (I assume that you can list more than one Garrison position and that the AI will deploy the units to these positions) #DATE= / / - This would be the first turn of the game as the fleets must start moving early to be in position. #STEAL=1 #FRIENDLY POSITION= xx,yy (Gibraltar) #VARIABLE_CONDITION= 2 [2] [100][0] France has not surrendered and the Royal Navy can count on the support of the French Naval Fleets #TACTICAL CONDITION= xx,yy Manchester is safe. (I want the AI to cancel this script and recall the navy if the Gemrans launch a sea lion) Question: I see how the AI responds negatively to a threat; it cancels an event, but I don't see a positive response. IF LONDON is threatened I don't see how I can program the AI to recall all Fleets to defend the England, Scotland and Wales. :confused: But as you say that the AI executes the scripts in order, perhaps it can be done. ------------------------------------------- A similar Garrison script would be written to pre-position the French navy. ------------------------------------------- Scripts to Attack the Italian Navy #NAME= SINK ITALIAN NAVY #FLAG= 1 #TYPE= 1 - A recurring check #TRIGGER=100 Plan_ID= Offensive #SIZE=8 #GOAL_POSITION= :confused: A port, city, capital or fortress for a naval unit? Variable_Condition= 6[1][100][0] - Italy has entered the War, though I could use another script for the Expert AI where it would be 10% likely to make a surprise attack on Italy while it is still neutral. :eek: CANCEL_RATIO=1.3 'The allies must have a 1.3 advantage for this attack to proceed. [ February 17, 2006, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

One of my pet peeves about the SC1 AI was that the French Corps in Beruit would never move to UK territory so that it would become Free French upon the surrender of France. With the new AI scripts it appears that you can have it to just that. #NAME= Free French or Bust #POPUP= #FLAG=1 (Default event) #TYPE=1 (Multiple checks until trigger is statisfied) #COUNTRY_ID= 2 (France) #TRIGGER= 75 (AI will execute 75% of the time) #PLAN_ID= 0 (Garrison Plan) #SIZE= 1 (use only 1 unit) #LENGTH= 3 (It should take 3 turns to move to the Suez Tile) #GOAL_POSITION= xx,yy (i.e. Suez Canal) #DATE= 10/01/1939 (occurs after this date) #STEAL=1 VARIABLE_CONDITION= 6[1][95][0] (unit will not move until Italian War Readiness is 95 or higher) VARIABLE_CONDITION= 2[2][100][0] (Can only be triggered if French Alignment is Allied and France has not surrendered. In the above script I presume that the French AI would steal the Beruit corps from its garrison duties, as it is the closest French unit, and move it to the Suez Canal tile. One flag I don't see in the AI script notes so far is an AI_Level flag. The AI event would be canceled if the AI_Level flag was higher than the AI Level. Example: A Script Flaged as AI_Level=5 would only execute if playing the Expert AI (Expert = 5, Intermediate = 4, Beginner = 3,....). AI_Level= 0 would execute at all AI Levels of play. This would allow one to build an AI whose skill appears to increase as the AI level increases from Novice to Expert. [ February 16, 2006, 06:35 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

And the Battle continues. German forces pound themselves against the Russia line supported by two air units. But fail to break through, Once more reducing German Corps to Strength 3. The Russians reinforce their units with newer weapons and achieve Anti-Tank Level 2 all along the front. Stalin congratulates his scientists and engineers, while reminding them that failure to achieve similar breakthoughs in the future will shorten their lives. Two Italian Warships find the Allied Transport and Attack. The transport retreats to...... (In this game the Russia forces were unsually lucky and achieved Anti Tank Level 1 on Turn 2 after the German DOW, followed by Anti-Tank Level 2 on Turn 2). In the West all is quiet as American war readiness reaches 86%. ----------------------------------------- The War continues in April 1942. Continued German Attacks on the Russian line are repulsed while the Soviet Forces destroy another a Finish Army Group. It appears that the Germans have 3 Level 1 Air Units assigned to the Eastern Front. All is quiet on the Western Front, as the USA readies for war and the Brits purchase another tech chit in Long Range. --------------------------------------------- All is quiet. Germany reinforces its damaged air units as does the Russians who use the lull to purchase a HQ unit. UK air units destroy an Italian Corps outside of Brest without taking any damage. UK attacks Iraq. The US has entered the war. A great battle looms on land, air and sea. So far tech advances look like: Russia - AntiTank 2, Germany - Jets 1, UK - Jets 3 ---------------------------------------------- With Overwelming air power the Germans break the Russian line only to encouter a second line of Russian units that destroy the advancing German Army. In the West the UK takes Brest, but expose their navy to Axis naval attack. [ February 15, 2006, 09:34 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Just a note to say that I am really impressed by the flexibility included in these AI Scripts. The Variable Condition will allow one to insure that certain events - ie attacking Vichy France - only occur while Russia is neutral. Perhaps this will be enhanced so an event can only be triggered if; for example, Russian readiness is below XX%., in addition to allowing for conditions where a minimum acitivation % must be met for event acitivation. Why? I don't want the Axis AI to invade Vichy France or Sweden if Russian readiness is above XX%. The Garrison plans appear to offer lots of flexibility for forming a defensive line, with one able to set more than one goal position for Garrison plans. I especially like the number of different plans - Offensive, Build-up Amphibious, Amphibious, Sea Transport, Build-Up Sea Transport and Garrison plans. Though it will take some serious playtesting to see how the tactical AI executes these plans. One item I do not see mentioned here is a way to allocate; for example, 80% of Air Units and 100% of Armor units to a specific front (ie Russian Front) or 100% of Allied Bombers to England. Nor do I see specific instructions for using special unit types - ie bombers. But this may be coming in future AI notes, or perhaps the AI will know to do this. The Cancel_Ratio is really a good feature, as it allows the plan - offensive or defensive to be affected by the relative balance of forces, with the AI automatically switching between defensive and offensive plans as the situtation changes. One item I am looking forward to is creating a Nordic Liberation Script for the Allies, where they will attempt to liberate Norway if it has a status of surrendered while the Germans are still fighting the French. #NAME= Nordic Liberation Force #POPUP= #FLAG=1 #TYPE=1 (Multiple checks until trigger is satisfied) #COUNTRY_ID=1 #TRIGGER= 20 #PLAN_ID=BUILD_UP_AMPHIBIOUS #SIZE=4 #LENGTH=8 #GOAL_POSITION= XX,XX (Bergan) #DATE= #STEAL=1 #FRIENDLY_POSITION= XX,XX (London) #FRIENDLY_POSITION= XX,XX (Manchester) #FRIENDLY POSITION= XX,XX #VARIABLE_CONDITION=32[1][100][1] (Norway is German Occupied) #VARIABLE_CONDITION=2[1][100][0] (Germany is focused on fighting the French) Then another plan will activate (a Garrison Plan) if Norway is liberated from the Axis. This structure of having a plan's activation triggered by specific conditions is really flexible with Variable Conditions, Tactical Conditions, and Condition_Postion. With the Condition_Position variable you can trigger a plan if a specific title(s) are not occupied or protected by X units in a specific radius. Example: You can tell the AI to take Cairo if there are no Allied units within a radius of X tiles of Cairo. If there are the plan is canceled. I wonder if you can limit this check to exclude Naval Units, as their presence should not influence occupying Cairo. I assume so per, the quote below: I also wonder if future AI scripts will allow the player to aid the AI in deciding which cities, ports and resource tiles deserve AA improvements (which in SC2 must be purchased on a city by city basis). Its really going to take a bit of playtesting to explore the full functionality of these AI scripts. I wonder how I could tell the AI to evacuate North Africa if there are more pressing needs elsewhere. :confused: [ February 16, 2006, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

To liven things up on this forum, here is a new AAR. The War began with a quick overrunning of Poland, followed by a grinding down of the French Defenders and the ensuring quick conquest of Denmark and Norway. Then the Axis executed a new strategy, they held off on attacking other countries to build up an overwhelming army to fight Russia, lead by the best German and Italian Generals. Meanwhile, the Axis bombarded the Port of Gibraltar and sent the Italian Fleet forth into the Altantic, while the Allied fleet retreated from attacking Brest in the face of newly spotted German Submarine forces (which sunk 1 allied ship and damaged another), which were secretly built in Southern France. ----------------------------------- The War with Russia began with an overwhelming attack that decimated the Russian front lines. The Russian Forces pulled back to create a new line and threw in newly created corps to hold the line which was subsequently assaulted by the Germans on the 2nd turn of the invasion. The Russian line held, barely in some places with a corps reduced to 3. With the arrival of new weapons all Russian units along the line were reinforced (to AntiTank Level 1) in prepartion to receive the second wave of German attacks. Stalin rewarded his engineers and scientists in Anti-Tank Research (who received all 3 Tech Chits that Russia had available) with new fur coats, and a promise of long life if they continue to improve Russian Anti-Tank weapons. Meanwhile in the West an Allied Bomber in Southern England spotted an Italian Sub south of Brest and began operations against it, while the Allied Fleets .............. While a British Corps from Egypt made an exploratory move towards Bari and found it guarded by an Italian Corps, dashing hopes for a quick conquest of an Italian city. ----------------------------------------------- [ February 14, 2006, 09:14 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

I wonder if the AI will make use of the information in the reports the game makes available. Example - In a recent game I saw that my opponent had almost no air fleets and my production strategy was affected by this. Example - If I see that the Axis player's navy is increasing in size, perhaps this should influence the AI to conduct ASW research or build a larger Navy or Bombers. Will the AI note the movement of enemy ships past specific choke points and adjust its strategy based on that. For example - if 4 Italian ships sail past Gibraltar into the Atlantic what will the AI do? Example - From the Reports Screen the AI knows that Italy has 6 Ships. 5 Ships sail through a damaged Port of Gibraltar into the Atlantic. Shouldn't the AI be influenced by this. And if so, how? One possible action to to move his ships to a defensible position, especially if the AI knows that the Axis also has 3 other ships in the Atlantic (3 + 5 = 8). [ February 14, 2006, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

My guess would be May 1st, at the latest June 1st.

Personally, I don't see HC or any game company going back and updating an old version of the game after a new version has been released. But, if I were to suggest 5 "simple" changes it would be; and variants of some of these are in SC2, 1. Reduce starting Attack and Spotting Range of Air Fleets to 4. Really Simple 2. Increase Attack Range (not spotting range) of Bombers to 12 and reduce Bomber spotting range to 4. Really Simple 3. Reduce cost of bombers to 400. Really Simple 4. Give AI player(Germany/USA/UK) a random number of bonus Tech Chits; 0 to 5, at Expert level. 5. At Expert Level and Allied AI - Iraq, Ireland and Norway have a 20% (each) to join allies when France surrenders. At Expert level and Axis AI - Vichy France, Spain, Turkey and Iraq have a 10% (each) to join Axis when France surrenders. Why? To make a game against the AI less predictable. [ February 14, 2006, 08:01 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

With this extension there will be no Siberian transfer event as the Allied player will control Soviet forces in the Far East. Withdraw Soviet forces to reinforce Russia against the German advance too soon and the Soviets may see the Japanese Army conquering Siberia, which will activate a merchant ship convoy route to Japan and increase Japanese production.

It is also interesting to note that Russia received most lend lease support via Iran. Why? It was the safest route available. [ February 14, 2006, 07:55 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

i.e. a convoy route from Bali to Tokyo - providing say, 75MPP per turn. Block that route and the Japanese are hurting. Naturally it does not activate until after the Japanese conquer Indonesia. Thus forcing the Japanese player to decide between building a bigger army to fight the Chinese (who have no build limits on corps) or building a bigger navy to control the seas. Simarily the USA must decide how much resources should be devoted to the Pacific. Too little and Japan will be free to attack Russia. Too much and the Axis may overrun Europe. RE: China - No Build Limits on Corps - Armor, Airfleets, Rockets, Carriers, Bombers cost twice normal for China. - Partisans are activated for China RE: Map The Map will likely be 75% Water - imagine 80 tiles between Hawaii and Japan - ie a long trip -with the occassional island & port between them. Midway - Port and 2 titles Hawaii - Port and 4 tiles. [ February 14, 2006, 07:18 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

One way to prevent Japan from transferring MPPs to Germany would be to make Japan a majpr power and France a minor power. I suggest this as France rarely stays in the game long enough to make a difference. Any comments?

Lars, I have thought about the Pacific Map alot, and in my extension I will largely focus on the area about China, Japan, Siberia with Pearl Harbor/Hawaii being the closest bit of American land to Japan. If anything I may have to, as you suggest, make the map taller and extend the USA map by 5 tiles west to increase American production. SB, that is very true. The one stumbling block I am debating how to handle within the current system is the effect of MPPs for Japan and China. Example - Japan as an Axis ally gives part of its production to Germany. Ideally I would like Japanese production to be limited to the building of Japanese units. It should also be noted that if the Allies or Axis decide not to invest in Asia then they risk their opponent conquering all of Asia, and being able to send reinforcements through to the other front. I.e. if Japan takes Russia then they can send forces through Siberia to Russia. If the Allies defeat Japan first then Allied forces in the Pacific can be sent West.

The concept is that the two maps would appear as part of one very wide wide map. Transit tiles would link the two parts of the map and allow players to transfer units between the two parts of the map. The standard SC Map is 120 x 38. The extension would cover 130 x 38 tiles. Thus extending the SC2 map from 120 tiles wide to 250 tiles wide. I believe that this can be done within the current system.

From the Country List posted by HC it appears that there are at least 7 countries not needed in the European Theater that could be assigned to a Pacific War Extension of the SC2 Map. The concept is: 1. Add a Pacific Extension to the Sc2 Europe Map 2. Seperate it from Western Europe by impassible Terrain to make it accesible only by transit tiles that take 4+ turns to reach the other map area. 3. Include in the Pacific Extension - Japan (allied to Axis), China (allied to US), Manchuko (occupied by Japan), IndoChina (French Controlled), Malaysia (Controlled by the UK), Thailand and Australia (Allied to UK). To accomplish this the following countries are not used in Europe: Republican Spain, Luxemburg, Estonia, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia (controlled by France) and...? Using the AI parameters, Japan could be set to Attack Siberia if Russian strength drops below X by a specific date. Thus Russia could withdraw units from Siberia at the risk of inviting an Attack by the Japanese AI, and knowing that it would take quite some time to send reinforcements back to Siberia, as there are no Russian production centers on this portion of the map. [ February 13, 2006, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Many thanks, this will certainly take some time for me to digest. Looks good. Most interesting. I already have a few questions (offense vs defense, strategic withdrawal from a region - ie North Africa, movement of naval units, using engineers to build defensive lines), but will hold off on asking till Friday so HC can focus on the AI , and I can study the AI notes in detail. Many thanks, HC. [ February 13, 2006, 08:02 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Any insight on the difficulty levels? Will there be levels above export? and how do they change the game? Does the AI gain access to more routines/strategies at higher levels? Does the game offer a random diplomacy and/or tech bonus for the AI at higher difficulty levels? Finally, does the game AI have only one personality - as SC1 did - or does it have multiply personalities? - ie will it try different strategies - ie for Axis: Naval Focus, Russia, Focus, Conquer the Middle East Focus, Early Russia Attack, Conquer the World, etc. PS: Late March release?. That's mighty close to April Fool's Day.

The forum is really quiet and a new AAR would be appreciated by those looking forward to the forthcoming release of SC2. PS: Has the AI entered beta testing? and any hints on what the AI scripts can do? [ February 11, 2006, 01:47 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Now, thats an idea. Have the AI track the relative strength of both sides. If the AI is losing it may ask the human player to switch sides once per game. If the human accepts he gets a bonus added to his victory point score. [ February 08, 2006, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Santabear, many thanks for this post. It makes many good points, especially ; "Programmers should understand that nobody reacts well to surprises." In essence that is the core of a good AI. As for personality, though its not important and will not be included in Sc2, I would like to see the AI exhibit personality in SC2 - using the comments that one freqently see PBEM or TCP/IP players make.

Method 1: Take Spain, this is the best way. Method 2: Take Vichy France, Bombard with Italian Battleship, move air units to Algeria supported by HQ unit and Attack, Attack, Attack, Tip: Reduce the Port to Zero and your naval ships can sail through it.

Why give the Air Marshal Harris HQ unit, a +2 Bomber Build limit bonus? Without him it is doubtful that the Royal Air Force would have pursued an aggressive bombing campaign against the Germans. I would give him a Rating of 4 as he lacked demonstrable experience in commanding ground units. Bonus Build Limit Rules: HQ Str 3 = Max Build Limit Bonus = 3 - Rockets or Engineers HQ Str 4 = Max Build Limit Bonus = 2 - Subs or Bombers HQ Str 5 = Max Build Limit Bonus = 1 - Carrier, Parachute HQ Str 6+ = Max Build Limit Bonus = 0 [ February 08, 2006, 02:39 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

I created this post to highlight a "simple" idea that gives more value to low ranking HQ units. Concept: Low ranking HQ units "may" give players an increased build limit for a specific unit type. Example: The Allied Player planning to bomb the Axis into Submission might purchase General "Butcher" Harris (Rating 4) to secure a higher build limit for bombers. Question: What military commanders of WWII would be best suited for such a bonus? My choices would be: General Dornberger (GER-Rank 3) - +3 build limit for Rockets Admiral Donitz (GER Rank 4) - +2 build limit for subs General Kurt Student (Ger Rank 5) - +1 build limit for parachutists Air Marshal Arthur "Butcher" Harris (UK Rank 4) - +2 build limit for bombers General William Blanchard (USA Rank 4) - +2 build limit for bombers General Ridgeway (USA Rank 5) - +1 build limit for parachutists Admiral King (USA Rank 5) - +1 carrier build limit [ February 07, 2006, 10:53 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

I would not count on that. The same - any future wars are likely to be small scale and police actions - was said after WWI ( followed by WWII), after WWII (followed by Korea) and the collapse of the Soviet Union (followed by Desert Storm I and II).