Edwin P.

Sombra, HC may surprise you with a better AI than you expect. That said, there are a few hints about Galciv's AI development on the Galciv.com and galciv2.com websites that I found most interesting. First, the AI has a level dependent chance to notice what the human player is doing and respond to it. Second, the AI has a level dependent chance to know specific strategies. At higher AI levels you face an opponent that evaluates and responds with a wider choice of actions. Example 01, in SC1 terms: Take the standard Human Allied strategy of moving the French Corps in Beruit to Egypt after Italy enters the war so it becomes Free French when Paris surrenders. Beginner AI - 0% to know this strategy and it will never execute this strategy. Intermediate AI - 50% to know this strategy and execute, but only after Italy enters the war. Expert AI - 90% to know this strategy, and it will execute this strategy if Italy enters the war OR it calculates that Paris is likely to surrender during the next Axis turn, even if Italy has not entered the war. Thus: Beginner AI - Never Executes Intermediate AI - 50% to execute if Italy enters war. Expert AI - 90% will execute if Italy enters war, 90% will execute if France is likely to surrender the next turn. 90% will execute if Italy is likely to enter the war next turn. This structure makes it appear as if you are fighting a more intelligent AI at higher levels, and it adds variety to the game. The Intermediate AI may or may not move the French corps in Beruit. The Expert AI's has a greater chance to execute this strategy and this is influenced by a wider range of variables. Third, GalCiv had six different AI routines. One for each alien race. [ January 16, 2006, 09:22 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

This gives the Russians a few more tiles and doesn't change much else. Statistically there's a slim chance it might not happen at all by Barbarossa... Just having the opportunity to conduct research and production for a neutral Russia and having the freedom to deploy as desired is fascinating. There may be other things we can consider later, like allowing neutral Russia to attack other neutrals like Turkey, but this is minor stuff. The important stuff is taken care of! :cool: </font>

This topic was brought up in a post on the AI in SC2: pzgndr briefly discussed this in the post following this one. My thoughts: 1. Neutral Russia should be able to DOW Finland, Sweden, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Romania and Baltic States. They should even be able to attack Germany once Russian war readiness exceeds 80%. 2. There should be consequences for each of these actions: 2a. Russia DOW Germany before 100% war readiness - Reduces American war readiness, may cause domino effect of Spain, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary allying with Germany to fight the red menace. An AI controlled UK may even offer to make peace with the Axis. Why? - the Western fear of the Red Menace permeated the thinking of many governments of the time. 2b. Russia DOW Finland - Improves Swedish and Norwegian relations with Germany. 2c. Russia DOW Iran - Improves Iraqi and Turkish relations with Germany as both would fear futher Russian expansion plans. 2d. Russia DOW Iraq - Improves Iranian and Turkish relations with Germany, No Merchant Shipping from Iraq to UK. 2e. Russia DOW Romania - Causes Bulgaria to Join Axis and Improves German relations with Turkey and Iraq. Summary: Neutral Communist Russia should be able to DOW adjacent neutrals, but this strategy will likely excerbate fears of the red menance in other countries. The conseqences of such actions may out weigh the benefits to be gained from a policy of territorial expansion. This does not even account for the costs associated with crushing the snti-communist partisan resistance forces in each conquered nation. [ January 16, 2006, 07:26 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Here's a quote on AI development from the GalCiv2 web site:

At game end can you see the technological advances your opponent; AI or human, achieved?

Historically, Russia allowed German planes to overfly their border areas. Germany did not allow Russian planes to overfly lands conquered by Germany. [ January 15, 2006, 02:24 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

How valuable is the engineer unit? I assume you used it to fortify Russian lines while they were neutral.

A listing of AI actions and inactions from SC1 I would like to see addresse in SC2. 1. Human Axis takes Scarpa Flow, AI destroys Axis unit but does not occupy Scarpa flow hex, merely contines to bomb Scarpa flow port each turn. 2. Human Axis takes Canada in daring raid, and then withdraws all units from Canada. USA AI bombs Canadian port and cities, never launching Canadian Liberation campaign. 3. Human Allied withdraws all forces from Middle East, Axis AI never advances to take undefended Egypt. 4. Axis AI never moves French Corps in Beriut to English territory to ensure it becomes Free French when France surrenders. 5. Axis AI never moves French Corps in Algiers to Gibraltar or Malta to ensure that it becomes Free French when France surrenders. 6. Allied AI will move French Air to UK, but never execute standard strategy of disbanding Free French fleets after France surrenders in UK city so that UK receives 200 mpp per fleet. 7. Human Axis stations six subs in Atlantic and Allied AI sends USA transports directly into submarine blockade turn, after turn, after turn. 8. AI Air Fleets do not focus on destroying units. 9. AI does not concentrate Air Fleets on one front. 10. AI does not bomb port to prevent new reinforcements from landing or isolated forces from evacuating. 11. Axis AI always lets several units - usually 3 to 5 become isolated on the Crimean penninsula. 12. Axis does not know how to use HQ units 13. Allied AI does not know how to withdraw units from a Failed D-Day invasion, but allows them to be destroyed one by one. A. TECHs A1. AI nevers reclaims tech chits when in dire need. Example: Air Fleets supporting D-Day are damaged by interceptors and AI did not reclaim UK tech chits to finance the repair of these units. A2. AI does not reasearch techs for units it is most likely to build or for strategy it is likely to follow. A3. AI does not place enough emphasis on tech research A4. AI does not adjust tech spending based on knowledge of enemy tech advances and units produced. Example: If Axis has Level 4 Advanced Subs and Deployed 5+ subs to Atlantic AI did not research Sonar to counter Axis advantage. B. HQs B1. AI deployed too many HQs in one area. This did not maximize their ability to support combat units. B2. Axis AI allowed HQ units to be isolated by advancing forces, usually Northwest of Riga, in Crimea, and in Greece. [ January 15, 2006, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

COOL - "Copenhagen port blocks access to the Baltic, so Germany is now free to maneuver but Allies can no longer rush in to sink the Kriegsmarine." :eek: Cool - "The fight-move feature works at sea" Interesting - "UK has to be very careful with its limited MPP budget!" Cool - "USSR got a rocket advance in March, L1 aircraft tech in April, and L1 IT in May." Many thanks for this AAR, much appreciated. [ January 14, 2006, 03:39 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

The MPPs are sent via the convoy route automatically. Attacks on the convoy route result in a loss of MPPs for the receiving country, aka SC1 convoy routes.

Bounce, as this topic was mentioned by Retributor in another post. One flaw in the SC1 AI was its predictabilty. The human player knew it would never match his investments in research. With the addition of diplomacy to the game a similar situation might arise. One way to address this is to give the AI a randomly selected number of Tech and Diplomacy chits. This would ensure that the human player did not know whether he was facing an AI especially skilled in diplomacy or research, or some combination of the two. Example: Beginner AI ------No Tech or Diplomacy Bonus Intermediate AI ------No Tech or Diplomacy Bonus Expert AI ------Random Tech Chit bonus (0 to 3) - Average 1.5, 3+ 25%, Zero 25% ------Random Diplomacy Chit bonus (0 to 3) Average 1.5 Genius AI ------Random Tech Chit bonus (0 to 5) - Average 2.5, 3+ 50%, Zero 16.7% ------Random Diplomacy Chit bonus (0 to 5) - Average 2.5 The AI will need routines to tell it how to invest this bonus. Personally, I would tend to favor a routine that would have the AI invest any bonus diplomacy chits in a single randomly selected country of strategic importance - Spain, Turkey or Sweden. Of course, I have not played the game so this diplomacy strategy might be unwise. [ January 14, 2006, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

From my reading of the forum, it appears that Sc2 will remain a simple and fast turn based game, quite unlike Hearts of Iron, and Gary Grisby's World at War. Question for HC and the playtesters - How many difficulty levels will SC2 have?

Good idea. Here's another variation of the concept: When you look at WWII each of the major powers had a unique view on replacing Generals at the front. Why not: 1. Add blind purchase of HQ units, you don't know their strength or name until their first battle. 2. Each turn you can attempt (% your attempt is approved) to retire a HQ and select a new one to replace it. The new one appears in your capital city. There is no MPP cost to do this. France - 10% to retire a HQ unit Italy - 25% to retire a HQ unit Russia - 100% to retire a HQ unit (Stalin orders the General shot) Germany - 90% to retire a HQ unit UK - 75% to retire a HQ unit (politics, politics, politics) USA - 75%% to retire a HQ unit Your chance of successfully retiring a HQ unit is reduced 15% for each medal it has. This makes it harder to retire experienced Generals. 3. If you attempt to retire a HQ unit, and your attempt is rejected that HQ unit loses its action points for that turn and can't move. Example: You are the UK and find you have a low ranking HQ unit. You attempt to retire it. There is a 75% that you succeed. You succeed and get a new randomly selected HQ unit. The retired HQ unit vanishes from the Map. Retiring a unit has its drawbacks. First, there is chaos as the front as new operations are put on hold until his replacement arrives. Second, if your attempt to replace the HQ is rejected the HQ unit loses its movement for that turn. But it also has its benefits. For one there is no cost in MPPs, other than the possible cost of operating the unit to the front. Thus a HQ unit will have commands for: 1. Disband - HQ unit is removed and you get MPPs 2. Replace - HQ unit is removed and a new one appears adjacent to its capital city. 3. Promote - HQ unit is promoted to Theater Commander and instead of supporting units, it supports selected HQ units in that theater. This gives HQ units supported by a Theater commander a bonus of some sort. You can only have one Theater Command HQ unit. Perhaps the number of HQ units a theater commander can support is a function of its rank. Ie. Rank 8 can support 4 HQs, rank 7 supports 3, rank 6 supports 2, rank 5 supports 1 HQ unit. 4. Demote - HQ unit is demoted from Theater Command rank. [ January 13, 2006, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Great feature. I like to play fast, (which leads to some rather dumb mistakes - ie forgetting to move my Russian units is one) and the timer will make things really interesting. It may even bring me to engage in more TCP-IP games!

Quick summary of SC2 Merchant shipping, from reading other posts on this forum: First, SC2 will have merchant ship routes. To the UK from USA and Iraq. To Russia from UK. To Germany from Sweden. Second, The US can decide how many MPPs it wants to send to the UK via this route. Third, MPPs can be sent to the USSR (from the UK?) Fourth, German subs (perhaps surface ships too?) can inderdict merchant ship convoys to the UK.

As they are successful in battle, HQs receive more experience and this helps units attached to them.

IF a port is reduced to less than five then units can't leave via the port and units at sea can't use it to land.

True, but knowing where your enemy's best HQ unit is often, when playing against other humans, a good hint as to where his offensive operation will be focused. Think of it as impacting your future plans. Seeing a HQ unit move in a transport towards the Mediterranean, Norway or the coast of France might tell you something, especially if your enemy does not know you can see his HQ unit. With this information you can prepare to ambush the invasion force. How the information is interpreted and used will determine its value. In fact I would say that: Level 3 Intel - see Report listing deployed HQ units Level 4 Intel - see location of 1 HQ unit of each major nation Level 5 Intel - see location of 2 HQ units of each major nation would be quite valuable to a player that knew how to use this information. It won't tell you the whole picture, but it can give you good insight into the plans of your enemy. Insight that you can; perhaps, use to defeat him. Of course if he knows you have Intel 4 or 5 he may use the movement of his HQ unit to mislead you. That I would say is true Intel. Information that can be useful if correctly interpreted or deadly if misinterpreted. Of course, my guess is that many players will not invest in Intel and will focus on the more concrete techs such as Jets, Armor, Anti-Armor, and Anti-Infantry. And this idea for allowing those with high intel levels to spot 1 or 2 enemy HQ units will probably not see the light of day. PS: As for what value is a report listing enemy HQ units - you can use that to get a good idea of whether the allies can launch an invasion of France. If the Western allies have 4 HQ units, then you need to prepare for an Allied invasion. if the Western allies have only 2 HQ units they will probably not invade anytime soon. In Summary: I would like to see Intel provide a player with hints as to what his opponent may be doing. It should be up to the player to properly interepret this information. [ January 12, 2006, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

My thinking was that Allied Intelligence, at Intel Tech Level 4 for example, would be so good that you would know where the top ranked enemy general was. Much like in real life where allied intelligence tracked the movements of Rommel and German intelligence tracked Patton. Naturally you would only gain this benefit at the specified Intel level. If you didn't develop your Intel AI tech you would not gain this power. [ January 11, 2006, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Yes Sir, General Retributar! Seriously though, am I correct in thinking that the Intel tech as it currently stands is underpowered when compared to the other techs? Of course, I have not played the game, and most likely only the playtesters and HC know the true value of this tech. That said, Intel 1 - Diplomacy Chits Report (graphs number of chits, not where invested) Intel 2 - Research Chits Report (graphs number of chits, not where invested) Intel 3 - HQ List Report (lists all HQ units in play - enemy and allied) Intel 4 - You see the location of the highest ranked HQ unit of each major power. The Germans know where Eisenhower is and the Allies know where Kesselring is. You don't know what units they command but you know where their HQ unit is located. This information may, just may tell you where the enemy is massing for their next offensive. Intel 5 - The location of your highest ranking HQ can't be seen by enemy intel tech. [ January 14, 2006, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Perhaps Intel should also give a bonus to your diplomatic efforts - perhaps 1% per level of intel tech. Why? Knowledge gained through intelligence should lead to improved diplomatic results. [ January 11, 2006, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Intel gives a +1% bonus to your research and a -1% penalty to your enemy's research. In a "future" version I would like to see the benefits of this tech area enhanced to offer additional benefits at higher levels of Intel tech. Example: Intel 1 - Allow access to a report that shows how many diplomacy chits each major power has purchased. Not where the chits are invested, just how many chits they have purchased. Example: USA - 1 chit, USSR - 0 chits, Germany - 4 chits Intel 2 - Allow access to a report that shows how many chits a nation has invested in research. Not what they are researching, just how many chits they have invested. Intel 3 - Allow access to a report that lists all HQ units currently in play. Allow access means that the button giving access to the relevant report is greyed out and not selectable until the player has reached the specified intel level. Players lacking the required level in Intel can't access the specified report. [ January 11, 2006, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

1. I like the concept of HQ units as implemented. 2. I would like to see some option, as Sombra suggested, for purchasing a HQ unit blind. For one did not really know the quality of one's generals until they tasted battle. Perhaps an option to purchase blind at a lower cost. Perhaps, a unit purchased blind should also have its rating hidden util its first battle. I recall that in SPI's War Between the States that HQ units were picked randomly, with some rated 3 stars and other 5 stars. The rating affected the chance of being able to move that unit. 3. In WWII armies with a good general staff fared better than those without. One way to reflect this might be to allow a player to promote a single HQ unit (with a rating of 7 or higher) to a Supreme HQ. A Supreme HQ unit gives a bonus to HQ units (and only HQ units) of cooperative allies (thus Eisenhower could help US and UK units) under its command, boosting their rating by 1. Players would have to decide between having Eisenhower operate as a Combat HQ unit with a strength of 8 or operating as a Supreme HQ giving a bonus to each HQ under his command. 4. A portrait of the HQ's general in the HQ unit's information popup window would be appreciated. 5. Perhaps Higher Intel Levels should allow a player to see the location of the most highly decorated enemy HQ unit (ie the one with the most medals) or to access a list of their names. In WWII the American and British public knew the name of General Rommel. It seems to me that Allied Intel would know the names and rank of every deployed enemy HQ unit, much as the Axis would know the same information about the Allied forces. Intel Level 3 - You can access a report that lists all HQ Units, Allied and Axis. Germany - Rommel (8) Germany - Kesselring (9) USA - Eisenhower (8) USA - Patton (7) etc. [ January 11, 2006, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]