Supreme Commander - Thirdlaw AI
http://www.rtscommunity.com/mw/m … d=41&game=35&page=2
[table=98%][tr][td=1,1,120]Author:[/td][td]giskard[/td][/tr][tr][td=1,1,120]Last Updated:[/td][td]2007-09-02 21:30:11[/td][/tr] [tr][td=1,1,120]Description:[/td][td]Thirdlaw AI Version 2 for Supreme Commander.
Introduction.
The name does indeed come from Asimovs third law, which i believe is arobot must protect its own existance. Seems appropriate to me and yesso does the nickname Giskard, or rather R Giskard.
I get questions about that so its good to get that out in the open early.
Thirdlaw AIs are designed primarily for turtle players but since Ibelieve any good turtle player should easily be able to cope with asimple rush, I have made sure on some maps this AI will try a simplerush and keep up the attacks all the way through the game.
The AI is designed to use normal units as much as possible butstill surprise you with lvl4 experiemental units, nukes or artilleryoccasionally. So you cannot count on that fact they will never appearor even that they will appear later rather than sooner. They can stillappear at any time in any numbers. Its just a lower priority for theAI.
The frequency of the lvl4 units appearance is still being monitoredand may change again in future versions. Feedback on this is welcome.
Also Building 1 lvl4 unit is the equivelent of 300 normal units tothe AI, so when the AI goes quiet, thats when you need to worry. Byquiet i mean its attacks seem to lighten up, not stop.
This release includes the Thirdlaw Land AI V1 but not the Air Seaor River AIs. They will come in future releases. This release is beingmade public slightly earlier than I planned because users wanted tohave a none alpha version to enjoy and the land AI was ready to use.
Alpha versions seen else where are not recommended for all users,only those who feel confident that they can fix any problems that mayarrise whilst testing them should download them. So avoid those if yournot confident about your computer skills.
Installation.
Just copy the 01ThirdlawAI.scd scd found in this zip in to yourSupreme Commandergamedata folder. To remove this mod, just delete the01ThirdlawAI.scd file in gamedata.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE that when the /mods folder finally works andallows mods like these to be dropped in there and enabled in the game.I will be changing over to that system and these install instructionswill change drastically.
Check out the extras menu and the mods option in skirmish if youwant to see the system I plan to use in the future. Its Cool stuff, youwill like it.
Also only 1 AI mod can be active in the gamedata folder at a time.The good news is GPG is working on a new mod system that may make thatproblem obselete. Watch this space for news on that.
Land AI Features.
This AI has the following features and is based on the Horde AI.
It scouts better than the Horde AI.
Grabs resources faster than any other default AI.
Its build queue has been optimized to increase its early buildspeed. making it far faster than GPGs fastest building AI early on.
It builds additional defenses to help keep the player away from its base, especially level 2 artillery.
In all other respects, this is the horde AI.
I could not match the horde AI for a consistance early/mid/lategame performance and support a basic rush so I applied some of my triedand tested changes directly to the Horde AI. Other AIs will not usethis system, the design goals for them will be completely different andmore turtle based.
This AI can reach lvl2 within 15 minutes and lvl3 within 30minutes, by 55 minutes it can have a lvl4 unit at your base. Other AIsive made can reach lvl2 in 8 minutes and lvl3 in 22 minutes. You maysee those in future releases but not this one.
Advanced changes I have experiemented with are not part of this AIbecause I am expecting some changes from GPG that may have an effect onthose advanced changes. So for know, im keeping the actual releaseversions nice and straight forward.
Also, the AI commanders often love to fight so its best not to usethe assination gametype when playing AI skirmish games. The AIcommanders know when the pull back but apparently do not know when theyshould stop and repair them selves. So becareful you set up your gameto allow for the odd commander rush. This applies to all AIs btw.
Further developement.
Testers will know I have a Sea, Air and River AI in testing too. Iwill be rebuilding those from scratch. They will not be rusher AIs andshould work well on any island or river maps. The land AI it self isnot exactly cripped by island maps so do not be afraid to use it onwater maps in the mean time.
People who want to help test the AI and get some of their ideas into it should sign up on the Respawn and check out the thirdlaw AI devthread. You will find the alpha versions in there that contain all AIsand not just the Land one.
AIs and Multiplayer.
First of all, make sure all players have this mod if you playonline or remove the mod entirely before you join a multiplayer game.It should not make any difference if the AI is not being used but itswise to avoid any potential problems just in case I am wrong. I haveseen people without the AI crash out in games the AI was not being usedin, I do not know if its the presence of the AI on my system causingthat or something else. So becareful.
Also, as long as the AI builds and gets its units killed in normalgames, the AI will function fine and current unit limits on onlineconstantly change. But if you use a map that is not suitable for the AIand the AI does not attack you, it will build units but not send themout to fight, evetualy it will max out its unit cap. Sooner or laterthe game will slow down to crawl and crash out due to the number ofunits sat around doing nothing. I have never known the game not tocrash when it slowed down to a rate of 1 in game second for every 5real time seconds or slower. So watch out for that online, even if theAI is not present.
So to recap, if the AI does not attack you on certain maps, dropout the game and choose a new map. This is caused by bugs on the mapspaths for land units and usually does not effect aircraft or ships butdoes appear to increase the chances of an in game crash. I do not knowwhy, I just know its happened several times in my test games.
Heres some of my notes about maps i tested on. It is not complete because I often forget to add maps to this list.
Emerald Crater = Good map for the AI
Open Palms = ok but AI has navigation problems, not many ground based assaults.
Drakes Ravine = BAD map for the AI
Frostmill Ruins = Seems to lack ground rally points for ground attackers, ok for AIR AIs.
One final tip for coop fans:
Recent online testing with me and a mate verse 3 Thirdlaw Land AIsresulted in an embarrishing loss for me and my mate. Not once buttwice. 3 AIs just swamped us one at a time. So if you play coop andyour mates getting attacked a lot, help him defend his base or be theAIs next victim your self.
The AI is more than capable of keeping you or your friend busyreplacing your loses and not developing your base until its ready tocrush you so do not think for a second that the AI is not doing anyharm, it is preventing your friend from building stuff he wouldnormally have built and that will eventually cost you the game.
Enjoy
PS anybody whos confortable with the idea of mods destroying theircomputers are welcome to sign up on respawn and help test the alphaversions of sea, air and river AIs I’m still working on.
Creator = giskard
Website = http://www.respawn.co.uk
Special thanks to the GPG guys and mod makers such as Sorian andseveral others for the friendly compition they offer and the help thatsbeen given and recieved. It makes it all worth while being part of sucha cool modding community.
Download link and Release News.
http://www.respawn.co.uk/modules/news/article.php?storyid=25
Giskard [/td][/tr][/table][table=98%][tr=#132f2f][td=1,1,300]File Name[/td][td]Downloads[/td][td=1,1,390]Size[/td][/tr][tr][td]thirdlawai_v2.zip[/td][td]1832[/td][td]0.05 MB[/td][/tr][/table]