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Thread: AI lack of aggressivity in 1Player or in FreeplayLevels

  
  1. #1

    Default AI lack of aggressivity in 1Player or in FreeplayLevels

    Hello,

    After playing a lot of games in Multiplayer ->1Player or in Freeplay levels on various maps, i'm starting to notice that the AI keepers never ever try to attack me.
    Theyre building some little dungeons on their side of the map (i assume so as i see a dungeon if i attack, but it could be pre-built i can't be sure they even try to develop their base) but they're leaving me alone so i'm never pressured in any ways, i then train my creatures and launch my assault by breaching on their place and destroy the opposition with my by then strong high level creatures and once his defenders are dead, it's the end as the new level 1 guys that come in his spawning portal are then of no threat.

    That's a big problem as to me that complete lack of aggressivity of the AI removes any kind of challenge and then remove the fun.
    Is there anything to do about this (a setting i may have missed somewhere) ?

  2. #2
    Beetle
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Underworld
    Posts
    126

    Default Re: AI lack of aggressivity in 1Player or in FreeplayLevels

    There is several reasons for this.

    1. AI doesn't know how to use really use Destroy Walls, if they even have it. They will dig around your entire base then stop.
    2. Were you using Guard post?
    3. More than 1 Keeper?
    4. Just passive AI for that level.
    5. AI will never compare to Human players

    1 and 2 kinda go hand in hand. They will usually dig for you and dig around your entire base trying to find an entrance, this could be water or lava as well which you can then use Guard Post to keep safe. If there is more than 1 Keeper, they could have been fighting. I have seen some levels where the AI is extremely aggressive or extremely defensive or extremely passive or a mix of a few, so it must have been a more lax level. It could also be that if you played a lot of multiplayer with people, the AI looks like crap compared to fighting vastly harder humans in the game.

    The only way you would be able to change something is going into the Editor and change the AI up to be more aggressive.

  3. #3

    Default Re: AI lack of aggressivity in 1Player or in FreeplayLevels

    EDIT : I don't understand, i typed a reply, and it disappeared, despite the forum was listing 2 replies ?
    EDIT from DragonsLover: Have you correctly clicked on Edit Post button at the bottom of your post like I did to write this message?

    So i retype

    1. It does not even need to use Destroy Walls, on several mp maps there are rivers , when you pierce corridors to a river, you can't renforce your opening anymore, only maybe put a door (that the AI is able to attack, i saw them attacking a door in campaign missions), but they do not even try to go there when i have such an opening

    2. No, i don't use Guard post , and didn't noticed the AI having some

    3. that depend on the map i guess

    4. I didn't knew there was a passive AI setting ? i'll have to see with that editor you mention if it's possible to add aggressive AI to make the mp maps more fun to play with

    5. I'm not asking for human-like AI or high quality one, i would already be happy to see the AI sending weak low level and small scale attacks, that would at least be something, but the problem is that the AI does not attack at all on my mp maps tests.

    edit 2 as the post have been lost for some reason :
    I did some experimentation on that MP map and noticed something

    Here's the starting of the mp map river side :


    The player starts on the upper right as you can see (big red square).
    The monster spawn portal is the green square to the right of the it.

    Now see that the closest gold is that very small patches to the immediate left of the player start, keep it in view because it's important for later.
    On the far top of the player start there's a big patch of gold.

    Case n1 :
    My usual strategy is to rush the small patch of gold, while making a 5x5 lair and a 5x5 training room and a 5x5 hatchery, in order to attract my favorite dk creature (the bile demon)
    Then i get the imp to dig to the top and mine the big gold zone, while converting that zone progressively into a treasure room, and using this new gold coming fast to build a 5x5 library, so warlock start to come and research can finally happen, while the bile demons are busy wasting my gold into training.

    From there i will simple not see the enemy AI keepers, and after some time i may get the "you win" message for some reason.

    Case n2
    Now back to before i use my usual strategy, this time i do not get the closest gold, i just go to get the north one, and even after getting the north one, i still ignore that gold patch.

    After some time i will see some rock effect on that small patch i ignored willingly, the one the game use when there's an imp that just dug there.
    and if i send my own imps to dig, i run into an enemy keeper ! and fight happens and that's a lot of fun

    Case n3
    Now , back again to the start, this time i use my strategy, then when i get the research going, i send my imps to dig to the south of my starting point.
    After digging a lot i run into the enemy keeper , his troops aren't very developped but they exist, but unfortunately it simply stand no chance against my more leveled creatures, it's a matter of minute that the enemy keeper is destroyed.

    So my theory :
    In case1 i think , but can't prove as i don't have access to any AI message, that the keeper AI runs out of gold in case1 and instead of trying to go all the way around the maps to capture more of the gold patches, it will let itself into that economical ruin, leading it to kill itself for some reason.

    In case2, the AI is economically going down, but because i didn't mined the gold to my left, the AI takes it, delaying his self destruction for bankrupt, allowing then its creatures to still have money for training

    In case3 , i simply run into the AI just before it goes completely bankrupt and self-destruct itself

    But while saying so , another odd problem , as you can see from the top picture, it's supposed to be a 4 players map.
    But as soon as i destroy that AI (case3) fast, i win the game, hinting that either there's something odd going on, or 2 of the players slots aren't filled by keepers.

    edit : just testing if the edit is working or if it's still going to make that post disappear
    Last edited by Rangerh; February 18th, 2014 at 00:53.

  4. #4
    Beetle
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Underworld
    Posts
    126

    Default Re: AI lack of aggressivity in 1Player or in FreeplayLevels

    From what it sounds like, the AI is having problems detecting Gold, or the author of this level just did a very poor job and released it without really testing it.

    If it is the gold problem, perhaps either start the enemy off with a Gem right from the beginning and maybe even some level 3 Imps, or have their starting gold be incredibly high(I recall in the vanilla's campaign the last few levels the enemy Keepers had something like 500,000 to like 3,000,000 gold and would NEVER run out) The first sure usually work since it is right in their face, but the 2nd suggestion is fool proof since it would take ages to run through it all, unless the level is extremely long, which it doesn't look like.

    If that didn't help then it is something to do with the AI itself being messed up which you would have to more or less re-create or search through it and fix it, which doesn't sound being really worth it unless you really like the idea of the level and want to fix it I guess. Personally I would just ditch the level and try finding one that works.

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