21 replies to this topic

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Okay for today, I've made the following fixes / changes:

1.) Fast vehicle tech not allowed in 1vs1, low chance in 2vs2 and high chance in 3 vs 3

2.) Rush will be aborted if a major threat is at the HQ. In this case the build program is switched to standard strategy.

3.) There's now a ForceAttackStrength factor in the attackstrategy.ai file that sets the army strength at which an attack is forced. This value increases with the tier level. At the moment I've used 1500 for tier1 and 500 more for every following tier. I don't know if this value is perfect, but it should be in the right region.

4.) Jump troops don't make long jumps if they are part of a larger force, except the enemy has more than double the strength in this area. In this case a long jump would be an ellegant retreat.

5.) I've added a support factor for every race at the header of attackstrategy.ai which defines, if the AI should abort his current attack and help the ally. Values range from break if weaker than 1,5 * enemy army strength (chaos) to 2,5 * enemy army strength (eldar). Therefore even chaos will support, but not as often as eldar. Hope these values are okay.


I'm too tired to continue today. I'll add more tomorrow.

[thudo]

Splendid fixes indeed!

[ArkhanTheBlack]

More fixes:

- Added delay time for attack plans to avoid an attack - retreat loop

- Fixed commisar problem (Thanks to Larkin)

And a big one:

- Added attack code to deal with take and hold victory condition. Code is finished but it's too late to try it out. Will do that tomorrow...

[thudo]

Added attack code to deal with take and hold victory condition. Code is finished but it's too late to try it out.

Outstanding! That and ControlArea (basically the same) are huge deals for the AI to understand and work well under. Further, its a long outstanding MAIN OBJECTIVE for us! Brilliant Arkhan!

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Changes for beta 3:

- Attack code to deal with take and hold victory condition tested and seems to work

- Added a heuristical approach to figure out the maximum threat on the path to a target (Method: GetMaxThreatOnPath())

- Removed CheckPostPosition method (Obsolete because of GetMaxThreatOnPath() method)

- Improved method for the AI to abort an attack and support an ally by adding a range modifier and replacing the retreat command through a direct attack plan


I've now pretty much set a feature stop. The code should now contain everything (and more) that was planned for this release. So only bug fixing and maybe balancing is now on the plan. At least I hope so. As soon as I get Larkins generator placing routine, I will add it as 'last' feature for the upcoming release.

[Quietdeath]

- Attack code to deal with take and hold victory condition tested and seems to work

Great! I'm looking forward to new stunning matches

[thudo]

Being sent up in an hour from this writing..

UPDATE...

v1.6b3 IS NOW UP and ready for internal testing!

Edited by thudo, 03 December 2005 - 04:33 PM.

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Fixes for beta 4:

- Important: The most annoying building bug is history. Buildings are now built reliable, regardless of the start point placing on the map.

- Further improved jump code

- Removed an execution error in the HelpAllyInNeed() method of the attackstrategy

- Improved attack behaviour of gathered attack troops which are attacked themselves


I think this could be the last beta. I had a LAN session which I abused for beta testing and didn't find any more bugs. Final release isn't far...

[Quietdeath]

- Further improved jump code

How is the behaviour now ?

[ArkhanTheBlack]

More aggressive !

They use it now more often in defensive mode and are allowed to make a long jump attack even while moving if their victim is in range of the target position.

[thudo]

I'll put up v1.6b4b in a couple o hours.. Lov'n these changes!!

[Quietdeath]

Sounds very good - I should not read the topics here, I just get more and more pleasant anticipation ;-)

Edited by Quietdeath, 04 December 2005 - 08:18 PM.

[thudo]

Update - v1.6b4 build is up for internal testing..

[LarkinVB]

As soon as I get Larkins generator placing routine, I will add it as 'last' feature for the upcoming release.

On its way by email ...

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Fixes for beta 5:

- Modified take and hold code to be more reliable (Though it's still far from being perfect! )

- Larkins placement code implemented (Thanks for that! )

- Build programs for ranged strategies modified to use melee troops as HTH support

- Increased min jump range for jump troops a bit

- Attack strategy: Base to target distance has now a higher priority than the army to target distance (Nearly forgotten that! )

- Added double check for HQ addons to make them more reliable

- Modified squad demand calculation to subtract 5% for every existing unit of this type on the battle field to improve squad diversity

Edited by ArkhanTheBlack, 08 December 2005 - 08:47 PM.

[thudo]

v1.6b5 is up!

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Changes for beta 6:

- Removed restriction that didn't allow the building of troops if req is < 500

- Reduced required 'rush unleash' army strength for orks a bit

- Modified all build programs to force one 1250 (Orks 1000) army strength highlight in tier1, but then reduce required army strength requirement to 750 until vehicle buiding is built. After that the tolerance phase is over and they first have to build a powerfull army before they are allowed to build something else.

- Fixed a bug that didn't save ressources for HQ addon

[LarkinVB]

If you want you can send the latest fixes directly to me for a quick test. So we can avoid the Thud delay factor. Apparently there are no more beta testers around here.

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Done!

[thudo]

Yes sorry bout dat! Latest Build is up!