All-Around or Infantry Tier1 Rushes programs = small maps
Tier2 Infantry or Tier2+ Vehicle Rushes = large maps
Yes Thudo, you get it, except I would want a few more All-Around or non-rush on the small maps.
The tier one infantry rush is acceptable on the 2 player or 4 player maps or the small maps, but with the Beta1 and Beta2, I seemed to be getting it every time I played, which was rather annoying.
But, tiering up or Malkor's vehicle rush sounds like the better policy for the 6 player and 8 player maps and/or the large sized maps.
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The current problem is to find a good compromise between early troops and fast teching. In beta 3 the AI's have 4 minutes for tier 1 fun and then stop all unit buidling/reinforcing and fast tech to tier 2. I'm not sure if this is fast enough. Maybe 3,30 min or even 3 min is better, not sure. One problem of the AI early game is to build/reinforce too much useless scout troops. I'm going to fix this for the next beta. I'll also tweak the attack strategy a bit to get rid of the lost AI squads problem.
Fast vehicle rushes are available in 6 player+ maps, but they are definetly not an all winning strategy. I've seen lots of AIs beaten by a combined tier 1 attack of two AI's. Fast teching AI's are dead against such attacks.
Yes, finding the right balance for it all or the 'good' compromise is what's needed. It does indeed sound like Arkhan is aware of the 'problems' and is making plans to address each of them. It would also indeed be nice, especially for the Space Marines, for the 'useless scout troops' to be toned down or not reenforced so much with resources.
My biggest complaint is that the AI seems to rush too often. Thudo suggests that only 1/4 of the games are All-Arounders or Non-Rush, and I would prefer up to half the games or 3/4 of the games
on the small maps to be Non-Rush.
Get that good compromise on the tier 2 and tier 2 build, and combine that with the AI repairing its listening posts near its startpoint, and I think the next beta will be just about perfect and/or cover everything that everyone is requesting. Of course, somebody will find something wrong with the next beta, such is life. But for now, it sounds like Arkhan has taken to heart what is bugging us most.
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Malkor sounds like to me that he's wanting a rush that actually works. But, more importantly, he wants a rush that is abandoned if at first it fails.
In the Beta2, the AI did indeed gather its troops for that combined rush into my base -- the problem is that it didn't abandon the rush tactic after the initial rush failed, and then there was a steady line of one squad after another or one TechPriest after another
one at a time 'rushing' my turrets and firing listening posts. They didn't group after the initial rush failed, they instead just came one at a time in a lemming suicide march. It was a line instead of a group.
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I don't know if Arkhan and Thudo will ever be able to find the right combination or the perfect balance that will satisfy everyone, and indeed part of the problem is that each different map provides a different set of problems. It sounds like Arkhan has tried a whole bunch of different strategies or goals or ways of doing it.
Maybe the way to go is to provide a Mix of everything -- sometimes use the current strategy, sometimes rush to tanks, sometimes use the strategy that Akaoz rejected, and sometimes turn off the rush. In other words, keep the human player totally confused and unable to show one replay after another of a locked repeatable strategy. Mix it up.
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Thudo and Arkhan are going to have to think about it. And, this issue is so complex both for coding and in theory, that I imagine that they will be working on it and tweaking it right up to the final version of the AI Skirmish Mod.
Edited by ThetaOrion, 12 January 2006 - 10:10 PM.