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 Post subject: AI and Transports
PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 11:30 pm 
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In the original MA the AI did not use transports which in my opinion seriously handicapped the AI. Has this issue been resolved in Domination and in MAN 2, and for that matter did they ever fix this issue in the original game?


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 Post subject: Re: AI and Transports
PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 4:56 am 
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vern3d wrote:
In the original MA the AI did not use transports which in my opinion seriously handicapped the AI. Has this issue been resolved in Domination and in MAN 2, and for that matter did they ever fix this issue in the original game?


In Domination and MAN2 AI can use transports.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 6:18 am 
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So just to clarify things totally, in Domination and hopefully MAN 2 the AI will utilize all functions of all units that the human player is capable of doing?

I really do love the MA series and I am seriously thinking of a Lifetime Subscription. I normally only have time to play against the computer while I work on 3D projects from my home studio and I get frustrated with a game that has a poor or handicapped AI.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:51 am 
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The AI can never act as well as a person could, especially in a game like this where it is so deep in strategy. There are just too many variables to consider.

Domination/MAN2 definately have a more solid AI though. It is capable of giving you a good solid game in any case, using its resources and the new units quite well, as well as maintaining a pretty mobile force using transports.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 9:22 am 
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Sounds good to me.... :D Thank you for your response.


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 Post subject: AI & Transports
PostPosted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 6:40 pm 
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I play mostly against the computer, and I can vouch for a fairly effecient use of transports by the AI. More than once have had an artillery or mech unit trucked into range where it blew the hell out of me. Actually need to keep an eye on them! And that's a good thing!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:28 pm 
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The AI is incapable of using transports in any meaningful way. Yes, they use them, but not well enough for it to make any real different except in very rare situations. This is, in part, due to the insistence on keeping AI think time down.

I'd like to see a button, rather similar to the one in Galactic Civilisations 2, where you can "opt in" for a longer AI think time.

Think time is what holds back the AI currently, the only way to improve consideration of moves is to allow it to consider more, and this means thinking longer. Well, okay, greater pattern recognition, but that's a hell of a lot more work.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 2:57 am 
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Somehow, I'm having more trouble with the AI in MA than in Domination.

Also I doubt that the AI is thinking "better" in Domination - take the "good guy's" campaign episode where you have to reach the turrets' control centre (the one with the 3 bridges), where the AI does nothing consistent or focused to prevent your transport and units to reach the control centre. If a Human Player was playing the PL in that game, it would simply be unfeasible to win.

My take is that (as in ANY OTHER strategy game) the AI is "unit panic" driven, not "tactically" driven. "Unit panic" is when they miss really good opportunities just to finish off your ailing units which are unimportant, or when the AI fails to retreat or protect a strong unit that could give you added trouble when properly placed, moving and using it to finish your unimportant stuff.

One of the best techniques against the AI is to "bait" it with tons of units while some of them approach the objective (the "gambit" moves). The AI gets quickly confused when you give it too much to chew.

The AI priorities seem to be centered on, roughly in this order: Hero Units (you lose one, you lose the episode - correct tactical orientation); Ailing units or units finishable in that turn PLUS proximity - that is, if a unit is the way of the AI's objective, or closer to an AI important objective to keep, it will deserve more "attention" from the AI.

Other than that, the AI just seems to work in a general "aggressive" patttern, moving units towrds the objective, vaguely supporting each other, which you can disrupt by presenting it with judiciously placed baits, in case you need to split the AI's forces (this tactic does not work in very small or restricted countries, of course. In that case you better have more muscle or else).

This said, I still am no match for the AI in many occasions. There is a scenario in MA (Troubled flanks or something like that) that I can hardly win and one or two more. In contrast, I've been able to bend scenarios that many people say impossible. As to why, it simply beats the crap out of me, no idea.

Overall, these MA games are GOOD and a lot of FUN.


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