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This is probably as easy as tightening a nut, right? :D Just take it and tighten it. :D He said it as if it's a two-minute job. :smile15:

Well, I didn't claim it was easy. But creating Hota, for example, isn't a quick task either.

It would be interesting to see how DeepMind's Alpha, which has already mastered several games, would play. Will it play like a pro, or will we see some new and interesting strategies? :)

Added 6 minutes later

Something real and not too complicated that could be done today is enhancing the AI with additional "AI cheats." I'll remind you of the NWC AI cheats: income increased by a certain factor, Flight if there's Walk on Water, a town portal even on cursed land, the ability to escape from battle on a turn that isn't its own, etc.

Some additional cheats were introduced in the Master of Puppets mod. The mod itself is far from classic, but the specific additional cheats are actually quite in the spirit of the original game.

It's not that difficult to adjust the cheats so that AI players are competitive with humans. The community has been playing "poor Heroes" for the second decade now – the main opponent (besides the human opponent) is the stationary monsters on the map, resignedly awaiting their fate. The game's potential is, of course, much greater than that. It's much more interesting to fight "monsters running around the map" (and even using magic).

I don't think cheats will significantly strengthen the computer. No, of course, you can cheat and give it 500 Archdevils, but the outcome of such games is obvious anyway. What good is a maphack to it if it doesn't even dare to attack a nest right under its nose, miscalculating the outcome of the battle?

The AI's weakness lies in its strategy and tactics. It doesn't seem to build chains, doesn't strive to clear all valuable objects in the area as quickly as possible, usually doesn't have a main hero, and probably doesn't understand which artifacts are best to use in which case, which spells to use in battle, and so on.

Neutrals usually guard something, so at least some of the neutrals need to be left stationary. Although it would be fun if neutrals could attack the hero. And some neutrals use magic (Wizards, Faeries).

And regarding Flight, Teleport, and Dimension Door – do they even use them? I haven't noticed.