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Couldn't you somehow add a different AI that would play like experienced players? Have the people who are making the HD-mod and HotA thought about this?
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Couldn't you somehow add a different AI that would play like experienced players? Have the people who are making the HD-mod and HotA thought about this?
Couldn't you somehow add a different AI that would play like a seasoned player? Have the people making the HD mod and HotA thought about this?
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:
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. Well, of course, you can give it 500 Archons, but the outcome of such games is obvious anyway.
The weakness of the AI lies in 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 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 kept stationary. Although it would be fun if neutrals could attack the hero. And some neutrals use magic (Wizards, sprites).
It would be interesting to see how DeepMind's Alpha would play, considering it has already mastered several games.
The weakness of AI lies in 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.
Creating a full-fledged AI is both very cool and, on the other hand, perhaps not really needed by anyone. In any case, none of the chess players are eager to play against Alpha. And chess enthusiasts are still much more interested in watching matches between people, not Alphas.
Therefore, perhaps it is still more promising to simply use new AI cheats (and treat the AI player as nothing more than a "running monster") rather than trying to present the AI player as a real player and a full-fledged competitor.
Added 4 minutes ago
According to my analysis, there is no need for 500 archers. A moderate push in the right direction is enough for the AI to be a formidable force.
You want to present it as a full-fledged player. Maybe someone shares your desire. Then it is difficult to disagree with what you said.
But in order for the AI to simply be a strong "running monster" that can easily defeat a player, advanced algorithms are not necessary.
Whatever the players say, I have a fairly high opinion of how NWC made the AI. It's not that bad.
Added 3 minutes ago
No, I'm not talking about that. Not about the neutrals on the map. I just used the figurative expression "running monster". After all, the AI algorithms for neutrals and the AI player are not different.
The community has been playing "poor Heroes" for almost two decades now – the main opponent (besides another player) is stationary monsters on the map, resignedly awaiting their fate.
Ah, so you tested this? Did you give the AI cheats and see how the game's difficulty against it changes?
As a viewer, I would like to see more diverse battles with monsters. Most online battles are: our army vs stacks of the same creatures (50 dwarves with an upgraded stack, for example).
A turning point in strategic approaches could be if the player had to more frequently engage in unconventional battles such as: our army vs three stacks of efreets with one unit in each, one stack of Wizard and one stack of dendroids.
I don't know in what format this could be implemented. As an option - the introduction of garrisons, where the monster type is not fixed and depends on the size of the contents behind the garrison. It would be like a mini treasure zone on a respawn or a replacement for a dull Dragon Utopia. The battle to reach the center could also involve breaking through a garrison. There's even an additional plus here - it's immediately clear what needs to be broken through to exit to the center + the ability to leave troops in the garrison, which also provides room for maneuver.
I'm sure there are plenty of downsides too. But those would need to be addressed in turn.
I am also all for strengthening the computers.
Creating a full-fledged AI is, on one hand, very cool, but on the other - perhaps nobody really needs it. In any case, none of the chess players are burning with desire to play against Alpha. And for chess lovers, it's still much more interesting to watch games between people than Alphas.
This isn't intended for online games because in online play, the player's goal is to level up and maximize their gains from the respawn point, as well as to reach treasure zones as quickly as possible and have the ability to clear them. Battles with monsters are just an obstacle on the way to the goal, which the player must overcome. Here, the ability to win battles with a starting army at the beginning of the game can be very helpful, as well as clearing a Guardian of Order (GO) with an army that is much weaker than the GO itself. If the GO plays using the same tactics as a human player, who would play such a game and why? The essence of the game is not about that.
You misunderstood me. The point is to make battles with monsters more diverse. I'm just tired of seeing the same thing 10,500 times: capturing utopias, clearing out resource nodes, and fighting the same Guardians. This doesn't mean that reaching the Guardians will be slowed down or that confrontation with the opponent will take a backseat. The key message is diversity in battles.