Strange days for the AI

**boofhead** · September 06, 2006, 09:11 AM

The AI has outdone itself this time, without a doubt.

I am playing as the Greek Cities while awaiting RTRPE1.7 +Candelarius' mod. It is 273BC and I have only just taken the Balkans after a vicious tit-for-tat struggle with Macedon. Money has been a problem, as the well as the fact that I am at war with Macedon, Seleucia, Ptolemaics, Illyrians, Romans and Carthage.

Pyrrhus captured all of Sicily + Rhegium after some struggle. After fighting off some Roman stacks he was left with a half-stack only of mixed units. Tarentum and Croton were bribed away by the evil Romans for the second time. All garrisons are minimal and only Syracuse can produce troops. All mercs are exhausted. More Romans are heading south. Pyrrhus is in a spot of bother.

Incredibly, Pyrrhus, aged 44, decides to get married to a 50yr-old woman while in the field with his army. Maybe the stress of his predicament made him realise his days are short and that he might have some fun before he dies.........

Anyway that was weird, but at that exact moment a FULL Carthaginian stack including elephants landed north of Lilybaeum. OMFG, I thought, I am dead. Pyrrhus stayed out of range of them while pathetically hiring a single unit of slinger mercs.

Very next turn - a second FULL Carthaginian stack lands north of Lilybaeum. OMFG I have lost Italy and Sicily, I thought.

I WAS WRONG.

It is about 8 turns later and the Carthaginian stacks HAVE NOT MOVED AT ALL!

Pyrrhus has managed to recruit 8 hoplitai from Syracuse as well as assorted mercs, and thrash the Romans to the north while the Carthaginians have a little picnic north of Lilybaeum. I am about to go down and confront the idiotic picnicers - I'll separate them and take them out one at a time. THEY HAVEN'T EVEN BESIEGED LILYBAEUM, which has like 2 crappy units as a garrison.

STUPID AI PYRRHUS SHOULD BE DEAD AND SICILY NEARLY LOST BY NOW!

EDIT: Changed the name!

**MCM** · September 06, 2006, 09:18 AM

Interesting story!

PS- he hates being called 'Candy'

**Quinn Inuit** · September 06, 2006, 10:17 AM

Yeah, the AI tends to land stacks and not move them. Not sure why.

**boofhead** · September 06, 2006, 10:28 AM

They've just got to fix it for M2TW.

I've had a single unit Carthaginian faction heir land in Campania and besiege Capua when I was the Romans. DOH!

And now this, the absolute other end of the spectrum!

Oh, well. I've had my whinge for the day, but luckily the good AI surprises sometimes make up for it (not by design I'm sure - by accident).

Oh, and I do love the game overall. I actually play NOTHING else. I am totally hooked - it is like a drug!

**Pnutmaster** · September 06, 2006, 11:43 AM

Yes, i've noticed that the AI can deploy entire stacks into enemy territory and not move them. This would seem to be based on many factors, such as the presence of a general in the stack, the presence of enemy stacks and provinces, etc. In most cases, attacking the AI can spur them on and get them moving, but this does not always work (especially when the stack is commanded by a captain).

It is indeed a strange day for the AI (I never noticed this behavior in RTR 6.0...)

**Aedelric** · September 06, 2006, 12:04 PM

I have had this happen to me a number of times, its only ever been landing missions by Illirya and Carthage. This is probably why only Britan has naval invasions turned on in the vanilla game, its a bug based off that.

**boofhead** · September 06, 2006, 12:46 PM

I thought perhaps the target of the Carthaginian stacks might have been the Romans, because they are at war too, and because I own Rhegium and it blocks their passage it is a pathfinding issue and they just stagnate. Not really sure.

**Quinn Inuit** · September 06, 2006, 12:52 PM

I think Candel is turning off naval invasions for everyone but the Brits in his next version.

**JoeyJubb** · September 06, 2006, 02:29 PM

I've found that moving the stack slightly (just a few coordinates) will nudge them into action; it might technically cheating by using the console, but it makes them do something!

**The Walrus** · September 06, 2006, 03:07 PM

It is a pathfinding issue. I read about it in the org. They also might be waiting for reinforments.

**Pnutmaster** · September 06, 2006, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by JoeyJubb

I've found that moving the stack slightly (just a few coordinates) will nudge them into action; it might technically cheating by using the console, but it makes them do something!

Console cheats, huh. What command does this :p?

As boofhead was saying, there are so many occassions where a single province, like Rhegium at the end of Italy, creates a pathfinding problem for the AI and leaves them to gather in that spot mindlessly. A human player would realize that he cannot move farther up into Italy unless he conquers Rhegium, so even if he didn't want to leave a garrison, he could simply ravage the town and then move upwards towards Rome.

**Titus Marcellus Scato** · September 06, 2006, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by The Walrus

It is a pathfinding issue. I read about it in the org.

This is why the city of Rhegium is being removed in RTR 7.0.

**The Walrus** · September 06, 2006, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by Pnutmaster

Console cheats, huh. What command does this :p?

As boofhead was saying, there are so many occassions where a single province, like Rhegium at the end of Italy, creates a pathfinding problem for the AI and leaves them to gather in that spot mindlessly. A human player would realize that he cannot move farther up into Italy unless he conquers Rhegium, so even if he didn't want to leave a garrison, he could simply ravage the town and then move upwards towards Rome.

Check the Greek units go for a swim thread.