Ultimate Battle AI 1.2 *UPDATE*

[onefistedboxer]

Did you alter the likelihood of the AI using Missile troops in melee, because they seem to be doing that. I think this is my favorite addition, but they tend to wait until it is too late, and the battle is lost before using them as infantry. For example one of my favorite battles, using OS25, required me to use my retinue longbow men to prevent the AI from breaking through my lines and therefore routing my army - i haven't made thorough tests but my impression is that the AI will try to avoid using even capable Missile/melee units for this purpose until after their lines have broken. I'm guessing that the game can't tell the difference between capable ottoman infantry and peasant archers when deciding whether to put them into melee though...

[GrandViZ]

Did you alter the likelihood of the AI using Missile troops in melee, because they seem to be doing that.

Yes, this is one of my favourite additions, too. But there is no possibility to improve the timing or selection as far as I know.

[Canadian23]

i did a couple tests on siege warfare with this add on. the 1st battle in my English campaign i was defending a citadel with a garrison of 10 cards a mix of spears and dismounted knights no archers though. well a full stack of portugal broke though the front line using their ram killed the two guys defending there. then they for some reason left the ram their and used ladders on the 2nd wall they broke through their though having trouble moving aaround in the streets the got to my 3rd wall. now they decide to waste 10 mins to walk back and get the ram and bust my gate down but as they did this they had ladders on either side of the wall just sitting their no troops going up it. about 20 mins later the ai wakes up and attacks me with the ram and attack going up the ladders. my men got wiped out to the superior troops they had but it was a great siege. i only wish you can somehow speed up the decision making of the ai or something so they don't sit their for a while.

the 2nd a city siege went very well except i was being attacked by to armies one had catapults and bust a hole in my wall but does not attack until they run out of ammo but when they do the backup army only goes through the hole in the wall while the other sits behide their ram a whole 20 card stack and does not attack but after the gate went down they attacked.

so bascially the ai is much better great fix of the battle ai but they need to make faster break ins and don't sit around so much.

[hammi]

Been using UBAI with 1.5+fix+BBB @ 2 years per turn. Campaign and the battles have been throughly enjoyable.

Except battles vs 2 or more enemy stacks. With UAI these battles happen quite often. With 3 enemy stacks atleast one tends to just sit there doing nothing. In general, in those battles the AI passivity is still a problem.

Apparently the enemy co-ordination (or rather, lack of it) with multiple stacks is hard coded and you cannot fix that, so I assume the passivity in multistack battles is too ?

[GrandViZ]

Apparently the enemy co-ordination (or rather, lack of it) with multiple stacks is hard coded and you cannot fix that, so I assume the passivity in multistack battles is too ?

It seems to be hardcoded. I am not aware of any parameter, that might help to fix this.

[The_man]

I can´t do a grand campaign with this patch,
I select the faction I click on start and It goes to the single player options.
What should i do to fix it??

Have a nice day

[onefistedboxer]

It seems to be hardcoded. I am not aware of any parameter, that might help to fix this.

Thats odd, although i havn't tried a multi-stack battle with UBAI yet, i thought that 1.2 increased the co-ordination of reinforcements.

In vanilla 1.2 i found that the reinforcement AI often lined themselves up with my troops, have you found that this has got worse with UBAI or did you never experience it in the first place.

[hammi]

Thats odd, although i havn't tried a multi-stack battle with UBAI yet, i thought that 1.2 increased the co-ordination of reinforcements.

Maybe it has, hard to tell as AI is pretty clueless quite often in such battles.

In vanilla 1.2 i found that the reinforcement AI often lined themselves up with my troops, have you found that this has got worse with UBAI or did you never experience it in the first place.

It's about the same. It's actually (atleast seems to be) the same old passive AI bug from 1.0 - enemy lines up near the edge of the map, sits there, moves few metres, sits there, moves back. Repeat. They fixed it for the 1v1 battles but still pops up quite often in multistack battles.

Usually one or more armies attack properly and some just dance. Of course there are battles where all enemies attack though.

[DrBeast]

Meh...changing the max_unit_width from 20 to 30 did not do the trick. Not only did the troops still arrange as before, but this time the AI kept that formation when marching against me, instead of reforming to deeper columns like before. I did a quick comparison with Darth's formations_ai, and noticed that he, too, had min_unit_width and max_unit_width both set at 20, but he also had a tighter inter_unit_spacing value and higher max_units values. So I too reduced inter_unit_spacing from 5.0 to 1.0 and reset max_unit_width to 20, but still no dice. In the end I chucked it all and kept your original file. And now I need a Guinness...no wait, I need coffee actually...I'm too n00b for this *****

[DrBeast]

More feedback: you might want to raise the skirmishing distances a bit. I've noticed that, by the time infantry archers start to skirmish, opposing infantry that are charging from the front have usually caught up with them.
I've also noticed that javelinmen sometimes won't throw their javelins when they're set to auto-skirmish. I think they're caught in a loop of "fire or skirmish away?", or so it seems: they just stand there idly. Disabling skirmish mode makes them throw their javelins just fine. This could be a conflict with my javelin ranges and your battle_config though, I've set the ranges at 50 or 55. I'll repeat with RC ranges and see.

[GrandViZ]

Actually, I was thinking about disabling the skirmish function for missile troops as well, as it hurts them more than it helps. If they stand and fight, they cause more casulties. This was the intention of the reduced skirmish distance. I have noticed the issue with javelin throwers as well, but it seems not related to the skirmish distance, but the skirmish mode itself. Disabling it seems not a bad idea.

[DrBeast]

I remember I had come up with some decent values for skirmishing, before I started testing out your BattleAI. They seemed to skirmish away just at the right moment, at least horse missile units. I'll try and remember to bring the file over and send it to you next time I come to work (probably Sunday, I don't plan on getting out of the house when the temp will be reaching 42 C!).

[GrandViZ]

Horse archers have the advantage of speed, so a decent skirmish value should be found. It will be more difficult for unmounted missile units. In most cases they will be chased to death. But if they fight close to the rest of their army, they might have a chance and IMO better morale. Therefore I think skirmish mode for unmounted missile units is bad.

I don't plan on getting out of the house when the temp will be reaching 42 C!

I wouldn't also at such a high temperature.

[DrBeast]

Btw, what defines how far away they'll run away when skirmishing?

And 30 C in Germany I think is actually worse than 40 C in Greece!

[Point Blank]

Btw, what defines how far away they'll run away when skirmishing?

And 30 C in Germany I think is actually worse than 40 C in Greece!

OK if you want hot, I am living in Bangkok at the moment, and its wet season 36 degrees, which means its also hot season, and humid season etc.

As Robin Williams said in 'Good Morning Vietnam', "Today its hot, and wet, which is nice if you're with a lady, but not so nice in the jungle..." lol

[GrandViZ]

OK if you want hot, I am living in Bangkok at the moment, and its wet season 36 degrees, which means its also hot season, and humid season etc.

As Robin Williams said in 'Good Morning Vietnam', "Today its hot, and wet, which is nice if you're with a lady, but not so nice in the jungle..." lol

Off topic, but nice quote!

[GrandViZ]

There is no runaway distance (at least not in the config files, sure its hardcoded), only a distance they try to keep at minimum, which determines the moment they begin to run.

[DrBeast]

'k...bummer, that.

[GrandViZ]

I have added some pictures of the new formations to the first post. Note, that the distances are not true to scale.

[DrBeast]

My modified battle_config.xml file, as promised. And I'm officially out of my freaking mind...biked 4 Km to the Uni with the temp at 42 C, and the a/c is not working here on weekends...