The Heralded Better AI for ETW Vanilla!

[Tan Zhi Han]

18th Century Battle for Dummies
Honey, I shrunk my AI's stupidity! Alright, so members of our esteemed TWC community have asked for Darth Vader's BAI edits for ETW vanilla.

This BAI mod contains the number changes that Darth Vader has introduced in his Darth Mod Overhaul.

Comments:
So I decided it would be easy to patch and release, so here is the pack which contains the number changes that Darth applied to improve the BAI, but this is just for vanilla and won't change anything other than the BAI numbers. I personally have seen mixed results with the AI. There is definitely something here, and I have had more drawn out and bloody battles, but chicken dancing is not eliminated quite yet; however, something is better than nothing.

Some personal stories from my tests: (All tests performed at N/N)
1) Firefights are drawn out more.
2) When melee occurs, it happens. By this, I mean, the enemy doesn't do this out of pure desperation, the enemy does this with the purpose of either disturbing your firing lines or breaking through completely.
3) Enemy seems more coordinated and uses tighter formations "intelligently."
4) I have actually had some close calls. The enemy pushed my left flank hard while distracting my right flank. They had used an entire unit to rush the middle and fire one full volley, before charging into two of my units, successfully taking them out of the general firefight. Luckily, my choice to sacrifice the right to reinforce the middle and left worked. (Although my boys at the right were exhausted from the double time march over)

This mod will conflict with any other mod/overhaul that overrides or affects the unit_land_stats.db, the kv db files, or other unit related db files.

Installation:
1. Download "A_TanBAI.pack" - (Choose only one!)
2. Move the downloaded file to your "empire total war/data" folder.
3. Play!

Credits:
Darth started the BAI hype from the infamous spot values. Majority of credit should be given to APETI and IS developers. If other members have found this out before now, I offer credit to you and a tip of the hat as well.

I also give credit to APETI and Tighter Formation which I am using as a resource to create the complex version.

Download Simple TanBAI Mod (Still has square formations)

Download Complex TanBAI Mod (Square formations removed)

Download TROM TanBAI Mod (Replace TROM file)

Questions, Tips, Solutions:
If you want something more than just these number changes, please tell me, and if the general consensus is to add a feature in, then I can do that. Longer musket range, lethality-range ratio, unit drill/formation, melee animation times, etc. Simply seek, and ye shall receive. I am pretty familiar with most of DM's/APETI's changes that affect battles. Mwahaha.



Could you please follow this format when reporting on BAI? (I know formats are lame, but reading a mess of nonsense is difficult and time consuming)

-Given Attributes (Use these): Medium Fund, Same Faction as Enemy

Era:
(Early/Late)

Map:
(Grass Flatland, Afghan, etc.)

Army Setup:
Me: 3 Line Infantry, 1 Grenadier, 1 General Bodyguard, 2 Lancer, 2 24-Pounder, etc.
Enemy: 2 Superior Line Infantry, 1 Elite Infantry, 1 Guard, 2 Rangers, 1 General Bodyguard, 3 Cheveau, 3 6-Pounder, etc.

AAR (After Action Review): [Follow the numbering pattern so we know what happened when.]
0) List Battle Setup, you where, enemy where
1) I move my cannons onto hill on the left (your left), and etc.
2) I charge my cavalry against his on the right flank. etc.
3...
4...
So on...

Thoughts/Comments:
-I feel like I had a horrible BAI experience BECAUSE the AI let me shoot at him without fighting back.
-Don't just say, your mod sucks. Doesn't help.

Era:


Map:


Army Setup:


AAR (After Action Review): [Follow the numbering pattern so we know what happened when.]
0)
1)
2)

Thoughts/Comments:

[♔Dignan♔]

18th Century Battle for Dummies
Honey, I shrunk my AI's stupidity! Alright, so members of our esteemed TWC community have asked for Darth Vader's BAI edits for ETW vanilla.

This BAI mod contains the number changes that Darth Vader has introduced in his Darth Mod Overhaul.

Comments:
So I decided it would be easy to patch and release, so here is the pack which contains the number changes that Darth applied to improve the BAI, but this is just for vanilla and won't change anything other than the BAI numbers. I personally have seen mixed results with the AI. There is definitely something here, and I have had more drawn out and bloody battles, but chicken dancing is not eliminated quite yet; however, something is better than nothing.

Some personal stories from my tests: (All tests performed at N/N)
1) Firefights are drawn out more.
2) When melee occurs, it happens. By this, I mean, the enemy doesn't do this out of pure desperation, the enemy does this with the purpose of either disturbing your firing lines or breaking through completely.
3) Enemy seems more coordinated and uses tighter formations "intelligently."
4) I have actually had some close calls. The enemy pushed my left flank hard while distracting my right flank. They had used an entire unit to rush the middle and fire one full volley, before charging into two of my units, successfully taking them out of the general firefight. Luckily, my choice to sacrifice the right to reinforce the middle and left worked. (Although my boys at the right were exhausted from the double time march over)

This mod will conflict with any other mod/overhaul that overrides or affects the unit_land_stats.db file in your DB file of your main.pack of ETW. The file is very small, since it only overrides one little thing in your vanilla game.

Installation:
1. Download "A_TanBAI.pack"
2. Move the downloaded file to your "empire total war/data" folder.
3. Activate the mod using either mod manager or adding "mod A_TanBAI.pack" into your user.empire_script.txt found in your scripts folder of your roaming user profile for ETW. For Vista, this will be:
C:\Users\YOUR_NAME\AppData\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Empire\scripts
4. Play!

Credits:
Full credit should be given to Darth Vader and the other users who contributed to the discovery. If other members have found this out before now, I offer credit to you and a tip of the hat as well. I am just providing this simple mod to vanilla users in this release area.

Download A_TanBAI.pack

Questions, Tips, Solutions:
If you want something more than just these number changes, please tell me, and if the general consensus is to add a feature in, then I can do that. Longer musket range, lethality-range ratio, unit drill/formation, melee animation times, etc. Simply seek, and ye shall receive. I am pretty familiar with most of DM's/APETI's changes that affect battles. Mwahaha.

Awesome. Been trying to do this myself for the past few hours will little to no success. I'm not a savvy enough modder. Anyway +rep to you. I'll try it out tomorrow and post my thoughts. Thanks a lot.

[Tan Zhi Han]

I have included a second download which changes up the kv_rules_tables. This affects the BAI's choice in targets (general, artillery, cavalry, infantry, etc.), avenues of approach (how they approach you), direction (left flank, right flank, rear, front), firing drill (en mass, platoon, etc.), and more. (All in one more table)

Some personal stories from my tests with this table: (All tests performed at N/N and using APETI kv_rules_table as a base, but using vanilla for everything else)
-In my first battle, I had equal forces with the enemy on a flat field. (8 line infantry vs 8 line infantry)
1) Enemy forms up lines before they are within range of my fire.
2) As enemy forms up, I move up to engage.
3) My right flank fires as their right flank fires.
4) BAI moves majority of forces to attack my left flank. BAI quietly sends a unit back...
5) My left flank immediately collapsed. (I kind of went WTF)
6) I move my middle to take up the loss, and move my right to attack their main force's flank.
7) I beat back their right and middle flank after losing several more units. (I was down to 3, enemy down to 5, I was losing this...)
8) My attack on enemy's main force's flank works. I disrupt the enemy's line and the crossfire send 2 units running.
9) At this point, that 1 unit that the BAI had sent away, arrives... behind me. He had clover leafed all the way to my rear. (WTF)
10) I turn one unit around and fight a battle in between two enemy forces.
11) The enemy uses 1 unit to charge as my forces are so diminished. I get 1 volley off and decimate the unit before they do any real damage.
12) I counter charge and it becomes a 2v2 melee battle. I come out the winner and I earn a heroic victory!!??
13) End results: Enemy lost 1193 of 1280 enemy units whereas I lost 879 of 1280 units. (Most of my units ran when they got to 30-60, which might explain why I had less losses)


-In my most impressive battle, I gave the enemy more troops than me, and to balance it out, I gave myself mortars (mwahahaha) (Me: 1 general, 2 mortars, 3 line, 2 snipers) (Enemy: 1 general, 2 cavalry, 2 24 pounders, 6 line, 1 ranger, 1 coldstream)
1) I set up a proper line to counter enemy cavalry, placing my mortars on the highest vantage point with snipers for defense.
2) My mortars fire upon the enemy formation. Enemy continues moving into place. (Kills about 40 people total here)
3) Enemy artillery sets up and fires upon my formation (Kills about 9)
4) Enemy BAI has 3 splits. (1 formation targeting my left mortar, 1 formation targeting my center, and 1 formation moving to my right mortar)
5) Enemy cavalry split and charge at my mortars (or so it seems)
6) I remain calm and turn off FIRE AT WILL for my line/snipers.
7) Enemy cavalry turns at last moment and tries to attack my line's flank. (My army looks like this. [0 - * - - 0 *] with general in rear of line.) (0 = mortar, - = line, * = sniper)
8) I turn my line outward to face left and right and turn on fire at will. (My troops "mass" fire into the cavalry units and take out more than half of both)
9) Enemy units still charge into and disrupt my line before fleeing from casualties.
10) I turn my units quickly back into a line as enemy ranger starts shooting and enemy lines start forming.
11) Enemy formation on left is closing on my mortar, I try to use my general to stop them, but they form a square and I must retreat after a short skirmish. I lose my mortars on the left.
12) My snipers on the right hold off an enemy attack on my right mortar.
13) Enemy artillery has moved closer and is using scatter shot into my troops... I can't have this.
14) I move my line infantry to form the "swinging door" at right angle so that the enemy that has taken my left cannot attack my left flank. Meanwhile, I move my snipers on the right through the forest to attack their cannons.
15) I make my infantry target their general while I keep moving my general farther and farther from the firefight, but close enough to the army to support them. Enemy general lives.
16) The enemy general moves onto the hill where my old artillery was... (Bastards) My snipers finish off their right cannons, but get into a fight with a cavalry unit that was hiding in the forest. (they had 3 cuirassiers, my bad)
17) My infantry lines hold as the enemy begins to buckle one by one under direct target fire from lines/mortar. I rush my left sniper unit forward through a gap in the enemy line and charge straight to the enemy cannon on the left. As the left sniper destroys the enemy cannon, the enemy general tramples through them, adios snipers. Same for my right snipers, but they managed to rout the enemy cavalry unit too.
18) By this point I have 2 line units, a general and a mortar. Enemy has 4 line units and a general.
19) I had to retreat my line many times during the firefight and reached all the way to the hill where my mortar/general were. The enemy surrounds me. (Mistake). I have the heights, and because of this, I won out in the end. (The enemy general was not close enough to support their line infantry after taking out my snipers far away)
20) Victory! Enemy losses are medium, my losses are a little more than medium (since the enemy started with much more numbers)
*It's important to note, that when the enemy charged straight at my line, my forces used mass fire, but when there was a firefight, my forces used platoon fire. I have no idea how they determined that...*

These two battles were the most notable. It was fun, and I can't wait to use these changes in APETI! too.

[Chevalier IX]

Excellent work,thank you for taking the time to do this for the community!I look forward to sharing stories of my own experiences with these changes you have made.And of course positive rep to you

[RomaJilo]

where there more shootouts? or was it all melee?

[Bob the Insane]

Out of interest, what unit size are you using?

[MorganH.]

AWESOME Work !!!
+rep

i do have some questions tho
I play vanilla with loads and loads of unitsmods +some enhancements like tighter formations

Do i have to remove my ''tighter formations '' mod ?
Whatabout unit sizes? currently im having unitmultiplier 1.5 enabled,is this ok ? or should we go to default settings ?
Greetings

[♔Dignan♔]

I haven't had time to try this yet. How does it effect mixed armies (i.e. Line, Light, cav, arty)? Does AI stay in formation or blob in the middle like vanilla BAI?

[Tan Zhi Han]

RomaJilo
My last battle before I went to class was pure line infantry, the enemy was outmaneuvered by me, and I formed a crescent around his troops which formed a small crescent (I surrounded him). We exchanged fire for 6 volleys before he charged me. (We had been firing at the same time basically) I didn't realize he had charged and couldn't counter charge fast enough, but luckily my line infantry were better melee fighters than his, and although I lost a good number, he got wiped out.
So, yes, more firefights, but melee is always part of the strategy.

Bob the Insane
The unit sizes are the same as vanilla. I removed all my mods to create this because people requested a vanilla version. If you want specific edits, I can easily make individual compatability patches.

MorganH
If you use any mod that affects or alters kv_rules_table or units_land_stats then it will conflict. But, if you have a conflict in any of those, please just post which mod it is, and I can make a compatability patch just for ya.

Dignan
In my tests, the enemy's mixed capabilities are much more smooth and distinct than in the pure infantry battles. The AI does maintain formation, but blobbing occurs when there is difficult terrain. (like when the enemy has to move around a rock formation or impassable terrain). I took advantage of this once and the AI had a hard time forming up to fight me, but on more open terrain, the AI does not seems to have an issue with blobbing. I did play a 20 units vs 20 units of pure maxed out line infantry. The enemy maintained a long line as it marched diagonally at me. I split my forces into 3 groups and they outmaneuvered the huge massive single line. But after I started gaining the upperhand, the enemy broke off into smaller groups as well and fought me with more tenacity. But that initial long line formation perplexed me...

Again, DM is the source of this, I just went fanatic over the idea of it, because I have been convinced there is nothing that affects BAI except drills/ranges. If y'all test out stuff and find better results, report them, I will continue to test out different functions in my free time.

EDIT: Also, I have not suffered a loss yet... But, I have never lost a battle, single player or multiplayer. -_- I don't know. I hope I lose a battle soon. ^_^

EDIT EDIT: Another story, that the blob story reminded me about.

Do y'all know the Syrian map? Well, there is high ground in the middle of the map that has impassable dune, a lake, and a forest surrounding it. I think the AI and I both wanted it in this one... (1 general + 5 line infantry vs 1 general + 5 line infantry)
1) I was marching my units forward towards the high ground and the AI reciprocated.
2) I looked over at the enemy and they had sent their left most (on my right) running towards the forest on the right of the high ground.
3) I double timed all my line infantry and general.
4) The AI started running their general towards the hill.
5) I charged his general with my general because whoever had the hill would win the match...
6) His line set up below the hill and outside of the forest and formed up, preparing to shoot. AI started sending his general behind his lines. I sent my general behind the hill.
7) As soon as my general fell back, I surged 3 units up the hill and 2 into the forest. The AI sent 3 units up the hill, 1 into the right forest, and 1 more into the left forest (smaller forest next to a lake).
8) I formed a fat messy line (didn't matter, just needed to fire first), and fire on his troops rushing the hill.
9) Enemy troops halted and fired en masse, then formed lines slightly below the top of the hill. Enemy started firing into my right forest as my troops tried to form up in the vegetation.
10) Firefight ensues, my higher ground is holding back their troops. My forest cover wins out on the right. I completely ignored the left forest which kept firing at me...
11) Enemy throws 1 unit into my line and disrupts my line. I ignore the melee unit and one by one order each unit to continue firing at the enemies below. (Yes, if you do this, while some will melee, others will still reload/fire)
12) Enemy moves his forest troops onto the hill and starts firing at me. I charge with my general.
13) Enemy general charges for my center... My center unit continues firing at the general even as they are in melee (Defensive position)
14) Enemy general flees, enemy line charge my line
15) Crossfire/melee confusion. I shot my own men, he shot his own, and everyone was tossing bodies around.
16) I won out pretty fine. Lost 1 unit, and 2 lost more than half, but I won that one because I claimed the high ground. ^_^

[A.Suvorov]

Is it possible to make AI run to my lines instead of slowly walking when I have many arty units?

[ronchas]

don,t seem to run with empire optimize

[♔Dignan♔]

Tan,

When I load this mod into my data folder, Mod Manager shows no conflicts with the file. Is this correct? Shouldn't it conflict with the files you changed in the mod?


Also, any idea which value controls how AI units prioritize their targets? I'm still getting a lot of unnecessary shuffling around because the AI units keep "leapfrogging" each other and apparently can't make up their mind on who they want to open fire on first. I'm sure this is just a factor we can't control but maybe I'm wrong. Any ideas?

[Chevalier IX]

As said before excellent work!the vanilla ai has seen a vast improvement over what it was,still not perfect,but faaaar better in the way they choose to carry the battle.I wonder though,could you possibly create a version for the tighter formations mod?????

[rman114]

I'm sorry, stupid question. where do i download A_TanBAI.pack? I don't see it attached?

[ronchas]

i installed it without other mods and i have to say that the IA is quite diferent now but i´m still having all the enemy line infantry in melee against me without any musket fired in battle...i don´t know if it´s bad installed or if only works in battle campaigns or if i have a bad numbers of soldiers(about 480 per unit),ihave 1.5 patch with warpath mod.thnxx

[Tan Zhi Han]

A Suvorov
I noticed that too. I am not sure about making it run. I know that in vanilla, all units have low endurance, and tire out very quickly.

Ronchas
I will look at Empire Optimize and try to make a patch if it conflicts. Did you use simple or complex version?

Dignan
I believe there is a number which changes target prioritization, but I must test further to make sure I have the right stats. What mod are you using that you think would conflict? I can check. I haven't had an enemy just charge melee me at the onset of battle, please, what units were you using? What terrain?

Chevalier IX
I will release a patch later today. Which version are you using, simple or complex?

rman114
Because it is such a small file, I decided not to zip it, thus, I cannot attach it. The two options are the simple and complex one in my first post, where it says "Download A_TanBAI.pack" in crimson red (means it is a link).

EDIT
Ronchas... After downloading and examining each file of Empire Optimized... They do not contain any file which affects the DB files, and thus cannot possibly conflict.

[ahedgpe]

don,t seem to run with empire optimize

I am also running Empire Optimized and have no issues running with this mod as long as it is put above EO in the mod manager

[♔Dignan♔]

[QUOTE=Tan Zhi Han;6181247]
Dignan
I believe there is a number which changes target prioritization, but I must test further to make sure I have the right stats. What mod are you using that you think would conflict? I can check. I haven't had an enemy just charge melee me at the onset of battle, please, what units were you using? What terrain?
QUOTE]

Tan,

I don't have any mods that conflict with your BAI mod. When I put your mod into Data folder, it shows no vanilla conflicts in mod manager. Shouldn't it at least conflict with the vanilla unit stat and kv_rules files to show that its working?

Also, I had an idea to try and reduce the overlapping of line infantry and light infantry. Could we change the target prioritization and the values of columns 20, 21, 22 for ONLY Light INfantry to something else? This would perhaps make them advance at a different speed or head for the flanks or something. Anything to keep them from interfering with their own Line infantry. The light and line infantry overlapping appears to be one of the main culprits of the bad BAI. Your mod does help this to some degree but I still get a lot of clumping, especially when light infantry is present.

[Tan Zhi Han]

Dignan
I will look into that. And yes, 20,21,22 values are the "Spot Ranges". The distance at which a unit reacts to your unit. And all conflicts with vanilla do not show up on mod manager. Only conflicts with other mods.

The Tighter Formation Compatible Patch
To install this, just replace the Tighter Formation Mod with this mod. Say yes to override. This will give you the benefits of both mods.

Tigher Formations w/ Better COMPLEX BAI

[MorganH.]

Dignan
I will look into that. And yes, 20,21,22 values are the "Spot Ranges". The distance at which a unit reacts to your unit. And all conflicts with vanilla do not show up on mod manager. Only conflicts with other mods.

The Tighter Formation Compatible Patch
To install this, just replace the Tighter Formation Mod with this mod. Say yes to override. This will give you the benefits of both mods.

Tigher Formations w/ Better COMPLEX BAI

Now were talking!!
Will try this immidiately
Thanks and +rep of course !