XAI 4.0 released!

[Humble Warrior]

Looks good xeryx! Thanks for responding. I must confess it was a while ago with the freezing siege army. I was faced with two Mongol armies. One in front and behind - the first attacked, but the second never did, even when the first was wiped out. Trying to get their attention didn`t work either. maybe it was vanilla`s fault.

Interesting how you haven`t tested with elephants. We will have to see how your latest Mod deals with that.

I will make this page a favourite and keep watch.

[xeryx]

Ohh yeah that was way back then, We have the AI attacking well with multiple armies, in fact now they use all the correct siege equipment.

Miikll showed me some Crazy screen shots of a 5 army invasion!! Crazy!..and it wasn't a giant blob of troops.

[soulson]

Looks very promising!

[Soul Firez]

I would ask if it is allowed i post some screens i have made using XCAI in the submod i made with the great help of MikLL.

This version has a slightly more agressive settings as i had wished to promote naval invasion to increase difficulty specially of people playing britania factions so that england etc where no longer safe factions once you had consolidated the UK . But no island is a safe place anymore with factions active both by land and sea. It clearly shows factions such as denmark norway france and hre once i had drawn them into war ( i am a war monger style player) had no difficulty in and infact relished invading britania with full stack armies sailed across.

For any interested in trying it out it already has a very well intergrated XBAI also and is based off the MOD by dave scarface KGCM which is what you are seeing screens of with the work continuing to be done by xeryx and the whole XAI team .

[xeryx]

By all means Soul..please do!

[Soul Firez]

Ok well first my submod doesnt change the KGCM vastly in mechanics(apart from the use of XAI) it is mostly banners faction symbols models and skin changes for men (most done by me) it does add in factions being able to horde if you leave alive family memembrs, also re emerge if you ill treat the lands of this dead faction .

Some small recruitment changes (and developing an AOR for certain troops) the use of historic characters with there own battle model and strat model done by me and a few other fixes and such but i wont give away all the surprises

Pic1 this shows the result just after the start of my war with denmark (yes i am playing england)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

i was brutally crushed here but later re took it.

Pic2 Shows HRE who is an ally of denmark has come seeming at the danes request ( you will often see brilliant support from allies.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I again was badly beaten here but returned with more troops to win the day Note the use of genrals in these invading armies.

Pic3 Just showing that many factions dont mind finding lands beyond there border as here is wales expanding they are my allies so instead of attacking me (they are land tied by me i surround them )

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pic4 shows Denmark is not just sailing out to attack me and also that they are using large numbers of men in there attacks

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pic5 Norway expanding after having been beaten from the uk by me

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pic6 this is just to illustrate the AIs use of large stacks and in most cases general run stacks it also shows consolodating of men

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pic7&8 show the still very defensive powers of the AI while still openly expanding with great sized armies

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pic9&10 shows the return of denmark with force after i had driven them away in the second pic yes there armies are not large but bear in mind the first shows them attacking with a full stack in one place and the second shows to smaller armies going after edinburgh .

this shows there not limited to attacking in just one place they will invade where it fits best and the smaller armies that attack together are way larger than the forces i had in the city so theytake the old scotish capital (which was bad news for me as this sparked a scotish uprising and a horde of scotish sprung forward to wreak havoc on my battling nation

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Any interested in trying this for themselves it is in the submod section of the KGCM forums thank you for viewing i will if wanted show some pics of the battle AI in action which as the XAI team have pointed out is by far there best work to date trully terrifying work indeed

[Humble Warrior]

Any interested in trying this for themselves it is in the submod section of the KGCM forums thank you for viewing i will if wanted show some pics of the battle AI in action which as the XAI team have pointed out is by far there best work to date trully terrifying work indeed

I do have the KGCM, so i`ll look for the subMod. thanks for the screenies and words.

[Soul Firez]

In about 2 weeks i will be increasing the faction count to 31 (currently 28) with the inclusion(and return of) timurids for middle east flanders/burgundi to split france up and make that campaign interesting and challenging , and the Apacheans for the new world .

Most importantly though(well to me it is as AI is the base for a solid game) i will continue to deliver the brilliant works as the XAI team make them delivered to you already fine tunned for the mod with great help of Master MikLL(hope he still wishes to help that is ) who has been instrumental in helping me intergrate and tune the AI to suit the conditions i sought.

I strongly urge all to rep the men of the XAI (Xeyx MikLL Achilla and the rest sorry for forgetting your names )team they have done some trully amazing work in a field many neglect in modding

[Glabro]

Naval invasions...and here I had gotten used to the fact I never needed to garrison coastal cities.

Great job.

[xeryx]

Suggestion Soul Firez, you should make a fancy signature. You can talk to Argent Usher if you want he is really good at graphics. Then put a neat little embedded link in it, so people can find your submod easier.

[yobi_uk]

Suggestion Soul Firez, you should make a fancy signature. You can talk to Argent Usher if you want he is really good at graphics. Then put a neat little embedded link in it, so people can find your submod easier.

I agree. You've got great stuff that I almost missed if it wasn't for Xeryx pointing them out to me. And if anyone can point me to MikLL, Achilla (I am still a newb after all, and using search function give me weird results, LOL), I would absolutely like to +rep them (Xeryx has taught me to do that one, LOL), I have already +rep Xeryx.

@ Xeryx, I'd like PM you regarding something...ok you might know already cos I've been bugging your Forum with it, but there's a few things I want to add. Honestly, I am learning with your tutelage.

[xeryx]

Anyone seen that white wabbit??? It disappeared again!!

@Yobi_uk..Keep it simple man..I have to get 4.0 done. The memory banks are kindof full.(of something) and need a purge, or upgrade!

@ Diadok, Thanks got in a hurry to leave work.

[diadok]

I FOUND GOD !! OH MY GOD HE COOKED THE WHITE RABBIT !!

you can +rep MiKKLL here :
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...=323346&page=2
(the last post at back)

Achilla is... everywhere, here for example :
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=253735
(the quite last post at back)

[yobi_uk]

+rep MiKKLL
+rep Achilla

I did it earlier...

[xeryx]

LOL Diadock!! That was unexpected.

@ Yobi_uk Thanks for repping them..don't forget Thorn and Argent Usher...don't give him the links.
If he can fiddle with the files, he can surely, click on the community tab..

Hi guys, sorry for the lack of screenshots. I am working on the road right now, and well I have been too busy working, and have to get the laptop updated to current testing standards.

I will get some screens for you, since others..haven't posted any battle shots. But maybe you can check out Soul Firez's thread..or mod to see some of the progress we made.

Xeryx out!

[yobi_uk]

LOL Diadock!! That was unexpected.

@ Yobi_uk Thanks for repping them..don't forget Thorn and Argent Usher...don't give him the links.
If he can fiddle with the files, he can surely, click on the community tab..

You just gave it away Xeryx! gonna rep now.

EDIT TOP SECRET

I would like to participate in testing 4.0.
I'm gonna install KCGM

[xeryx]

You just gave it away Xeryx! gonna rep now.

EDIT TOP SECRET
I would like to participate in testing 4.0.
I'm gonna install KCGM

Well how'd that happen??

Here are some screen shots of the BAI in Action. It is a full 4 army battle, and by making one tactical blunder, and hesitation..I lost the battle. It was because of the terrain and I did not set up properly, to take on the onslaught. It was so much fun though, I had to play it again to see if I could do better (and be better prepared for the terrain)

Group 1 is the first battle that I lost. At that time pikes ruled (unbalanced) the battlefield BTW..That has since been balanced and won't happen again. But some of the things to look at, are the way the AI is engaging. The multiple armies start out separate and take on my reinforcements. Then then both groups come after me and finish me off. The battle was so intense and happening so fast, I had no choice but to pause it at that time to make the captures, Hell I had to pause just to get my bearing in the battle!

Notice that there are ahead in troop counts, and notice the loss ratio..80-90% I however, had the better general.

Notice the Auto-resolve counter, accurately reflects the real battle results!!

Battle start a pretty fair fight, and the AI used his loose army to instigate the battle, instead of letting me siege.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[g4m3m4st3r]

Hi xeryx,

First of all im a big fan of Med2 and your XAI project (the most important part of a strategy game is the "ability to think" of the opponent and what your team is doing now really makes the game better and better) Great work man!

Secondly, well i played KGCM 3.0, 3.9, 4.2 and lately the submod of firesoul but to be honest im still not satisfied with the AI (both the CAI and BAI) (bad diplomacy, no clear invasion intension, no ally work, generals often suicide in charging, reinforement issues, etc ) and what you said about the lastest ver of XAI really makes me curious and at the same time excited. In fact i do appreciate all that dave, firesoul, your team and many others did in improving my favorite game but somehow i still feel a bit disappointed that there is still no version of AI that can beat me (lol i never lost a campaign ever with any faction at vh/vh in KGCM, in Third Age i lost some as the money script for the AI is 2 much and it can spawn stacks after stacks endlessly, but the AI is still not so good, easy to kill em off on a bridge or in a town defense battle).

Lastly i really want to try out your newest AI - which i think may be the nearest to a perfect AI. Right now im in my new year holiday (as in lunar calendar for us, vietnamese) so i hope that i spend time playing and testing your lastest work ( after the next 2 weeks i wont even have time to play lol).
So if possible can i take part in the test team? ( well of course i will do feedback of all the things i try)
In case it isnt then can you give me a release date soon? well after all the "readme stuffs" and screenies i really look forward to playing with an AI that can "think" and not silly stay in the middle of the map waiting me and my reinforcements to come to surround em.
Thank you guys for all your continuous work in making Med2 one of my best games ( my others r starcraft and warcraft but they lack the feeling of leading tens of thousands men to conquer the world and i only play em to versus other people, their AI sux badly)

[xeryx]

Hello
g4m3m4st3r

Something sure does not sound correct? About Soul Firez's mod You are playing much of what we are playing, and we are being quite challenged? So it seems there is some discrepancy there. Diplomacy is challenging, but not too difficult..but it definitely works correctly? You should make sure everything is working 100% please. Check with Soul Firez. Also do the cache clearing just to make sure. Go look at our screen shots..if you are not having similar results, then something must be out of whack..or you are just that good!

But yes ultimately you are right, there is no AI out there that is just going to smash you, yet. But considering we have got the AI up to equal Human Abilities, larger battles can be a lot to handle. Remember too, mod balance plays a key factor in things. Think of it like this, we develop rules for the AI's to follow. The Game engine is where the true AI lies. It knows how to handle all the units and such as that.

Hopefully, soon we can get something out. We sure do appreciate the loyalty to XAI. We keep making forward steps each revision, so we are getting there.

On the test team thing, currently no, would be the answer. But we are getting close to a final release. So we will see if there might be more benefit to making a phase 2 beta..to get much more feedback.

[g4m3m4st3r]

thanks for a quick reply xeryx,
well i always delete the temp files each time i install a new mod ( here is the generated map.rmw) but still i found soul fire's submod - which is as u said very near to your final AI version - a bit blunt, i might do some feedbacks for the AI here:

1.CAI: diplomacy doesnt work well, too easy to get allies when i am a power house like hre, teutonic, venice but as for england-which is also a very powerful faction i can hardly get any except for norway. Moreover the global faction standing is sth i found need to be reworked as sometimes far far away nations declared war on me ( 1 time i played england and at war with france, ireland and wales, allied with norway and then in turn 20 or so some polish, moorish even hungarian fleets came and blocked my docks? i dont think my rep is so low that all gang bang me coz i always played defensively the 1st 20 turns to give the AI time to build a decent armies, no blazing attacks, i also tried milan out and it happened again when portugal and spain atked my island castle)
Other from that the CAI for papal state also too aggressive towards milan, played as hre and milan got swept out by the pope by turn 30-40, the pope ruled over florence, milan, genoa while i was also excommed for atking denmark and france.
No ally work or any co-invasion so far, both for my AI allies or enemies ( well i played england and allied with norway, when i atked edinburgh my ally got 3 full stacks at inversen and it didnt move an inch to atk aberdeen or edinburgh)
When i played Teutonic i could kill off more than half of the whole army of Lithuanian by sending a half stack to a border bridge and keep luring the BAI to send stack after stack into a bloodbath ( it can move around and atk my cities which are guarded by only 4 units, not?)

2.BAI the AI got higher morale and often went for my generals but still i found it not good enough - AI general charged suicidally into my spearmen, armies stuck at gates when routing or in sieges, inefficient use of siege equipment ( when AI got some rams, ladders, siege towers together with catapults or trebuchets it broke 1 or 2 holes on the wall with catapults then charged all the enemies into em)
Reinforcement control is really what makes me depressed, especially in siege battles ( AI reinforcement often stands still in siege battles when it doesnt have any siege equips or got stucked when deployed in a mountainous terrain)

In general the AI in soul fire's mod did improve compared to the last one i played ( some months ago, in KGCM ver 3.9 or sth), but only in some special cases for ireland, norway, denmark, france, KoJ ( can be more as i havent tried all the areas) but for wales why does it atked castle town when being threatened by england? i could take my chance when wales was warring with norway and take cardiff+carnevaron in the 1st 10 turns. Or for milan it took barcelona when being atked by me-hre and papal? While my city bologna is guarded by merely 10 units of militia?
As for the BAI its formation is better, infantry and missile units not seperated too much, cavalry makes good use of charging and focuses more on killing my generals but not enough imo - even though i lost some great battles i still found the AI could do better than that ( i could win many heroic victories with armies full of militias versus full stacks of knights by killing its general - which i think must be impossible)

Finally, i got some questions regarding the AI:
1.Does the system specs affect the AI in game? As the more scripts for the AI the system must handle more work and a so-so PC like mine ( 2gb ram, chip single core 2.2, graphic card 512 ) can reduce the result?
2.Each time reloading the BAI behaves differently as it recalculates the situation but which time is better? i tested out and some cases the 1st time it besieged my cities and captured it, 2nd time it withdrew all the enemies, 3rd time it moved out and came back besieging the city again in the same turn.
3.Does the game settings ( unit size, graphic quality) affect the AI? In custom battles i found playing with huge size more challenging than normal size even though the same battle config ( not because more men to kill but the BAI controlled better, especially the "spared units" guarding the missiles and artilleries )