Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

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sIg3b
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Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by sIg3b »

Just to provide a topic for some lively discussion. [:)]

TRUE grognards will have noted the obscure reference in my question. In a decades old issue of the GENERAL, there was a Third Reich article that, iirc, started with the words: "France is fated to fall." The Fall of France is no one´s fault in particular, it´s simply a 3rd Reich feature. Perhaps a horrible AI opponent is simply a computer wargame feature?
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wodin
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by wodin »

Thankfully I must be useless at wargames and on the whole the AI suits me fine.

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zakblood
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by zakblood »

neither am i the greatest gamer either so AI for me is fine in most game, not had many that i won hands down unless i selected easy that is, so agree with Wodin, AI is fine for me
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sIg3b
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by sIg3b »

Seriously? I´d say Wargames where the AI is remotely competitive without being given obscene material advantage can be counted on one hand.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by Twotribes »

The problem is that an AI can only do what it is PROGRAMED for and no programmer can anticipate everything a live person would do in a free form game. Most AI are good enough for me since I am no genius though with ATG I know I will eventually win no matter what.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by wings7 »

ORIGINAL: Tesuji

Seriously? I´d say Wargames where the AI is remotely competitive without being given obscene material advantage can be counted on one hand.

I would be in the same boat as wodin & zak [:)]...what are the ones that you can count on one hand?
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by lecrop »

I hope wargame's AI never surpass human capabilities. The day Kasparov lost vs Deep Blue chess was over for me... [:(]
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by loki100 »

ORIGINAL: Tesuji

Seriously? I´d say Wargames where the AI is remotely competitive without being given obscene material advantage can be counted on one hand.

the issue is not the AI - which is inevitably going to be limited - but how you set up the game ... and your goals. If I am playing a civ style game I don't really care about the AI, I play them for a bit of relatively mindless fun. Other games, I find if I hamper the human side (using set up options) to something close to realistic constraints then the AI will give me a real challenge. If I understand a particular game, and play on even settings - of course I am going to beat most AIs.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by sullafelix »

The biggest question is how are you playing?

Are you playing historically or are you just trying to game the rules and system?

Are you also playing the game constantly for hours and even days at a time?

These are all important questions. If you play historically and do not do something that would be not done at the time I see that as helping the AI.

If you are wearing your mouse out playing the same game, then switch it out.

I read about 10-15 books a week, not the whole book but whatever interests me at the time. I do the same with games. I go from age to age and battle to battle every week. This means that I do not become used to the AI and any of it's quirks.

I remember in chess club that most players also used exactly the same games over and over and they were humans. I have seen human players in board wargames make horrendously foolish moves. So to me at least the AIs at time mimic those.

I don't usually get killed by AIs,of course there are some that can, but I can expect to get a run for my money in most games. The again I just play them. I am not trying to make a wargame into an IQ test.

So to me, it all comes down to your playing style.

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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by wings7 »

Food for thought...especially liked
I read about 10-15 books a week, not the whole book but whatever interests me at the time. I do the same with games. I go from age to age and battle to battle every week. This means that I do not become used to the AI and any of it's quirks.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by JWW »

ORIGINAL: wings7

Food for thought...especially liked
I read about 10-15 books a week, not the whole book but whatever interests me at the time. I do the same with games. I go from age to age and battle to battle every week. This means that I do not become used to the AI and any of it's quirks.

The original subject line sounds so, well, Steam-ish.

I read books through to the end, but with games I follow the same procedure. I don't stay stuck on one game for a long period. Nothing wrong with that. Just my preference. I rotate back and forth between favorite games, and I typically don't play on a deep level, trying to get every advantage I can out of the system. That makes the AI more challenging to me. Again, that is just my preference. There are so many different ways that people play these games that it would seem very hard to create an AI that satisfies everyone. Right now I'm playing Barbarossa, coming back to it after playing other games for quite a while. I never seem to do well at Barbarossa. But I still enjoy it.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by GaryChildress »

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

The problem is that an AI can only do what it is PROGRAMED for and no programmer can anticipate everything a live person would do in a free form game. Most AI are good enough for me since I am no genius though with ATG I know I will eventually win no matter what.

This pretty much sums it up. Although I have a devil of a time playing against the AI in ATG. Probably more to do with my own ineptitude at strategy games though.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by Rosseau »

I don't think I've ever won any game on "normal" the first time. No surprise there [&:]

But yes, one solution is to jump from game to game, never really learning it. That's my style. In fact, after two days, I am ready to move on from HOI IV [:(]
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by wings7 »

ORIGINAL: JW

ORIGINAL: wings7

Food for thought...especially liked
I read about 10-15 books a week, not the whole book but whatever interests me at the time. I do the same with games. I go from age to age and battle to battle every week. This means that I do not become used to the AI and any of it's quirks.

The original subject line sounds so, well, Steam-ish.

I read books through to the end, but with games I follow the same procedure. I don't stay stuck on one game for a long period. Nothing wrong with that. Just my preference. I rotate back and forth between favorite games, and I typically don't play on a deep level, trying to get every advantage I can out of the system. That makes the AI more challenging to me. Again, that is just my preference. There are so many different ways that people play these games that it would seem very hard to create an AI that satisfies everyone. Right now I'm playing Barbarossa, coming back to it after playing other games for quite a while. I never seem to do well at Barbarossa. But I still enjoy it.

I like your game procedure, you can experience & enjoy many more games that way, especially when you have alot of games to play.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by wworld7 »

This is the state of software at present. Maybe way down the road excellent AI's will be the norm, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it to happen in my lifetime.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by Orm »

I suspect that the cost to create a good AI is to high compared to the profit they will get from making the AI. [:(]
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by Mobeer »

Not "fated to suck", but not as good as they could be:
- focussing on selling multi-player makes spending on AI less valuable
- AI doesn't seem to be a feature that can be used in marketing
- AI seems to be tacked on at the end of development
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by warspite1 »

ORIGINAL: wings7

ORIGINAL: Tesuji

Seriously? I´d say Wargames where the AI is remotely competitive without being given obscene material advantage can be counted on one hand.

I would be in the same boat as wodin & zak [:)]...
warspite1

Me too [:)] I don't have a problem with most AI because I'm crap at wargames.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by demyansk »

Very good thread. For me, the AI is fine. I never get good enough at the games to always win.
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RE: Are Wargame AIs Fated to Suck?

Post by MrsWargamer »

Hard to say.

Some aspects of common military operations are so hard to design for the AI that they leave gaping holes in a credible AI opponent. And once the human realizes the shortfall on the part of the AI, it tend to break the game. Because the AI will continue to fail in this area to the detriment of the challenge. I've seen games where the human makes known the shortfall and there after everyone just abuses the heck out of the weakness.

I find playing most battles in Battle Academy are fairly even as the human will not have encountered the variables. Once you have played the battle a couple of times, there's no surprises. Thus the longevity of the game played solo is fairly finite. If you play the game frequently solo in a short time you exhaust it's potential for newness fairly quickly. The game thus really shines more against a human adversary. Games with a random generator feature can usually extend this for a time.

I'm usually surprised when a game defeats me. Be it Civ or a fantasy setting like Heroes of Might and Magic, or conventional war games like Steel Panthers or grand strategy designs. Although in recent times my competitive edge has eroded with age. I'm not the adversary I used to be 10 years ago.

My closing comment is I don't think much of war game AIs.
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