[freeciv-ai] Re: Measure the AI ability to harvest resources

["Per I. Mathisen" <per@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 25 Nov 2002, Raahul Kumar wrote:
> > > - The AI stupidly assumes both harbour and offshore when placing cities.
> >
> > Makes some sense...
>
> This is actually a good idea. If the AI does not build coastal cities it will
> fall badly behind in making ships. This will cost it the game in island style
> maps, which is the default.
>
> DO NOT FIX THIS!

Err. So you want to keep a hardcoded assumption that all cities have
harbour and offshore, which is not only stupid but also completely at odds
with allowing the AI to understand modpacks, because this solves _another_
problem? How about solving the original problem instead - for instance by
teaching the AI the value of having cities that border on an ocean?

The current code makes _each water tile_ insanely much better than land
tiles, resulting in stupid city placements. Instead, it should give a
single big boost to city locations with _one adjacent water tile_ that
allows it access to the ocean (ignoring inland ponds).

> Ack. I hate theidea of ICS. I hated the original AI style, which Per wants to
> revert to.

Then fix ICS in the _rules_ and make the AI understand when the rules are
good for ICS and when they are not. Don't cripple the AI. Fix the real
problem.

  - Per