[freeciv-ai] Re: New settler code

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

On Sun, 13 Apr 2003, Mike Kaufman wrote:
> > memory. The current implementation uses 61kb.Multiply by 32 players, and
> > you spend 3mb.
>
> If you were to actually have a game with 32 AI players, 3mb would be the
> least of your worries.

True, but 10 players would give you approx 1mb extra mem usage. 10 AI
players is not too unusual.

> Also (though I know you abhor it) this should definitely take into account
> unknown tiles (which is why I suspect you get such good results: the AI
> sees all the great positions regardless of whether he should) For this you
> need separate maps.

The current AI settler code is also omniscient, so nothing has changed
there. The idea that the new settler code should somehow manage the
incredible feat of not using omniscience (do you have _any_ idea how hard
that is?) is just silly.

> > Yes, it unashamedly uses omniscience and does a bit of coordination
> > between AIs in a few rare situations that almost never arise, but it is
> > very good at catching errors, uses little memory and works very well. I
> > do not want to change it.
>
> well, it should be ashamed. And why shouldn't AIs fight over good
> positions? In this case I think that correctness in concert with foresight
> should give cause for reconsideration of your positon.

I find arguments like "gee, it would be nice if it wasn't omniscient"
totally unconvincing, since this would require a totally different and
much more complex settler code, require big changes to the explorer code,
and would give dramatically _worse_ results than the current AI.

However, if splitting the map will give new features, like supplying
explorers with information about city radiuses, then I can be convinced to
do so.

  - Per