[freeciv-ai] Re: Thanks for reply Andrew

[Charles Esson <charleses@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I assume the teams share research and resource in which case what your saying  
is an ai player is not quite as 1/3 as dumb as a good player, only 1/2 as 
dumb. It also cheats ( uses knowedge it should not know).

I think the right way to have fun doing this is to create an ai client. 

Several advantages.

1) More time available, if ran if on a different machine. As part of server ai 
code slows down game play for all, so resource allocation has to be limited.
2) It can't cheat.
3) If a nice framework is built, those of us with a really warped sense of fun 
can battle ai clients; even enter them into comps with real players.
4) Regression testing of the server can be done with ai clients, if the 
framework is nice the desired tests can be created using the framework.

5) Keeps something that needs to be complex out of server regression testing.

What does the framework look like? Need to take the lessons in the server code 
and think about that for a while.


Regards
Charles



On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 01:03 pm, Jason Dorje Short wrote:
> Benoit Hudson wrote:
> > On Thu, Mar 31, 2005 at 01:12:56PM -0500, Charles Esson wrote:
> >>I play the freeciv AI for relaxation and am fed up with beating them (
> >> hard and 8  is dull), so I thought for my new relaxation I would try and
> >> make them unbeatable ( at least by me).
> >
> > Heh; I always play 30 players / hard AI / endyear 500 or 1000.  And I
> > almost always win but sometimes I actually have to be halfway clever.
> >
> > The AI is terrible at managing its civilian affairs (which usually
> > starts being necessary in the 1AD-500AD timeframe); it's mediocre at
> > fighting aggressive wars; it's not bad at defending itself; it's fairly
> > good at expanding into new territory (except for its propensity to build
> > new cities right next to enemy units).
>
> These days I play against teams of 2 AIs each.  Really the number of
> teams doesn't matter; with more of them you just play them off against
> each other more.  Teams of 3 AIs each I cannot handle however (howitzers
> against musketeers, not good).
>
> -jason