[Freeciv-Dev] Re: AI players

[Reinier Post <rp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> The trick, basically, is to expand incredibly fast.

Yes.  This is well explained on www.freeciv.org.  Greg Wooledge
thinks that fighting early can be worthwhile:

   
http://www.complete.org/mailinglists/archives/freeciv-dev-199903/msg00128.html 

> I suppose we need to have another go at making the difficulty level
> 'easy' easier - we tried for 1.8.0 (in response to my complaint, when I
> first starting playing :)

I saw a patch by Brunus on the mailing list to make easy the AI players
expand slower, and it seems to be part of the 1.8.1 code.

Lalo Martins suggested a 'tutoring' AI, this would be interesting as a
student project I suppose:

  http://www.complete.org/mailinglists/archives/freeciv-dev-19990 
http://www.complete.org/mailinglists/archives/freeciv-dev-199903/msg00312.html

> As an aside, I wonder how we could gently rebalance the game so that
> breakneck expansion isn't the only way to win... it would be nice if
> there were more varities of strategies...

You wrote this earlier:

  http://www.complete.org/mailinglists/archives/freeciv-dev-199905/msg00089.html

and  Nicolas Brunel responded by posting a patch by Brunus that made
easy AI expand slower.  It seems to be part of the 1.8.1 code.

An important check on post-Monarchy governments is missing in Freeciv:
the inability for Republic and higher to declare war at will

   
http://www.complete.org/mailinglists/archives/freeciv-dev-199904/msg00031.html

Another aside: whatever happened to Rizos's patch to make the AI
use Democracy and Communism?:

   
http://www.complete.org/mailinglists/archives/freeciv-dev-199907/msg00084.html

claims it was well tested, so it would be a waste to leave it out.

It isn't part of CVS yet:

  http://www.freeciv.org/lxr/source/ai/aihand.c?v=cvs#L480

> Jules

-- 
Reinier