[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#4701) autoattack oddities esp. with cruise missiles

["Andy Smith" <andy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Jul 29, 2003 at 10:43:45AM -0700, Per I. Mathisen wrote:
> A lot of the handicaps are unused. I removed most of these a while ago,
> but left H_MAP and H_FOG alone. H_TARGETS is used in most of the code
> where these two would make sense. H_TARGETS is sort of an AI limited fog
> of war. You should use this instead of H_MAP or H_FOG, since the AI is
> not capable of playing to H_MAP or H_FOG in any case.

To be clear, are you suggesting that H_TARGETS should be checked for
auto-attack instead of H_MAP and H_FOG?  If so, I agree, since the
intention of H_TARGETS clearly seems to be to prevent the AI from
doing exactly this.

Do you suggest it replaces both H_MAP and H_FOG here, or just H_FOG?

> We should also rename all of this mess. Eg having H_MAP is not having a
> handicap, it means we are not cheating.
> 
> A more general approach would be to call it player_property instead of
> ai_handicap. Then you would have
> 
>   /* Advantageous properties */
>   PP_RATES            /* Can set its rates beyond government limits */
>   PP_NO_FOG           /* Can see through fog of war */
>   PP_OMNISCIENT               /* Can see entire map */
>   PP_PROD_FLEXIBILITY /* Can change production without penalty */
>   PP_NO_ANARCHY               /* No period of anarchy after revolution */
>   /* Disadvantageous properties */
>   PP_BAD_LUCK         /* Can get only 25 gold or barbs from huts */
>   /* Other */
>   PP_AWAY             /* "Player Away" AI mode */
>   PP_EXPERIMENTAL     /* Enable experimental AI features (for testing) */
>   /* AI only */
>   PP_NO_DIPLOMAT      /* No offensive use of diplomats */
>   PP_DEFENSIVE                /* Build defensive buildings without 
> calculating need */
>   PP_NO_PLANES                /* Doesn't build air units */
>   PP_AI_FAKE_FOG      /* AI won't go after targets it should not see */
> 
> H_HUTS can be subsumed under PP_AI_FAKE_FOG.

Assume you mean H_TARGETS...

> Moreover, I think the four last can be subsumed under a general
> PP_STUPID_AI property tag. (Though, the no planes property is not really
> needed. A newbie who might get screwed by AI airplanes is most likely
> toast long before the AI gets aircraft anyway.)
> 
> The AI levels would then look like this:
>  - Novice & Easy: PP_NO_FOG, PP_OMNISCIENT, PP_PROD_FLEXIBILITY,
> PP_NO_ANARCHY, PP_NO_DIPLOMAT, PP_DEFENSIVE, PP_NO_PLANES, PP_AI_FAKE_FOG,
> PP_BAD_LUCK
>  - Medium: PP_NO_FOG, PP_OMNISCIENT, PP_PROD_FLEXIBILITY,
> PP_NO_ANARCHY, PP_NO_DIPLOMAT, PP_AI_FAKE_FOG
>  - Hard: PP_NO_FOG, PP_OMNISCIENT, PP_PROD_FLEXIBILITY,
> PP_NO_ANARCHY, PP_RATES
>  - Experimental: As above, pluss PP_EXPERIMENTAL

Alright, this makes sense, and I would be happy to look into this.
It's quite a lot of changes though, it reverses the logic of some
current ai_handicap() checks but not others all over the place.  So
I will have to look at other smaller changes first to build up some
experience here.  Someone else should do it if it is really desired.

-- 
"My current provisioning rule is to have no more than 2 out of 3 upstreams in
 bankruptcy at any one time. Of course, we allow the 3rd to be near bankruptcy,
 with an occasional liquidity crisis."
 -- Ken Leland, nanog