LOUD AI & Game Speed Improvement Project

[Sprouto]

Thanks again Ian - Problem discovered. Pre-built units.

While the code still permits it, the prebuilt structures are not being placed properly into the LOUD base layout, which plays havoc with his development. LOUD is like my mom, he wants things in their 'correct' place or else no dinner will be served. On a more technical note, it really messes him up, since the initial extractors won't ever upgrade, and his initial factory is placed in such a way that he won't be able to place later structures in his base plan. The lack of extractor upgrades (for those initial mass points) will really stunt his early growth.

Try turning off the pre-built units and see what you get.

We recently had another user, who made use of other rarely used options, in his case the No Rush timer, with similar odd results. Once he figured that out and let us know, and we adjusted several maps, all was well. Likewise, I'll look into getting the pre-built units to function properly so we can preserve that feature. Thanks for the good find Ian.

Also, thanks for the mention of restricted units. Obviously, LOUD will be rather impacted by restricted units, in some cases, quite negatively. In fact, when I feel the need for a pick-me-up, I just restrict all Tier 1 units, and he'll just get angry and sulk until he loses.

[HTKatzmarek]

IanC,

Regarding the error from the SCFA_Updater log:

20/03/2017 09:29:39 - *** Error *** 'Maps\losttemple' cleanup skipped, unable to download array from FTP server

Can you tell me if you've run the updater a 2nd time, and still get the exact same error message?

I'm wondering if this was lost connection and timeout to the FTP server, or a problem with this particular map's files on the server.

Thanks

[stashrider]

I got completely felt

@Mofunkles: that sounds a little better for the AI, we certainly hope to get it to a point where no cheats are necessary. 1.1 is tough. We are around on Fridays and Saturdays for game night if you care to join us. Also might be helpful if you have any questions. Just PM us for details.

Otherwise, keep letting us know how LOUD is treating you!

[IanC]

Thanks for the rapid response guys

While waiting I installed FA on another PC that's never had it on before, installed the two patches then put LOUD on top (downloaded afresh) just to make sure I had as much of an out-of-the-box experience as I could. It behaved the same, so I also figured maybe something was up with the options we normally pick (10min no rush and prebuilt units). I turned those off as well, and made sure all the units were available, and as we speak a 4vs 4 AI only battle is 20 minutes in and they are certainly building more, T3 Mex's and factories are going up, and there is some border skirmishes occurring. I'll let you know how it progresses

I ran the updater again and it worked with no errors

[stashrider]

Great Ian, I can't say how the AI will play if there are certain options on or off such as prebuilt, no rush etc...We usually play 1.1, 40 km map, all mods on without timers etc.,..

Let us know how things go, look forward to the feedback!

[IanC]

YOU HAVE CREATED A MONSTER!

The AI certainly seems to do more than just bumrush a base with an orderly queue of units, there is all sorts of manouvering going on in there. Also, lots and lots of units - and no slowdown! You have performed miracles with this, can't thank you enough o7

I need to try and get an online game going now, and break the good news to my friends We might have to warm back up to any extra units and stuff, though - it's been a few years

-Ian

[stashrider]

@Ian: You are always welcome to join us for games, we play Fri and Sat. There is anywhere from 6-10 players playing the AI. Plus, playing with experienced players will accelerate your gameplay. PM if you are interested for details. Glad you are enjoying!

[Sprouto]

@IanC - I have looked over the PreBuilt units feature and I should have it functional again in the next update. It will be slightly different in that it wont place a factory, but it will grant 2-3 extractors, 3 T1 power gens, and 3 T1 scouts.

@Paxton676 - The music functionality should be re-enabled in the next update. We won't download the music file, but if you have one and place it into the correct location it should function.

Make it LOUD.

[paxton676]

@Paxton676 - The music functionality should be re-enabled in the next update. We won't download the music file, but if you have one and place it into the correct location it should function.

Make it LOUD.

cool, thanks

[MandeR]

I installed LOUD last night from the link in this thread. I only had time for one match, and admittedly I wussed out and pitted one AI against the other to get a flavor for how it played first. I used two 1.1x cheating LOUD AIs on 20x20 Fields of Isis, all included mods enabled, 2000 unit pop cap, everything else normal (no prebuilts, no rush disabled, etc).

It was a bit different than I expected. Both AIs seemed to be very defensive. There were some mex raids, but the pressure did not appear to be consistent with the eco both players had (I left all starting mass spots enabled, so there was an overabundance on each half of the map). Most were groups of anywhere from 8 to about 20 units.

The most powerful units were used almost exclusively for defense. A striking example of this was the Seraphim bot building THREE Yolona Oss experimental nuke launchers and firing them only at nearby unit groups instead of the enemy base, and the first one did not even fire any nukes until the second was built some time later. The game could have ended after probably another 20 minutes of depleting the UEF bot's nuke defense.

This continued for about an hour, and at about the 2.5 hour mark (sim time -- the game was playing @ +4 sim speed) I ended the game as it appeared to be firmly stale-mated.

Obviously I have a lot more playing to do and I'm definitely looking forward to fighting the AI for myself...just thought what I saw in that match was interesting and I'm curious to see what the vets think.