bots and negative bonuses

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Dang
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bots and negative bonuses

Post by Dang » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:50 am

I don't know whether it's been addressed before but it was real evident when I was testing Sparrow on the CastleInfinity map.

Is there anyway to get the bots to recognize a negative bonus as a bad thing? Sparrow likes to start with a small continent but on castle lux, it's a bridge. Which makes it a fatal flaw for this bot on maps with negative bonuses. I've noticed it with a few other bots. Other than that, sparrows strategy looks pretty sound.

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dustin
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Post by dustin » Thu Sep 28, 2006 2:11 pm

The continent bonus info is there for the bots to access. The built-in bots will avoid negative continents when possible. It's up to other bot authors to put this behaviour into their bots.

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Bertrand
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Post by Bertrand » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:48 pm

Dang, and everyone else, if you see Reaper doing something stupid with negative continents please tell me so I can fix him.

The logic is not obvious because you have to program the reverse of what you normally would do. Here is what I did in Reaper to handle negative continents:

- Refrain from popping it when someone has it;
- Never try to conquer it;
- Do not fortify it if I have it

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Post by Dang » Sat Sep 30, 2006 12:41 am

I've noticed that Bort and Nef, while they don't seek out a bridge to occupy, they do defend them if they do.

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dustin
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Post by dustin » Sat Sep 30, 2006 5:19 am

I think it's possible I've seen Reaper farm on negative continents. On the Borg map this can be a big no-no.

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Bertrand
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Post by Bertrand » Sat Sep 30, 2006 7:18 am

dustin wrote:I think it's possible I've seen Reaper farm on negative continents. On the Borg map this can be a big no-no.
Yikes! Good find Dustin.

I looked in the code and Reaper does not check for negative continents before farming. If you have one and you tempt him with a weak border, he will stupidly farm it for you. He also forgets to check if he will end up with the continent after farming.

As a general strategy question, is it OK to farm a negative continent if nobody has it, and of course I will not have it after the move? Or is it better to avoid them like the plague?

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dustin
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Post by dustin » Sat Sep 30, 2006 2:50 pm

Bertrand wrote:As a general strategy question, is it OK to farm a negative continent if nobody has it, and of course I will not have it after the move? Or is it better to avoid them like the plague?
Usually that's not too bad. But you might want to keep in mind many neg continents are a chain of just 2 countries (like in castle), so starting to walk down one could quickly become owning it.

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Post by BDF » Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:08 am

I always thought that most bots DO recognise negative bonuses, however they do not recognise just how high or low they might be. What I mean by that is that at the beginning of a game sometimes, a bot will go for a -25 bonus instead of -5 bonus (that is when the countries at the beginning of the game are selected).

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my wife hates me
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Post by my wife hates me » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:10 pm

Father of all Evil wrote:...if you see Reaper doing something stupid with negative continents please tell me so I can fix him...
What Jedi mind tricks do use on these people that they actually want you to make Reaper HARDER.





Reaper (AI): my wife hates me, do not mention Bertrand again. You have been blacklisted...

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Bertrand
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Post by Bertrand » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:35 pm

Well, humans are like that, always sowing the seeds of their own destruction. That's why we like to play with atomic bombs, as an example....

I guess it's a love/hate relationship: a good AI is fun to play with when you win, and infuriating when he gets you.

You will like (or hate) the next version I am working on. He is much harder on large maps. Real soon now.

All your suggestions really help me, the more detailed the better.

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Post by Sylocat » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:45 am

Deathgod wrote:You will like (or hate) the next version I am working on. He is much harder on large maps. Real soon now.
The new Reaper also understands one-way connections, so those of you who are fans of my best maps REALLY won't like him. :P

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