SMAX - The Will to Power - mod

[Alpha Centauri Bear]

Renewing AI tuning discussion. That is a hard and long work. If and when I return to it I would love to know that I am moving in the right direction. Have a look at these post and comment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/4Xgaming/comments/sbr7jh/smacx_modding_tuning_up_ai/
https://www.reddit.com/r/alphacentauri/comments/sbr83l/smacx_modding_tuning_up_ai/

As always, I would be glad to team up with someone with enough dedication on AI tuning. I'll take care of the programming part.

[Nexii]

The problem with SMAC IMO is that they went with a very high attack to defense ratio compared to say Civ2. It gets even worse in the midgame as the tech tree favors getting Shard (13) before Silksteel (4), pushing a 4:1 ratio with weak and situational defensive modifiers. So manuevering units is all that matters, there's few battles where the attacker ever loses. It's why most players have learned not to build defensive units, just scout garrisons to police and defend native life attacks.

Of course, boosting defense means the AI is even worse at taking cities. It then has to be smarter about destroying sensors, perimeters, and using artillery. It's not an easy problem.

So unit use is one thing but I think the AI also has to be smarter about its relative power position. It's relatively indifferent to the leader (be it human or AI) and weaker factions should be much more willing to gang up by alliance. It's a very rare game when all 7 factions are relevant late... I've seen like one out of hundreds of games.

[bvanevery]

The stock AI will shell Sensor Arrays to death just fine.  The only way to counter that, is to place your own Sensor Arrays rather carefully behind your own cities, so that advancing enemies can't shell them so easily.  It is especially important to note the difference between coastally vulnerable squares and completely inland squares.

I don't see that "7 factions viable in the endgame" should be a metric of anything.  The whole point of the game is to beat somebody up, and there's already been an early game and midgame for that to be accomplished.  I don't know of any classic "free form alliance wargames" where all 7 players would be viable in the late game either.  It's usually down to 3 or 4 players at that point.

A normal sized map will "runt" 2 factions automatically.  Pretty much guaranteed by the faction placement algorithm.  You're really only playing a game with 5 factions in that case.  This is a big part of why I only recommend Huge maps playing my mod.  The AI needs room to get situated and dig in, before a smarter human player comes to trash it.

[bvanevery]

Details finally they went down

finally they went down

MY 2319.  The Usurpers are no more.  I can't believe how well puny mindworms defend, for a -1 PLANET faction, against my +5 PLANET attackers.  It's pretty off.

The most immediate consequence of my victory is I switch from Thought Control back to Cybernetic.  Next year I'll switch from Green to Planned.  I don't have to fight anyone right now, and I need to grow.  It'll probably be awhile before Deirdre gets ticked off enough to come after me.

Details bust a move

bust a move

As I'm about to end my turn, I remember that I could probably get some techs out of my allies.  Svensgaard only has Advanced Ecological Engineering.  The Spartans have a number of things but aren't trading or selling on account of the Space Elevator.  Deirdre gifted me nukes.  Maybe I really will test the "destroy everything in 1 turn" way to end WTP.

I trade Roze the nukes in exchange for a lesser tech.  She wanted to sell me Quantum Machinery for 375 credits.  That's a joke, I'll get it some other way.

Aki Zeta5 is still sore at me for going to war with her at the beginning of the game.  I'm even Cybernetic now.

My bases have been building Fusion Labs that they don't need.  Bases that get done with everything, have been Stockpiling Energy.   I dump that money into my Secret Projects.  Not efficient but that's about all you can do in WTP.  Next year I'll probably adjust my budget to make a lot more money, so that I can get the SPs done a lot faster.

Details the last exploration

the last exploration

I think there are only 5 supply pods left on Planet.  4 are accessible by water.  3 are in Cyborg territory.  1 is underneath a fungal tower.  Might as well make a go of them!  I can reach most of them with my 2 Isles and a Cruiser that's been on coastal sea base "bridge" duty.

Since I still have some flooding damage, I switch my Stockpile Energy bases to Clean Hover Formers.  I send my old Formers that require support to become part of my Secret Projects.

[bvanevery]

Details prepping for doomsday

prepping for doomsday

MY 2324.  I complete my Quantum Planet Buster prototype and start making them in every "finished" city.  I also complete the Neural Amplifier.  The Longevity Vaccine will be next.  I've popped 1 of the supply pods and got a new fungal tower for the trouble.  I've positioned some planes for the final strike on the fungal tower sitting on the supply pod.  X ships are going home and disbanding.  Sealurks I'll keep in my home waters as I'm still +3 PLANET.

So, how long will it take before I think I have enough QPBs to end the game in 1 turn?  And will I figure out some other way of winning before then?

Is it faster to save up QPBs or Orbital Power Transmitters, to win?  If WTP hasn't changed its rules on Cornering The Energy Market, it would still take 20 years after declaring that intent.  And the current price of CTEM is 750k.

[Alpha Centauri Bear]

Regarding changing production after base attack that is normal vanilla behavior that explicitly applies when AI unit is destroyed at base. Yes this would apply to human base when allied unit is destroyed there. Probably not too well thought programming but I will not fix it. Too minor.

[bvanevery]

Vanilla bug lol.  "You didn't really need that.  Here, build some Scouts!"  Well maybe they expected the enemy to be more aggressive about taking over a vulnerable base.  Something WTP often doesn't do.

Details the last supply pod

the last supply pod

MY 2329.  This is it.  I've got it ringed with 4 planes to take out the fungal tower, but I still lack the ground unit to pop the pod.  It's slowly coming by Isle.  Aki got busy with the other 2 pods on her territory as I was getting near them.  The AI might be smart like that.  I got the 2 pods on the island.  1 of them did yield an Artifact, making the effort somewhat worth it.  I suppose at the WTP 6:1 rate of exchange, 50 worth of minerals is like getting a 300 cash bonus.  Acceptable for exploration, even if it's a lot of work to bring the thing home.  Of course the other option is to cash it for a tech, and save me the bother of stealing from someone.

Details death factories

death factories

Almost everyone is making a QPB now.  Otherwise I've got the Cloudbase Academy well on the way to completion, and the Space Elevator in progress in my capitol.  I realized a flaw in my plan: with -4 POLICE from Cybernetic and my faction penalty, every QPB is making my citizens upset.

Details my big faction power

my big faction power

However as luck would have it, this year I learned Centauri Psi!  I get a free Brood Pit in every base.  This puts me at -2 POLICE, where nobody gets upset about anything.  I didn't have to disband all those X Chaos Cruisers after all.  But, I didn't know / think of this coming.  In my own mod, I got rid of the free Brood Pit ability as overpowered a long time ago.  It's also rather late game and frankly in my mod, I probably would have won the game by now.  Or wouldn't have seen a Brood Pit as instrumental to victory.

BUG: The faction description "Free BROOD PIT with discovery of Centauri Genetics" is wrong.  It's now Centauri Psi.

Soon, I may have cheap satellite building and orbital insertion capability.  I wonder if that will dissuade me from the QPB finish.

[bvanevery]

Details get some savvy

get some savvy

Inter-turn, MY 2329 to MY 2330.  I'm not sure if the AI's are paying enough attention to the realities of voting.  Deirdre of course could not possibly have gotten everyone to agree to make her boss.  It's actually pretty amusing to see the stock AI try to pull this.  It's a narrative moment where everyone says "NO!"  But it points out a reality, that the Data Angels have been Governor since almost the beginning of the game.  They have long since been eclipsed by other factions, any of whom could probably take the Governorship from Roze.

Now, why haven't the Gaians or Pirates made a move on the Governorship?  Perhaps they're each afraid that the vote could go the other way.  And they'd each rather have weak Roze as a Governor, than the other one strengthened?  Except that I think until fairly recently, they may have been allies.  I haven't been paying a lot of attention to that, long as nobody is asking me to get into their wars.

Well, Deirdre, Svensgaard, and Santiago are all in Pact with me.  And with nobody else.  This means I could gain a Conquest victory by eliminating both the Cyborgs and the Data Angels.  If the Pacts all held.  Which if I used nukes, they wouldn't.  So that's all just nice to note for now.  Doesn't really help anything. 

I still think one of the AIs should have tried to grab the Governorship by now.  Probably should have done it quite a long time ago.

[bvanevery]

Details bigger bang for the buck

bigger bang for the buck

Roze made me an expensive offer I couldn't refuse.  Singularity Planet Busters are the key to really wiping things out in 1 turn.  She also sold me 2 lesser techs for not as horrible a price.  This has left me without many credits.  Upgrading my QPBs to SPBs may have to wait a year or two.  Assuming I do it.  Probably should.  Sometime you want a smaller pop though, like hitting something near your own territory.

I've completed the Cloudbase Academy.  I could stop working on SPBs and instead try a growth and diplomatic victory strategy.  However, Sky Hydroponics Labs only become especially cheap once I finish the Space Elevator.  I think?  Better check that reality in WTP.  Thought satellites were still half price in the last game I played.  Well, the docs say so, so I'll plan on that basis.

I think I might have gotten another one of those "year didn't advance" bugs.  Not sure.  Supposedly this is MY 2330, but I had already saved a game.  Maybe I got distracted.

[bvanevery]

Details accelerating growth

accelerating growth

MY 2339.  I interrupted my nukes to build Paradise Gardens, then Sky Hydroponics Labs, then Robotic Assembly Plants.  I've gotten away with building the latter in almost every city, with no eco-damage anywhere.  I guess my earlier SPs are blocking the eco-damage.  Only my capitol lacks a Robotic Assembly Plant.  Unlike other cities, I'm building the full complement of labs, due to all the city specific bonuses.

Elsewhere, the Cloning Vats will be done soon, and I'm working on the Singularity Inductor.  If that gets done, and I haven't drowned everyone, it'll be pretty darned trivial to crank out SPBs.  As is, I have 19 QPBs and 21 SPBs.  Wow!  I might have to start thinking about how many it would take to end this.  Also I could upgrade the remainder of QPBs cheaply as needed, because I completed the Nano Factory.

The Pirates and the Spartans went to war recently.  The Pirates tried to rope me into it.  Since they're both allies, I declined.  The Pirates blamed Spartacus, said I'll have to go talk to her.  Which I won't, unless she bugs me too.

I could swear that someone's mod, didn't require resetting your satellite choice every time one completes.  Was that Yitzi's patch?  Now that I'm making lots of Sky Hydroponics Labs, this is a noticeable burden.

[bvanevery]

Details motive

motive

Interim between MY 2341 and MY 2342.  Hmm, how close is she really to transcending? 

Details flaky Gaian engineers

flaky Gaian engineers

Well she must have changed her mind.  I'm the only one building any Secret Projects.  It does mean she's finished the tech tree though.  I wonder what she'll do, now that she doesn't have to research anymore?  Does the AI have a good plan for that?

Details why you might pay full ticket

why you might pay full ticket

Flooding cheated me out of finishing the Cloning Vats this year.  When you only make a partial payment to barely get something done, things can happen.

[Alpha Centauri Bear]

Trying to adjust missiles cost.

Missile chassis now cost twice as infantry and same as gravship.
Conventional missile now cost about same as corresponding attack gravship. Therefore, it is less economically effective but has farther reach. I am thinking to increase its speed even more for that cost.
PB, Tectonic and Fungal missiles cost does not drop with reactor because their power already grows quadratically with reactor level. No need for price drop.

https://github.com/tnevolin/thinker-doer/blob/master/wtp_changelog.md#version-282

[bvanevery]

Well I'm going to finish this game with my SPB costs as is har har har.

Details space cakes

space cakes

MY 2348.  I have completed the Singularity Inductor.  So far no eco-damage.  I've built as many Sky Hydroponics Labs as my cities can realistically use for the time being.  My biggest city is size 30, and I'm pretty sure the rule is, you can't use more SHLs or OPTs than the size of the city.  I've been switching to Orbital Power Transmitter production.  I've realized that more money means more to spend on Secret Projects.  My next one is the Telepathic Matrix. 

Details evolving government

evolving government

I also finally learned Eudaimonic.  In preparation for that, I'm finally choosing Knowledge.  This may eventually tick off the Spartans, but I'll probably be ready with all my SPBs by then.  If I don't do any eco-damage, my rate of producing them is going to be scary!

Uuuh, because it's late and I'm tired, I got distracted and totally forgot about what I planned to do.  Piece of chocolate cake got in the way.  I ended up playing until MY 2351, when my game crashed for some reason.  I replay the turn and go Eudaimonic.  PLANET drops to +1.  I don't see any eco-damage this turn; hope that's true next year.

Damn.  Have to figure out the crash first.

I theorize that it might be due to Dierdre and Spartacupants attacking each other, with units inappropriately in each other's cities.  If they are no longer at war, the problem may go away.  I hold my nose and talk to Deirdre.  I get her to stop the war, and then I buy every remaining tech from her.  This leaves me with 24 credits and no reason to work on the Universal Translator anymore.  Fortunately, I have plenty of other things to switch to.

Unfortunately, that didn't solve it.  2 more wars I can end though.  I get the Data Angels to knock it off with both the Spartypants and the Pirates.  I'm surprised that they have 1 tech I haven't acquired.  They refuse to trade it initially and Roze cuts me off before I can ask again.  Well I got the wars stopped.  That's the most important in-game diagnostic thing, without having to crank up the Scenario Editor.  To be honest, this is the 1st time I've thought to try peace as a solution.

DAMN!  Game still dies.  No choice but to start poking around with the Scenario Editor now.

Using the Scenario Editor, I try eliminating the Data Angels from the game.  The last message I see is Deirdre learning Transcendent Thought.  Then the game crashes.  So it's probably her fault.

Eradicating only the Gaians, the game crashes immediately.  So I guess the Data Angels are involved in the problem after all.

Eradicating only the Pirates, the game crashes immediately.

Eradicating only the Spartans, the game crashes immediately.

Eradicating only the Consciousness, the game crashes immediately.

Eradicating no one at all, the game crashes immediately.

I sanity check that the Usurpers didn't somehow come back into existence.  Nope, they're out.  So the Data Angels are involved in at least one game crashing problem.  Could eliminating them, simply create another problem?

Eradicating both the Data Angels and the Gaians, allows the game to continue.  So the problem is somehow between them.  Or there are 2 problems.  I've already manually checked all the Data Angel cities.  I suppose I'll have to undertake the more difficult task of checking the Gaians.

I can't find any anomalies in Gaian cities either.  I'm a bit alarmed to notice they have 44 SPBs.  I have 27 SPBs and 19 QPBs.  I thought I was badass.  The Spartans have 0 SPBs active, but 30 in production (!)  This bodes ill.

I'm a bit stumped.  I don't have the mental energy for more diagnosis tonight.

[bvanevery]

I tried poking around at the Data Angels.  Didn't get anywhere.  Tried deleting all their Interceptor units, hoping it was an Interceptor bug.  Didn't help.

This game may be toast.  I could just try nuking people now, but I don't think it would prove anything.

I think this game proved that I can use very few units to destroy an ALIEN faction.  Obliterations being legal and all that.  Probably for not much more effort, I could have conquered them conventionally.  But to what profit?

I wonder if I'm hostile to all my near neighbors, if I can crank out the troops to liquidate them all.  That sounds darned tedious though.  And I'm guessing someone out of my logistical reach, will just become the new "Deirdre" of the game.  Maybe not though.  I guess it would be a test.

[Alpha Centauri Bear]

I tried poking around at the Data Angels.  Didn't get anywhere.  Tried deleting all their Interceptor units, hoping it was an Interceptor bug.  Didn't help.

Sorry. What is this about?