Chickenboy
Posts: 24520
Joined: 6/29/2002
From: San Antonio, TX
Status: offline
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ETA: This thread was started after my first attempt vs. the IJ AI in 2009. Some of the AI scripts have changed, but I still harken back to the discussion for newcomers. It's still useful for them to hear the back and forth re: AI "cheats" and the benefits of AI v. PBEM. That's why I'm bumping it again.
ETA II: My apologies to Andy Mac especially. Much of the tone here is quite critical of the AI (at least from my part). His selfless work on the AI has lead to immeasurable improvements, by all accounts. This may not be apparent from much of my postings on this thread.
After playing against the IJ AI since the game's release (I patched a couple weeks ago), I felt gradual creeping dread settling over my game. No, not due to forcible evictions of my digital troops from Manila, Singapore and the like-but a sense like other posters that something was amiss on the IJ AI side of things. So I took a look.
I feel like someone that has been suspicious of their wife's activities and opens up her email to do a little fact finding. Only to discover that she was having affairs. Lots of them. With a whole football team. During a game. Which was televised. It just gets worse and worse the more you look into it.
Here's what I found:
(currently in March 20, 1942. Was playing on very hard until recently, when I scaled back to 'historical' in an effort to stem some cheating that was likely occuring under the 'very hard' settings. How'd that work out for me?)
1. The Manchuko Garrison is at 6570/8000 required. The Soviets should have activated. Where are those Manchuko troops? One of the divisions landed on the Northern tip of New Caledonia a month or so ago. I don't know where the other 1000+ AV are. In recently captured Rangoon, the IJ have completely evacuated the city, busy chasing my soldiers into North Burma. Not one IJ unit is present, certainly not enough to garrison the city properly. I received partisan activity warnings while replaying the turn.
Looks like the IJ isn't bound by any sort of PP, garrison or operational HQ area boundaries. Is this WAD?
2. I've been getting large numbers of air attacks from Singapore since the IJ took it. Makes sense. Except, even though there's 185 a/c there, there's not ONE aviation support point in the city. Very few planes in repair or maintenance status.
Similarly, looks at other air units across the map revealed very few units with *any* planes in repair or maintenance status. All A6M2 Daitai, for example, were fully manned, planed and ready for action. Looks like the IJ isn't bound by aviation support, aircraft maintenance or repair requirements. Is this WAD?
3. A IJN TF just unloaded an SNLF unit in its entirety onto Tassafaronga last turn to capture it. OK. That happened IRL, no biggie. Except the TF was set to "Transport" rather than amphibious. And Tassafaronga is a 0(0) port size. And the unit was not at all disrupted by this miraculous landing. Looks like the IJ isn't bound by TF composition, load / unload requirements, port sizes or amphibious disruption during unload. I can't imagine that this can be explained away with the early war amphibious alone, can it? Is this WAD?
4. The IJ airforces have lost a huge number of airframes and, presumably, pilots to date. Yet, the available pilot pool for the IJN was 1104. IJA 1935. I've read board proclamations that the available airframes 'boost' that the AI gets was not the problem, but that pilot availability would be the bottleneck for the IJ AI. Looks like that won't be an issue for some time and the IJ gets 'free' pilots (nearly) ad libitum as well. Is this WAD?
5. The existing A6M2 available pool was 1742 with a build rate of 312. The Betty pool was 744 with a build rate of 200. Looks like other posters were dead on about this. Apparently, the AI isn't bound by production parameters for aircraft frames.
I've heard from some folks on other threads that this is *not* working as designed and will be 'scaled back' for patch II. Great news! To further my previous analogy, my wife in my example will no longer be carrying on her salacious behavior with the defensive secondary, although she's not making any promises about desisting with the offensive line.
6. After four months of bitter warfare, the Japanese home islands appear to have massive stores of supplies / oil / resources / fuel. As examples:
Osaka: 999,999 / 997,229 / 887,164 / 432,793
Tokyo: 980,044 / 998,049 / 848,183 / 389,644
Other cities have resources in excess of 999,000 as well.
Is this WAD?
Looks like the IJ won't really be needing Palembang, Balikpapan, Java or Tarakan for some time for fuel or oil. I can't imagine a need in the next 3-4 years for resources either. Why should it bother with capturing these areas?
So, to summarize:
The AI appears to be unbounded by: political points and HQ restrictions; garrison requirements; home island supply, oil, resources, production of / pools of airframes, pilots; TF load/unload limitations, assignments for load / unload; airframe maintenance and repair timeframes. These in addition to the reported and documented 'script' errors.
These oversights / omissions / errors / hackneyed 'bonuses' make the game virtually unplayable versus the AI now. All the clever AI gambits and scripts in the world won't change the overwhelming crush of otherworldly production issues that are going on within my game. I'm just waiting for the Imperial Twin Ion Engine (TIE) fighter production to start for the IJ. You know, 1000 a month-just to make it tough for the human player. That and transporting troops through the IJ Stargate. These ideas make just about as much sense as some of these cheats here, if they're WAD.
For those of you that are out there 'contentedly' playing against the AI: It's a sham marriage, folks. Check it out for yourselves. No clever manuevers will save you from the AI. It will go where it wants to, when it wants to and no rules of the game (or physics) will get in the way. If you consider this a challenge, trying to outwit nonsensical production and replacements, more power to you. I for one have better things to do with my time.
So, back to my wife analogy. I'll ask that she desist and correct the error of her ways (patch II). But with *so much* and such flagrant cheating going on, it seems unlikely that all will be corrected-leaving me heart broken. 
< Message edited by Chickenboy -- 2/12/2011 3:49:27 PM >
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Very disappointed - 
? The Allied side was not boosted in (or for) PBEM games. 
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