The Italian AI is still potty!

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The Italian AI is still potty!

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Strategic Command Series >> Strategic Command: World War I >> The Italian AI is still potty!

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The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/25/2021 1:25:57 PM

stockwellpete

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Sorry, but I have to raise this again. In SP the Italian AI is still heading primarily north/north-east towards Munich and Salzburg. It needs to be going directly eastwards, then south-east, towards Trieste and then Fiume.

In my last game I tested to see if Austria-Hungary could hold both Trento and the Isonzo line by itself, without having any German help. I just about managed it, although the Austrian infantry unit in Trento went down to 3 by the end of one turn. I reinforced it back up to 10 immediately and it was not attacked at all the next turn.

In the previous game the AI Italians tried to get to Munich by squeezing in between Trento and the Swiss border, so now I have extended the high mountain hexes (Impassable in my Mod) eastwards to block that gap.

Btw, I have set the Movement costs for Major Rivers and Marshes to 2 in my Mod. Presumably all the rivers in the Main Campaign are considered "Major", are they? I am not sure if this is inhibiting AI attacks eastwards on this front.

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/25/2021 7:25:03 PM

Hubert Cater

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Hi Stockwellpete,

If this is a customized campaign then this is possible as the changes I made are baked into the default campaigns themselves. You'd have to match the changes to your customized campaign or you could very well not see any difference from the latest patch.

The trick here is that things are not hard coded and it comes down to scripting and specific campaign modifications etc., so if you are building from a campaign you started editing a while back from before the latest patch then what you are describing would make sense.

What I would suggest is redoing your mod starting from the latest versions of the campaign as the safest route.

If you still see issues from the latest default versions of the campaign rolled into your mod then I can take a further look, but it would be next to impossible for me to assess a mod started from before the campaign changes specifically set to improve the Italian AI, since well they wouldn't be in your mod and so on.

Hope this helps and clarifies things,
Hubert

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/25/2021 7:49:18 PM

stockwellpete

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Joined: 12/20/2012
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Thanks Hubert. That must be what is happening. Once I have finished trying out some infantry changes I will have to start a completely new version of the mod.

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/25/2021 9:44:48 PM

BillRunacre

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A simple solution might be to copy all the AI event files from the official campaign, and paste them over those that exist for your campaign.

Then press the update button in the Editor so that the scripts recompile, as otherwise they won't take effect.

< Message edited by BillRunacre -- 3/25/2021 9:46:40 PM >

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/26/2021 12:58:01 AM

Hubert Cater

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Thanks Bill, normally that would work fine but I did also make some changes to the AI planning exclusion lists, these were actually more critical to have the AI avoid certain positions than the scripts, and unfortunately these can't be copied over unless you do a export and then import. I'd list the ones I amended but I don't remember them all off hand with 100% accuracy.

Stockwellpete this is an option as well if you are ok with trying this, the export/import, but if not done correctly and if not properly folded into your custom mod you might still wonder why things are not working as expected.

Granted, it's less than ideal to start from scratch, but it is really the only surefire way if you are not 100% comfortable with all the advanced Editor options.

One other option is to try some of this yourself as an experiment with your mod which is to look at the Edit AI Scripts section and then the Advanced section and go through the Entente planning positions you would like the Italian AI to exclude from consideration. Note, this will affect all Entente planning, not just the Italian side, but if done right it could work as some of those positions only come into play for the Italians for the most part, e.g. like the ones you normally mention the Italians driving towards etc.

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/26/2021 9:21:11 AM

stockwellpete

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I think my best bet is to start again and do a completely new version. I am not the greatest with modding more complicated things. I looked at the Edit AI Scripts - Advanced and it looks as if I just delete Salzburg from the left-hand column that might solve a lot of the problem. The French have never got to Salzburg in any game that I have played so it must be an Italian target. Trieste and Fiume are already in the list.

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/30/2021 11:24:38 AM

stockwellpete

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Hubert, I have re-written my mod and have tested it up to about a month after Italy joins the war in ay 1915. The Italian AI is still sending its units, as the crow flies, directly towards Vienna, not Trieste or Fiume. I have not deleted Salzburg yet from the AI Scripts, but I will obviously need to. My view is that the orientation of the AI Italians should primarily be eastwards towards Trieste, then south-eastwards to Fiume. Only once those two cities are captured should it re-orient towards Vienna. Easy for me to say, I know, but I think there is room for improvement here.

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/30/2021 2:03:09 PM

Hubert Cater

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Hi Stockwellpete,

I took a quick look and the default campaign should have Salzburg already in the Entente exclusion list, if it is not in your mod then likely it was not properly rebuilt from the default campaign.

Just mentioning it just in case this is part of the issue.

The other thing I can recommend is opening up the OFFENSIVE script for your mod and amending the one Italian event that has it drive towards Graz and changing it to Fiume instead to see if that helps.

To do this all you have to do is change the GOAL_POSITION to target the hex location of Fiume instead of Graz, then save the script, recompile in the Editor and then save the campaign.

You'll have to start a fresh game with the updated campaign before it will take effect.

Hope this helps,
Hubert

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 3/31/2021 10:18:31 AM

stockwellpete

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Joined: 12/20/2012
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

Hi Stockwellpete,

I took a quick look and the default campaign should have Salzburg already in the Entente exclusion list, if it is not in your mod then likely it was not properly rebuilt from the default campaign.

Just mentioning it just in case this is part of the issue.

Is it possible to add new locations to this Exclusion list please?

quote:

The other thing I can recommend is opening up the OFFENSIVE script for your mod and amending the one Italian event that has it drive towards Graz and changing it to Fiume instead to see if that helps.

To do this all you have to do is change the GOAL_POSITION to target the hex location of Fiume instead of Graz, then save the script, recompile in the Editor and then save the campaign.

You'll have to start a fresh game with the updated campaign before it will take effect.

Hope this helps,
Hubert

OK, I have done that. I have just changed the hex location. It still says Graz rather than Fiume, but I guess that is OK?

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 4/1/2021 4:13:13 AM

Hubert Cater

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Do you mean for us to add new locations to the exclusion list or for you to add them to your mod?

If it is the latter, this can be easily done the way we do it, Campaign->Edit AI Scripts->Advanced, then click/highlight the location in the list in the left panel under 'Entente Planning' and then click on the Add->> button and it should then move to the 'Exclusion List'.

Click Ok and then save the campaign.

For the script, if it has a different name that should be fine, just as long as the actual hex location has changed and that you compiled and saved the campaign etc.

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 4/1/2021 8:50:40 AM

stockwellpete

Posts: 582
Joined: 12/20/2012
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

Do you mean for us to add new locations to the exclusion list or for you to add them to your mod?

If it is the latter, this can be easily done the way we do it, Campaign->Edit AI Scripts->Advanced, then click/highlight the location in the list in the left panel under 'Entente Planning' and then click on the Add->> button and it should then move to the 'Exclusion List'.

Click Ok and then save the campaign.

For the script, if it has a different name that should be fine, just as long as the actual hex location has changed and that you compiled and saved the campaign etc.

I meant for me if I ever want to adjust something else. Thanks for this.

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 4/1/2021 1:52:02 PM

Hubert Cater

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My pleasure

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RE: The Italian AI is still potty! - 4/1/2021 1:56:26 PM

Hubert Cater

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Joined: 7/22/2013
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One thing to keep in mind with the use of exclusion lists is that while it can be helpful in terms of nudging the AI, e.g. have it forget about specifically defending certain locations, or from attacking other locations, it will still be dynamic and reactive.

This just means that if a threat is coming from the direction of a location you've asked it to not consider, let's say from Bruneck/Trento pushing down towards Verona, the AI may still try and defend accordingly the Verona front between these positions to not leave itself exposed.

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