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Temple -> RE: Sorry, but it's not finished (9/7/2006 2:17:17 PM)
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ORIGINAL: hank
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ORIGINAL: Grotius
I didn't play CAW, but this sounds like good news to me. A good AI is a paramount consideration for me.
Can anyone tell me what "Warcard AI" is? Does the computer use a deck of cards instead of dice?
I am interested in this answer also since one of my less desireable (yet non-critical) parts of DBWWII (BiN and BiI) was the die roll generator.
I know nothing about Warcard AI either. What is it?
Just happened across this forum post. First of all, bummer the game is going to be delayed, but good that the time is being used to improve the AI.
Ah, the Warcard system from CAW... I'll try to explain.
The Warcard system is a way to program the AI with a fairly straightforward GUI. It allow programming of the AI without having to write code. It's sort of a logic tree, where time or circumstances trigger certain decision making processes, which in turn can drive taking certain actions or going to a different part of the tree. It's really a seriously cool way to program AI. It's like chess, the basic steps aren't too complicated, but the way you can use the Warcard system is pretty complex.
Damn, this would be easier to explain if I had the Complete Carriers At War manual in front of me, it has more than a hundred pages dedicated to a comprehensive tutorial and then a breakdown of the Warcard components and system. But I'll try without it and work from memory for now...
A warcard controls the behaviour of the entity. During AI programming (scenario building) a warcard is basically a GUI screen menu where you can set attributes, parameters, triggers and behaviour of an entity. In CAW all task forces and land bases each had a starting warcard. There are also warcards that get activated by other warcards when certain circumstances occur.
I'll use a simple example, in this case an airbase. The starting warcard will be activated at the start of the scenario. A starting warcard, which is different than later cards that are called by previous cards, tells the airbase how to behave at the beginning of the scenario. For instance, in CAW it would set the sectors in which air recon would be performed and also set the daily CAP over the base. It might also say that should an enemy entity of a certain type approach within a certain radius, then an airstrike would be launched against it. It also would set one or more triggers. A trigger is a circumstance which would transistion the behaviour of the airbase. For instance, the scenario designer has planned for a squadron on the base to be transfered at the end of the first day. So the warcard for the airbase would trigger a switch to a second warcard at the end of the first day, this new warcard taking into account the reduced number of squadrons at the base.
Airbases review their current warcard once each day to see if it needs to be swapped for a new card. Task forces check once an hour for circumstances that might trigger a swap to another card. For instance, if at that hourly check the TF is within a certain radius of an enemy base, it would swap out it's card for another card which changes the composition of the CAP over the TF.
As I recall, there can be 255 warcards in a single scenario in CAW. There is a starting warcard for each base and task force, and as I mentioned an entity will swap to another card if circumstances dictate. Also it's possible for the current card to have more than one card to select for a given set of circumstances. A scenario designer can, for instance, say that there is a 50% chance of transitioning to card A, 35% to card B, and 15% to card C. This allows for replayability of the scenario.
In CAW, you can chose to let the AI also control one or more commands on your side (Allied or Axis) as well as the enemy. This allows you to have fewer things to control and so is a way for newbies to get introduced to the system. Also you can use this feature to have the AI control some mundane aspect of your side, like being the commander responsible for daily recon flights, if the scenarion is designed that way.
As I mentioned, the Warcard system is basically a GUI for building AI behaviour. It doesn't cover low level AI activities. For instanse, the current warcard in effect for a carrier TF will say to launch an airstrike if an enemy TF of a certain type is found within a certain radius. The lower level AI will automatically select the best mix of aircraft to use and how and when to launch them.
Darn, this is making me all nostalgic for CCAW and I'll have to dig it out tonight and sigh and wish that it would be reissued in a more modern version. Glad to hear that Battlefront will use this system, it really is a very interesting and unique approach to allowing the scenario designer more control over the game.
UPDATE: Great, I write out all the above and then find this link that describes how the Battlefront Warcard system will work.[;)] Great stuff though and I'm very much looking forward to it.
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