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Deathball -> Some thoughts on automation (12/14/2013 12:53:27 PM)
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So I've had this idea what automation might look like for Distant Worlds 2 and wanted to share it and hear some thoughts.
Instead of having predefined packages in form of different ship roles, i.e. escort, cruiser, etc. the player would be able to define ship roles and their behavioral patterns himself through a set of directives in the form of
when <conditional> <command> <parameter>
A ship class would consist of a list of such directives that the AI would work through from top to bottom. For example a destroyer class could look like this:
when <at war> <attack> <mining bases>
when <always> <attack> <pirate bases>
when <always> <patrol> <colonies>
When creating a ship design the player would then assign it the role "destroyer" and when automated, the ship would check first for enemy mining bases to attack. If the empire is at peace or there are no known enemy mining bases in range it would search for pirate bases to attack. If no pirate bases are found either it will default to patrolling player colonies.
Another example could be a frigate class like this:
when <in fleet> <escort> <ships in fleet>
when <always> <patrol> <mining stations>
This frigate could be a lightly armored missile boat to be put in a fleet with capitals, where it would tag along with a capital to soak up enemy fire supporting it from long range. If not part of a fleet it would default to patrolling mining stations.
To expand on this system there could be a number of additional parameters used in ship AI decisions such as a preferred target size, mission range, etc.
The advantage of this system would be that instead of having a set of ships that all do pretty much the same the player would be able to define his own specialized ship roles using more complex behaviors in accordance with the ship design and player needs. So you could create the above destroyer with long range weaponry to snipe enemy stations, a cruiser with hyperdeny and lots of fuel to hunt freighters in enemy systems, capitals decked out with weapons and shields to seek out enemy combat ships, etc. massively increasing the depth and complexity of the ship design part of the game without being overly complicated.
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