RE: Is the 1941 campaign Whack right now?

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RE: Is the 1941 campaign Whack right now?

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RE: Is the 1941 campaign Whack right now? - 4/21/2012 6:10:17 PM

Joel Billings

Posts: 32265
Joined: 9/20/2000
From: Santa Rosa, CA
Status: offline

Red, I know that you would prefer that we label the play level at which the AI can push a human player as "Normal", while we believe that the "balanced" settings for 2-player be called "Normal". I understand where you are coming from, but this isn't going to change. So, since a human player that has some experience with the game system (and some experience with hex wargames) will always easily defeat an AI that does not "cheat", you have to increase the difficulty to get the "challenging" game that you want. We are talking semantics here as far as I can tell. If I sent you a version where Normal secretly gave the AI 20% boosts in all the help levels, would you really feel better playing against it than playing against the current Challenging level? Am I misunderstanding you and you are actually saying that you expect the AI to be able to play better without advantages? If so, you will be waiting a very long time, and I believe you are not being realistic about what an AI in a commercial wargame can be expected to do in the year 2012 (or I suspect 2030 or later). In my opinion, a major reason are games are well received is that Gary's AIs are very good compared to similar games.

BTW, if what you are saying is that the AI should be more aggressive at normal level (where it gets no advantages), my answer is that it would quickly do much worse by being aggressive as a decent player would take advantage of the openings that this aggressiveness would provide. You'd cut up the computer that much faster, and wouldn't get a better game, IMHO. So it really needs some advantages to be able to execute more aggresive moves without putting itself in compromising positions. This makes for the better game you are seeking.

_____________________________

All understanding comes after the fact.
-- Soren Kierkegaard

(in reply to Redmarkus5)

Post #: 61

RE: Is the 1941 campaign Whack right now? - 4/22/2012 3:04:02 AM

AFV

Posts: 435
Joined: 12/24/2011
From: Dallas, Texas
Status: offline

I honestly think the AI is pretty good, for a game that costs $80. We expect so much, and take so much for granted.
If this was something the military was developing, and they were spending millions of dollars to develop, we could expect a much better AI.
We could also expect a sticker price substantially higher than $80.

Not to say sometimes the AI does not do things that make me think "gee, seems like 15 mins of code could fix that", but hopefully as those issues pop up, they will fix them. And they have been fixing them, if you follow the forums closely. And I hope they continue to do so.

I have to agree with Joel's comments about semantics. I really don't care what the setting is, whether its called challenging or normal- as long as the results are a good game. Yes, it would be nice to have an AI setting that would actually be a "smarter" AI, instead of one that just gets bonuses, but economically, its just not feasible. IMO.

(in reply to Joel Billings)

Post #: 62

RE: Is the 1941 campaign Whack right now? - 4/22/2012 4:46:40 AM

Klydon

Posts: 2251
Joined: 11/28/2010
Status: offline

One of the other issues with an AI, often overlooked, is how much time the AI is allotted to do its turn. Players are notorious about complaining on how long an AI takes. At 10 minutes, many are ready to quit the game because it takes too long.

Give an AI longer to work on a turn and it will be better, but it is a balancing act.

(in reply to AFV)

Post #: 63