AI, Bombardment weapons and other design issues...

[Jorgen_CAB]

I'm trying to mod the AI and how they design ships and I have come to troops ships and intended them to be used to equip bombardment weapons. The issue is that this type of weapons don't seem to work at all for the AI... it will always choose the smallest size bombardment weapons no matter the values I change in the policy files. It works for other weapons just fine. Easiest is to set all the values to zero except for one and have the AI choose component based on that value alone. For bombardment weapons it simply do not work. It always chose the smallest bombardment weapon available.

I assume this is somehow intentional as the AI never seem to bombard anything anyway... would like a confirmation if the AI are suppose to bombard at least sometimes. Some people have claimed the AI do that very little on occasion but I have never seen it and I have run many hundreds of hours of AI versus AI fights in order to test the moddig I have done.

In any way... the design templates really need to be expanded in in order to make modding them really user friendly. We need to be able to specify some modules and also prioritise which module the AI should remove first if they don't fit.

The other issue is how the AI sometimes ignore adding extra crew modules in order to not put something else in as it is close to the crew cap even if there are ample space available. The AI should always put on the extra crew even if means it can't put on that module it wanted to, extra crew is always good for 10 space just to increase the boarding defence if anything else. PLEASE pretty please make the AI always put on the extra crew module if there is space available, at least one extra when we use the templates. At least put some line in the template where it is an option to always add extra crew if there is space for it. But I don't see a reason why not to as the boarding defence is golden anyway.

In addition to this the AI can't ever use the Star Marine Barracks, this is a pretty big balance issue. I "fixed" it by combining it with the medical facility. Everything that want the medical facility want extra marines anyway, thus I can add it that way and all the bases use it more or less also without my input which make AI stations much harder to board. I guess the game would be good for having boarding defence as it's own module category.

I also get occasional issues with designs that are close to the energy limit to put on another reactor or skipping to put on some modules, this is also VERY irritating. It also is VERY infuriating that it almost always are the targeting module that goes. In the beginning of the game the targeting module is not so important but in the mid to late game the added power of the targeting module can mean you loose allot of firepower, the targeting module are more important than the countermeasures module for sure. Again we need to be able to prioritise from the design template which modules should be axed first and last. We don't need to allow the AI to make that decision, it then would be easier to build templates that work over time.

It also would be good if I could have multiple templates for any hull so I could swap them out over time as some technologies are developed the hull would swap to another design template.

Also, allow us to set the ships Engagement Range, Stance, Retreat etc... I don't see a reason why not allow this in the design template.

I really would like to make an extensive AI mod but I'm constantly challenged with the unfinished modding availability of the policy and design template system and how it works.

For example... why can't we have the AI build multiple type of Attack fleets or raid fleets. It could easily be managed in the files as a weight system of how many fleets should be formed by one or the other fleet types. It could create some more variety in AI modding and how each faction use their ships and fleets. Being able to set the stances individually on ships would also go a long way of making each AI faction more unique through modding as ships could act differently within fleets, not just as a fleet.

These are some of my current frustration as i try to make some work during my vacation days this summer. I really hope the modding support are expanded on so we could start making some nice mods. Currently we can add things to our hearts content, but doing so with the AI able to use it is rather limited, this must be prioritized in a single player game.

[MaximKI]

We're working on some improvements to the AI where they should start using the bombardment more commonly. However, since development is currently focusing on the Shakturi expansion, this improvement will arrive in due time.

Regarding the AI not designing ships, properly - this is a known issue that we're investigating. Do you mind uploading you saves showing the poorly designed AI ships?

[StormingKiwi]

Also, allow us to set the ships Engagement Range, Stance, Retreat etc... I don't see a reason why not allow this in the design template.

What's the issue here?

It would be useful to be able to set those defaults for fleets in the fleet template screen, but can't you already do so for ships in the design screen?

[AKicebear]

Also, allow us to set the ships Engagement Range, Stance, Retreat etc... I don't see a reason why not allow this in the design template.

What's the issue here?

It would be useful to be able to set those defaults for fleets in the fleet template screen, but can't you already do so for ships in the design screen?

I think he meant in the txt design template that can be modded, which is the basis for the AI auto designer. This would save repetitive clicking by the player in-game, and allow the AI to use the designs with the optimal settings for that set of components/weapons.

[StormingKiwi]

What's the issue here?

It would be useful to be able to set those defaults for fleets in the fleet template screen, but can't you already do so for ships in the design screen?

I think he meant in the txt design template that can be modded, which is the basis for the AI auto designer. This would save repetitive clicking by the player in-game, and allow the AI to use the designs with the optimal settings for that set of components/weapons.

Oh yes, I see. I agree with the proposal's perceived benefits, which were never in question. However, I would prefer the devs implement this rather than a modder. I'm surprised the accessibility is so close to impossible, to be honest.

On the other hand, hasn't one of the devs said something that there was a possibility to do modding outside the .txt files (my interpretation of comments referring to code modding), so far there has been a lack of interest in it from the modding section of the community, meaning it is difficult for that dev to make a case to Elliot for more?

It would be good to have ship design archetypes built into the auto-ship designer, ala Stellaris and templates. e.g. the "brawler", "gunship" templates spring to mind.


By the way, your link "Distant Worlds 2 - QOL wishlist for manual play" is broken for me... any chance of sharing the wishlist more publicly?

[Jorgen_CAB]

We're working on some improvements to the AI where they should start using the bombardment more commonly. However, since development is currently focusing on the Shakturi expansion, this improvement will arrive in due time.

Regarding the AI not designing ships, properly - this is a known issue that we're investigating. Do you mind uploading you saves showing the poorly designed AI ships?

I suppose you realized i was talking about the designtemplate.xml file and how the AI use them... but I can upload files from that so you can look at them.