This is going to be added to the FY rules document.
AI Settings
Recommended:
Don’t forget too the Activation rule in the Game tab: the middle box is the best setting (large movement an d combat penalties for unactivated leaders). BTW, the setting hindering any move for unactivated leaders doesn’t fit well with the RCW, contrary to the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries.
Why a +2 bonus to FOW for AI? Cheating? If you want have the same vision of the map the AI has, go under the desk and pop up your head through a region to look the map, and repeat this will all regions… The AI doesn’t think, read, believe or predict. The AI computes values and chooses among valued options summarizing these different values. In the end, it will give you sometimes the illusion to fight aagainst a brain, when you will be faced by several equations.
To feed the equations, the data must be more detailed, hence this bonus.
Changing AI setting values:
You’re enticed to think FOW bonus is a cheat and to give no bonus to the AI. Its performance should be slighty lower, but very acceptable.
For those having in their first games difficulties against AI ( Southern Whites at start are really fragile), don’t forget you may use the Private rank in AI ranking settings, giving to AI penalties for movement and battle.
About AI in Fatal Years: what you can expect
Fatal Years isn’t only an AI mod. He tries too, rightly or wrongly, to be more accurate, more historical.
Only great designs, like Hannibal, may succeed in being both historical and AI strong. I’ve not this gift.
I’ve chosen to have as first priority to introduce what I felt like needed historical facts. The second is to have the AI playing with the same rules than an human player.
To take one example, FY has solved the overpowered Siberian Whites unbalance described by some in the official game. The Siberian AI suffers the same penalties for the essential.
So, as I can’t create an AI better than a human player , the AI performance must be assessed mainly against historical performance. In this sense, White AIs must be defeated by a Red player before the end of 1920. I can’t even imagine a White AI able to win against a Red player. On the contrary, a White player surviving until 1922 has at least done better than in history.
I will never curb the reality or introduce cheating for AI to balance a game. To balance, it’s better for the player to choose to give bonus to AI( possible in the option settings) beyond the recommended +2 bonus for Fog of War .
On my own, I will certainly introduce, when I will have more data about real outcomes of game, a VP bonus for a side after the historical game. By example, it could be a bonus to Whites AI or in PBEM after 1920 in VP each turn. This would balance the game against AI without altering the historical settings. Many boardgames are using this sort of balance. They don’t reduce the size of the Red Army in 1945 and reinforce German one to create a balanced scenario about the Balltle of Berlin. They alter Victory conditions. Computer wargames should be more inspired by boardgame design lessons.
So for FY:
Southern Whites will get 35 VP s by turn after August 1920,
Siberian Whites will get 35 VPs after March 1920,
To the condition for each to have a NM superior to 60.
and this forum has interesting smileys . [:D]
