Is the AI blind too with FOW on?

[jpinard]

Right now the AI is very good with FOW on which is excellent. I just hope it isn't because I'm blind and he isn't

I wouldn't even mind if the AI cheated some so it knew where force concentrations were vaguely on the map. So far it's been very good at avoiding traps I set for him.

[Hubert Cater]

The AI is essentially blind the same way you are blind in that it has its own FoW map when playing its side and can be surprised by your units and not know exactly where your units are etc.

However, it does use weighted calculations to have a better understanding if a general area poses a threat to its positions or if it is strong defensively.

So in these cases while it might now know exactly what units are in the area or where they are precisely located, it does have a "fuzzy" understanding of the immediate tactical threat or defensive situation within 5 hexes of every unit and every resource. In simple terms let's say the AI gets a number between 1 and 5 of its tactical defensive situation that it then compares to its tactical threat situation. It then attempts to re-balance that situation accordingly.

This could be considered a bit of a cheat on the part of the AI under FoW but I really don't know any easy way around that without the having the AI play very, very badly.

Then it also does have certain script triggers that can be based on specific unit locations in game but again this is just to have it do some things that you would expect it to do like prepare a defensive line near Stalingrad when X number of Axis units are within Y range of a specific position and so on.

[jpinard]

That is what I was hoping to hear I'm really impressed with the AI decision making. You have it in great shape.

Soren Johnson who was lead design for Civ IV and recently did Offworld Trading Company said one of the most important parts of game design is to hide how the AI needs to cheat within the game rules so the human player never realizes it is happening. Otherwise with no help the AI becomes too dumb, and with too much cheating the player gets frustrated.