Aggressiveness

[carll11]

I am modifying ( see mangling) a scenario trying to learn the editing/creation ropes.

I am attempting to make a force, then, specific units more aggressive.

I searched the manual re; 'aggressiveness' , 'aggressive' or 'agress' etc. no hits.

I am sure its another word or something, can someone point me in the right direction please? Many thx!

[76mm]

I think what you're looking for is "Strategic Bias". Unfortunately the manual is virtually silent about this value, other than mentioning its existence and that it can be set via events.

[Raindem]

You're referring to the Programmed Opponent (PO), right?

Overall force aggressiveness is controlled with the Strategic Bias value, which is modified through events.

Individual formation aggressiveness can be further modified by orders and loss tolerance settings. Individual units' aggressive can't be controlled beyond a loss tolerance setting.

And then you have your objectives. The specific placement will influence how aggressively the PO goes after them.

But even if you set everything the way you think it should be, the PO may not behave as you want. It's one of the more elusive areas of TOAW scenario design.

[carll11]

Thank you both!


And yes Raindem, the PO....


Strat. bias, loss tol., should have thought of the loss tolerance, but I am still a newb at this....

I'll try and decipher/suss out whats the best combo....

[carll11]

So Gents, Events.....


Strat., Bias in events, as a choice means; a value of '2', the PO will Attack with less than better odds than if it would with bias of '1'?

Apparently, 'shock' makes a forces attacks more potent, does it provide an impetus for attacks themselves? As in the force realizes/calculates it has a shock advantage and will undertake attacks it normally wouldn't minus that bonus?

[carll11]

Loss tolerance;

I can in the scn. editor set a force, formation or units loss tolerances for the entire game?
Any of the 3 as in Limit, ignore etc.? I cant seem to figure out how to do that a) without the units deployed, b) if I select a formations lead/ or HQ and set a LT level, that sticks for the entire game?

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: carll11

Strat., Bias in events, as a choice means; a value of '2', the PO will Attack with less than better odds than if it would with bias of '1'?

Strategic Bias options are: Very cautious, Cautious, Neutral, Aggressive, and Berserk. No numbers are involved.

Apparently, 'shock' makes a forces attacks more potent, does it provide an impetus for attacks themselves? As in the force realizes/calculates it has a shock advantage and will undertake attacks it normally wouldn't minus that bonus?

The PO needs a level of strength superiority to green-light an attack, so, yes, more strength will make more attacks happen.

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: carll11

Loss tolerance;

I can in the scn. editor set a force, formation or units loss tolerances for the entire game?
Any of the 3 as in Limit, ignore etc.? I cant seem to figure out how to do that a) without the units deployed, b) if I select a formations lead/ or HQ and set a LT level, that sticks for the entire game?

Force Loss Intolerance impacts VPs only. It can only be set in the Editor.

Formation Loss Intolerance can also only be set in the Editor. It only impacts the PO usage of the formation.

Unit Loss Intolerances are set in the Editor (Unit Report), but also can be changed by the player in the game. The PO will change them to match their Formation Loss Intolerance as well.

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
Strategic Bias options are: Very cautious, Cautious, Neutral, Aggressive, and Berserk. No numbers are involved.

Unless you are in the XML of course, in which case:
0 = Very Cautious
1 = Cautious
2 = Neutral
3 = Aggressive
4 = Beserk

[sPzAbt653]

The PO needs a level of strength superiority to green-light an attack

Of interest here, the Level of Strength Superiority changes as the turn progresses, and as a scenario approaches its end. Therefore, if I remember correctly, on rounds 8 and 9 of a turn Elmer will appear to be more aggressive, and on the last few turns of a scenario the same.

[carll11]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
Strategic Bias options are: Very cautious, Cautious, Neutral, Aggressive, and Berserk. No numbers are involved.

Unless you are in the XML of course, in which case:
0 = Very Cautious
1 = Cautious
2 = Neutral
3 = Aggressive
4 = Beserk

Ah I see thank you Gents 1 and all...so, I opened up the red thunder ai in xml, as they suggested for an example.
In the a.i.file, dont know what I am looking at for as to an SB number ( 1,2,3 or 4) where it is etc.

The scn. I am looking at doesn't have an a.i.file, so I Dled/created a .gam file for it and looked with xml.


I have opened up almost every single event ( over 200) and looked thru all of the started files/folder trees and xml output, I haven't run across 'strategic bias' as a term, am I supposed too?

[76mm]

I've not messed with Strategic bias much, so am not sure, but it could be the "externalPOBias" attribute in FORCEVARIABLES, near the top of the XML file. Note that for some unknown reason, some data (eg, rail, air, sea capacity, maybe others) is not actually shown in the XML file...I'm not sure if Strategic Bias is the same way.

Alternatively you can set it with an event. In the XML, this would look like this (at a beserk setting):
<EVENT ID="7" TRIGGER="Turn" EFFECT="Strategic bias 1" X="-148" Y="-35" VALUE="4"/>

If you're going to be messing around with the XML in the gam files, you might want to try my XML editor:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4547880

[carll11]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

I've not messed with Strategic bias much, so am not sure, but it could be the "externalPOBias" attribute in FORCEVARIABLES, near the top of the XML file. Note that for some unknown reason, some data (eg, rail, air, sea capacity, maybe others) is not actually shown in the XML file...I'm not sure if Strategic Bias is the same way.

Alternatively you can set it with an event. In the XML, this would look like this (at a beserk setting):
<EVENT ID="7" TRIGGER="Turn" EFFECT="Strategic bias 1" X="-148" Y="-35" VALUE="4"/>

If you're going to be messing around with the XML in the gam files, you might want to try my XML editor:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4547880

Thx 76mm, I will BM your thread. Still 'studying' the issue