Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2002 11:47 pm
I think we all agree that creating a competent AI to play hundreds or even many dozens of "turns" is extremely difficult to impossible.
I have a solution to this problem: Just bundle with the game dozens of shorter, AI-capable scenarios, both historical and hypothetical, scenarios lasting just a half dozen, or dozen, or a couple dozen "turns".
Although ideally I'd love to face an AI capable of fighting the entire war in an intelligent fashion--and the designers should try their best to achieve it in a reasonable time frame (say, within the next 3-6 months?)--I have to admit that I will simply never have the time to play a campaign game beyond a few dozen "turns" anyway. Wargaming is a hobby, not my life. Besides, I have many other games that will compete with WITP for my attention (Uncommon Valor, SPWAW, Europa Universalis, TOAW and other Talonsoft games, etc.), making it even less likely I will ever play a WITP campaign game anywhere near to completion. So, for me, a very good campaign-game AI is moot.
So, I suggest:
--For the campaign game, have a really good PBEM option, and a half-way decent AI.
--For the (hopefully) dozens of short-term scenarios, try for a darned good AI (and a good PBEM option).
BTW, I will never play PBEM. I would drive my opponent crazy with impatience waiting for my next move. I'll go weeks at a time when I simply don't have the time to wargame. No, AI is critical for me. If the game has no AI, I won't buy it. (In 40 years of wargaming, easily 98% or more of my games, both computer and tabletop, have been solitaire.) If the game's AI is weak, I won't play it for very long.
I have a solution to this problem: Just bundle with the game dozens of shorter, AI-capable scenarios, both historical and hypothetical, scenarios lasting just a half dozen, or dozen, or a couple dozen "turns".
Although ideally I'd love to face an AI capable of fighting the entire war in an intelligent fashion--and the designers should try their best to achieve it in a reasonable time frame (say, within the next 3-6 months?)--I have to admit that I will simply never have the time to play a campaign game beyond a few dozen "turns" anyway. Wargaming is a hobby, not my life. Besides, I have many other games that will compete with WITP for my attention (Uncommon Valor, SPWAW, Europa Universalis, TOAW and other Talonsoft games, etc.), making it even less likely I will ever play a WITP campaign game anywhere near to completion. So, for me, a very good campaign-game AI is moot.
So, I suggest:
--For the campaign game, have a really good PBEM option, and a half-way decent AI.
--For the (hopefully) dozens of short-term scenarios, try for a darned good AI (and a good PBEM option).
BTW, I will never play PBEM. I would drive my opponent crazy with impatience waiting for my next move. I'll go weeks at a time when I simply don't have the time to wargame. No, AI is critical for me. If the game has no AI, I won't buy it. (In 40 years of wargaming, easily 98% or more of my games, both computer and tabletop, have been solitaire.) If the game's AI is weak, I won't play it for very long.
