I was wondering, are we going to be able to make custom AI for Planetary Annihilation such as TA does? I really hope this is possible as it could add much depth to certain mods and it was really neat being able to replace the default AI with...something more challenging.
Something more challenging? We have got Sorian (i.e. Michael Robbins) making this AI, remember. Who is, amongst other things, the guy who replaced that useless SupCom FA AI with one substantially more than half decent. An AI will never be perfect of course, so OK, making your own AI to fit your play style or whatever might be fun, yes. But I wouldn't say that it would be necessary from the point of making a more challenging one. In any case, I expect several AI behaviours will be created anyway.
Sorian had an add-on to his Sorian AI in FA that allowed you to Adjust many options regarding the AIs(including cheating rates and such) and introduced similar options to SupCom2 once he started working on it(if I remember correctly), I think it's safe to see we'll be seeing the same type of thing in PA. Mike
I can get behind the idea of making the "editing the AI" an option in the menu and user-friendly right out of the box. I would rather be able to turn a dial to determine how fast the AI is and how much of a resource advantage it gets. Both would directly affect AI strength. Because no matter how terrible it is, if it claims most the map by time you have your base made, and can then generate armys as big as your base every minute, then its going to be difficult to play against.
Yes, I remember that AI mod. I used it all the time (still do, actually); it is probably my favourite mod from FA. It is pretty much impossible to make an AI as good as a skilled player, so the option to play against an AI with "unfair" resource and build speed bonuses is vital. And letting them choose those bonuses is an excellent way for a player to choose the difficulty of an AI to play against too, IMO. I would be very happy to see that in PA.
If Sorian's track record is anything to go by I am guessing that we will have a fair array of options to set when defining an AI to play with/against which will be great. I havn't seen any definitive yes or no about modding AI, but if Uber's design ethos in PA so far (modding flexability as a priority in the design of the game) extends to all aspects of development I think it would be reasonable to assume that modding AI would be a possibility.
I should really hope so. It seems we will be able to customise pretty much every other aspect of the game and the AI is one of the biggest factors of gameplay for those who choose not to or are unable to play online. Allowing users access to these settings means a greater degree of control over their game experience. I would love to see a way of interacting with the AI in the game beyond the existing methods. Giving live cues and being able to place markers of some description that the AI would actually respond to would be amazing. Instead of seeing the AI just go off and play the game as if it is on it's own I'd like some way of actually coordinating with the AI.
