Standard game parameters (Was Re: xconq on x86)

[bob@fla.fujitsu.com (Bob Carragher)]

Bruno Boettcher <bboett@erm1.u-strasbg.fr> sez:

> hmmm last time i played i ntoiced again the ai building carriers with nothing
> inside.... quite strange beeing attacked by carriers with no occupants :D
> BTW using submarines isn't very useful (at least last time i played in
> standard), because they are quite immediately discovered.... shouldn't it be
> better if they were discovered only when trying to attack or in general with a
> smaller chance?

I play an "abstract" period on top of Xconq 5.3 (mainly because
I haven't ported the period to the latest Xconq).  It's based on
the old "abstract" period from the "squares" version of Xconq,
which first hooked me on the game.  So my comments are mainly
based on that, and may not apply either to the "standard" period
which is being referred to above or even the latest version of
Xconq.

That said, I've actually tried tailoring the period values and
parameters to try and force the AIs to explore more.  My basic
game-playing strategy is always to explore as much as possible,
and once I know the lay of the land, keep eyes on all likely
entry points by enemies.  How one goes about this, of course,
depends upon what units are available, how quickly they can be
produced, how much production resources one has, and what the
objectives of the game are.

In my "abstract" period, exploratory units take the form mainly
of fighters and spy planes (which are invisible unless "discovered").
But one can also use other units which may not move as much or see
as well, but can either be produced more quickly or can carry more
fuel or both.  So I've noticed that the AIs tend to build lots of
jeeps, and troop transports and other capital ships.  All of these
can move at least 3 hexes per turn (except the troop transports),
and carry lots of fuel (at least 100 units in all cases).  Probably
the reason the AIs build troop transports are two-fold:  they can
be built far more quickly than other capital ships and they can
carry ground units to other islands.  (My "abstract" period builds
worlds which are somewhat watery and divided into medium-sized
islands.)

What I find utterly disturbing and disappointing is the fact that
the AIs don't actually load up any of these (as Bruno discovered
with the carriers).  At least if the jeeps mostly had 1 or 2
infantry, then they could take towns.  There's a "territory" array
which assigns values to all these units.  I assign the same value
[100] to all units except for the following:  special forces [500]
(invisible, and not required to garrison towns and cities they
take -- all other capturing units must garrison, and are "lost"),
air transports [500] (like troop transports, but carry less, have
less fuel, and are easily taken out), bases [1000], towns [2000],
and cities [10000].  I realize that the AIs are more sophisticated
than simply trying to maximize their "territory," but this has had
very little effect on their operation as far as I can tell.

Anyway, I'm not sure what my point is except that it's probably
very difficult to design a one-fits-all AI.  Perhaps if one could
somehow select between different types of AIs ...?

Now, regarding the issue with the subs, I agree that it's annoying
that they can be discovered, but I consider them extremely useful,
especially for taking out those pesky troop transports.  Nothing
upsets another player worse than almost making it to a "neutral"
island with a boat load of capturing troops, only to get the
message,

     Your 1st troop transport was sunk by the Bobs.
     (5 i killed, 3 j killed, 2 a killed)

B-)

				Bob