| sethnintendo said: Civilization is a very good example of AI stagnation. The only thing that makes the AI better when increasing the difficulty level is that the computer starts with more units, settlers, trade more freely with each other, and develop techs faster. Basically it is just given an unfair advantage. You would think they wouldn't have to resort to such cheap tactics considering Civ is a TBS game and produced for the PC. So extra RAM hasn't done shit for the AI in the Civ series since I started playing Civ3-Civ5. |
I disagree to an extent, at least for Civ II and IV. There's a fascinating article on gamasutra that Squilliam linked me to years ago about how the devs in IV stopped trying to create a "smart" AI and instead focused on "fun" AI. To a large degree, I'd say they succeeded: the AI in those games follows largely-rational rules, which means they are predictable to a great degree. The devs contrasted this with playing against human players, who can (and will be!) extremely unpredictable.
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JonShafer/20120910/177436/The_Recipe_for_Good_AI.php
To reinforce this point, there was an interview with one of the guys who developed Goldeneye. He pointed out that the AI in that game, while widely hailed at the time, was actually ridiculously simple. In fact, they found that the AI was critically and unintentionally flawed in several basic ways. I'm sure you've noticed, for example, that enemies are unable to see you if you're on the other end of a window. But as they tried to fix it, the devs made a startling discovery: having the AI be that simple and stupid made the game fun. You're supposed to be a smooth, stealthy spy. Having an AI that's too dumb to do more than "player sighted, run to alarm," or even look through transparent surfaces, lets the player play to the game's core idea and strength (stealth and basic strategy) while also fooling the player into thinking things are more complex than they really are.
Basically, intelligence in an AI isn't necessarily ideal. If it reinforces what the game is trying to do, being stupid can be a good thing.
