[General] Getting the AI to build a shipyard

[MattNJ]

I was wondering how, in the editor, you could get a custom AI to build a shipyard in shallow water. I tried making the shipyard placement sea path-able but my AI would still not build it at all.

 

[Arad MNK]

Use triggers

 

[MattNJ]

Use triggers

Sounds good. I will try using triggers to build the shipyards.

 

[blancfaye7]

May you post how you did this if you were successful in this thread? I am curious how you'll make it.

 

[Dr Super Good]

WC3 has no support for Water AI, or specifically island gameplay.

The AI is unable to handle not being connected by land with their opponents, resulting in a resource intensive loop that drops multiple frames every few seconds. I am not even sure if it can detect when it is physically separated from its opponents as a result. Without knowing this, it is impossible to know when to use transports. Even then, it probably does not know where to land with them.

This is in contrast with SC2 where the AI can detect such a condition and will use transports on you.

It also lacks dock placement. It fails badly at finding suitable construction areas for docks even if you tell it to make one. SC2 also lacks dock placement AI as it lacks the theme of water. However the AI building algorithm is often more generous and might be able to find suitable locations for complex structures.

Empire Earth/EDotMW 1 and Age of Empires 1-3 had AI capable of placing and using docks. They would often place many to allow for more production capabilities.

In your case you probably will need a heavily triggered solution. Including detecting when the AI is separated from its opponents (and removing control over its units to stop bad performance) and placing docks to get ships in the first place.

Separation can be detected by ordering dummy land units from their base to a target base. If the land unit never makes it (ends up stopping) then they are probably separated. Alternatively since you do not need to cope with random maps you can hard-code all separate land masses (in form of rects, or regions) and so run tests for if their target is on the same landmass as they are.

For dock placement you can run some kind of "shore detection" for around their base. When suitable shore is found it tries to position a dock on it in a sensible way. Since you do not need to cope with random maps you could also hard-code "optimum dock positions". The AI can then search for an optimum dock position close to its base and order a dock there.

 

[MattNJ]

May you post how you did this if you were successful in this thread? I am curious how you'll make it.

If I am successful with the shipyards, sea units, and sea transports I will post how I did it in this forum and/or link you guys to my land/sea map where you can study my triggers and trigger comments.

 

[MattNJ]

WC3 has no support for Water AI, or specifically island gameplay.

The AI is unable to handle not being connected by land with their opponents, resulting in a resource intensive loop that drops multiple frames every few seconds. I am not even sure if it can detect when it is physically separated from its opponents as a result. Without knowing this, it is impossible to know when to use transports. Even then, it probably does not know where to land with them.

This is in contrast with SC2 where the AI can detect such a condition and will use transports on you.

It also lacks dock placement. It fails badly at finding suitable construction areas for docks even if you tell it to make one. SC2 also lacks dock placement AI as it lacks the theme of water. However the AI building algorithm is often more generous and might be able to find suitable locations for complex structures.

Empire Earth/EDotMW 1 and Age of Empires 1-3 had AI capable of placing and using docks. They would often place many to allow for more production capabilities.

In your case you probably will need a heavily triggered solution. Including detecting when the AI is separated from its opponents (and removing control over its units to stop bad performance) and placing docks to get ships in the first place.

Separation can be detected by ordering dummy land units from their base to a target base. If the land unit never makes it (ends up stopping) then they are probably separated. Alternatively since you do not need to cope with random maps you can hard-code all separate land masses (in form of rects, or regions) and so run tests for if their target is on the same landmass as they are.

For dock placement you can run some kind of "shore detection" for around their base. When suitable shore is found it tries to position a dock on it in a sensible way. Since you do not need to cope with random maps you could also hard-code "optimum dock positions". The AI can then search for an optimum dock position close to its base and order a dock there.

I have some ideas for creating shipyards, creating sea units and transports, sending an attack and transport drop-offs, all using triggers, real and unit variables, and locations, but it may take some trial and error to move forward.

 

[blancfaye7]

I don't mean to necropost (if it is) but I would like to know how it is done if ever successful?

 

[LordDz]

I'm sort of working on a system for this in a campaign map, it uses the trigger editor to train transports, load transports, tell 'em to go unload at a position, order the unloaded units to attack and so on.

So ya, if you want to do this you're going to have to trigger all of it.

 

[Unregret]

I'm sort of working on a system for this in a campaign map, it uses the trigger editor to train transports, load transports, tell 'em to go unload at a position, order the unloaded units to attack and so on.

So ya, if you want to do this you're going to have to trigger all of it.

Did you manage to make it out properly? I'm very curious too. If yes, can you post an example here?

 

[MattNJ]

Sorry for late reply on if I was successful with creating a transport drop with standard Warcraft 3 triggers. I was successful! Check out my Rise of the Horde map and look at the triggers to see how I did it. I am still improving my triggers to be less complicated so I apologize if anybody gets confused.

 

[MattNJ]

I am also thinking about writing triggers to drop enemy troops loaded onto enemy sea transports onto locations where the player has expanded and built a hall in the future.

 

[Unregret]

I am also thinking about writing triggers to drop enemy troops loaded onto enemy sea transports onto locations where the player has expanded and built a hall in the future.

Don't know why you double posted but the AI you made for the map is not work properly. It takes ton of time to catch one enemy group arriving and attacking our base, i almost faint while waiting for it.

 

[MattNJ]

Don't know why you double posted but the AI you made for the map is not work properly. It takes ton of time to catch one enemy group arriving and attacking our base, i almost faint while waiting for it.

I can make the enemy Grunt production and Orc transport drops much quicker by adding more Orc barracks to produce enemy Grunts at least twice as fast.