Sorian/Jaws2002 AI Pack Version: 2.83 (10-10-07)

This mod is no longer in development. I am focusing my attention on my Forged Alliance AI mod here: http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=22908

Current 1.1.3269 Status: Compatible

Patch 3260 did not include mod shadowing so this mod has not been updated to provide mod manager support.

Please note: You must have SC patch 3269 or later installed to use this mod.

Everyone has to have this AI installed for it to work. If you are playing with people who do not have this mod installed you must remove the mod or change the file extension so it doesn't get loaded.

Newest features:

The AI will chat with allies, letting them know who they are sending ground forces after, who they are nuking, and if they need help.
The AI will send engineers to nearby allies to assist allied commanders.
The AI will realize that an ally (human or AI) is in trouble and send help.
The AI will build T3 firebases in range of the enemy rather than just building out from its base.
The AI will send engineers to finish a large project where the engineers working on it were destroyed.
The AI will send engineers to repair damaged buidings in and around it's base.
Transports and Strikeforces will pathfind to avoid defenses.
The AI will use the new 3260 units.
The AI will change tactics based on situations.
AI Engineers will use transports.
The AI will take chat orders from allies.
The AI will recognize the Move Marker(F6)

How to Install:
To install all mods in this thread simply extract the .scd file to your THQ\Gas Powered Games\Supreme Commander\gamedata folder.

How to uninstall:
Simply remove the .scd file form your THQ\Gas Powered Games\Supreme Commander\gamedata folder.

Download links located at the bottom of the post.

You can also find this mod on http://www.rtscommunity.com/

The AI Pack

This file includes 6 AIs; Sorian, Sorian Rush, Jaws2002 Water, and a cheater version of each of them. There is also an 'SJ Chooser' option that will choose one of the Sorian/Jaws2002 AIs for the map and a 'SJ Chooser C' option that will choose one of the cheating AIs for the map.

The cheater AIs receive a bonus to their energy and mass income. Taking out the mass extractors and energy plants will still have an effect on the AI as the bonus is based on their current income.

These AIs also have many functions and optimizations that make the AI behave smarter and work better with allies.

The AI Pack comes in 2 flavors.

The Regular version is the basic pack with the 6 AIs. The special behaviors in this pack are only used by the Sorian/Jaws2002 AIs. This pack does not modify the default GPG AIs at all.

The All has the same 6 AIs as the regular version. The only difference between the Regular pack and the All pack is that the All pack adds many of the Sorian/Jaws2002 behaviors to the GPG AIs.

Known Bugs

The AI does not like the 250 unit cap limit, it seems to get stuck.

The AI will not work on custom maps that do not have the appropriate map markers. See Aralez's post about map markers for more info: http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=8438

Some maps have quirks. There was a map guide at one point, but because of the changes in 1.6 I have removed it for now. Hopefully the changes will help alleviate some of the map problems.

Units will still get stuck along walls. It seems to have a real problem with semi-circles.

Naval units still get stuck at times, especially if there are a lot of them.

The AI does not like it when the civilians on the map are hostile.

Sorian/Jaws2002 Map List

Four Corners: Great map for Rush AI as Aeon. Good Map for Jaws - Southwest - has trouble as Cybran at times

Concord Lake: Great map for Jaws AI - N S E W

Ian's Cross: Good map for Sorian AI - NW

Four Leaf Clover: Ok map for Sorian Rush - Units sometimes get stuck in hills

White Fire: Great map for Jaws AI - SW

Winter Duel: Great map for Rush AI - E

Seraphim Glaciers: Great map for Jaws AI - N side of any island

Alpha 7 Quarantine: Good map for the Jaws AI

Finns Revenge: Bad map - unit pathing errors

Paradise: Coin Toss - A lot of times engineers will get stuck on mountains - Mostly good for 1v1

Seton's Clutch: Good map except for the left side of the choke point (facing in) on each side

Burial Mounds: Ok map for Jaws AI - Doesn't get a chance to flex its naval muscle.

FAQ

Q. While playing a game other people cannot hear my chat messages.
A. If you have the AI installed (even if it isn't being used) and others in your game do not have it installed it can cause communication issues. Either; a)make sure all players have the AI installed, or b)move the AI mod's .scd file out of the /gamedata directory, or c)change the AI mod's file extension to something like .bak or .dontuse.

Q. Why wont any of the AI commanders move?
A. Make sure you are running the most up to date version of SC. As of this readme the newest version is 3269.

Q. What chat commands does the AI recognize?
A. 'target <name>' - Make AI target player (human or AI)
'target at will' - Make AI go back to targeting on its own
'focus <tactic>' - Make AI focus on a unit type (currently land or air | not supported by Jaws2002)
'focus at will' - Make AI go back to picking its own tactics

Q. Why doesn't your AI show up in the Mods menu?
A. This mod wont show up in the mods menu. After following the install instructions the AIs will show up in the dropdown menu

Q. Why wont your AI show up in the dropdown menu?
A. Make sure you do not have any other mods installed. Some other mods can conflict with this mod, especially other AIs.

Q. Is your AI really any harder than the default AIs?
A. I think so, and so do many other users. You would really have to see for yourself. If you see some room for improvement please feel free to leave feedback

Q. After installing your mod all of my replays desynch, why?
A. Desynchs will occur if you watch a replay that was recorded with any of the following: 1) A different version of SC. 2) With any mod that you do not have installed. 3) With a different version of a mod than you have installed.

Q. I wish your AI would <insert nifty idea here>.
A. If you have a neat idea for the AI, even if you don't think it can be done, please post a reply letting us know. Many of the ideas that make this AI great came from user replies. If it is a good idea and it can be done, we will do our best to implement it.

Q. How do I know what version of the AI I have installed.
A. Starting with version 1.4 or 1.5 (can't recall) the version number will show up in-game next to the AI's name. It will also be in the drop-down menu in the game lobby.

Q. How do I modify how much the AI cheats?
A. In each cheating AI there is a function called AIResourceCheat. In that function you will find 2 lines that contain '* 15'. Change the 15 to whatever you want the resource multiplier to be.

Q. Which AI do I use for what map?
A. Here is a breakdown:
Sorian AI (or C version): Mostly for 20x20 or larger with a land bridge if the map has water.

Sorian Rush AI (or C version): 10x10 or smaller with a land bridge if the map has water. Does well without a land bridge if Aeon.

Jaws2002 Water AI (or C version): Any water map with no land bridges.

Q. Which AI pack should I download?
A. That depends on whether you want the default AIs modified or not. If you are against modifying the GPG AIs then use the Regular pack. If you would like the GPG AIs to use some of the enhanced behaviors then use the All pack.

Sorian AI Version History

2.83 (10-10-07): Minor balance changes, fix for AI Chat (I hope).

2.82 (10-06-07): Fix for Sorian C AI, Minor Balance Changes, Support for 'Alert' Marker.

2.81 (10-05-07): Added support for 3269 units, Added support for Move marker, minor balance changes.

2.8 (9-30-07): Private chat option for AIs, Can tell AI to change tactic, Fix for converting AI names, Better nuke use.

2.7d (9-27-07): The AI should prioritize distress response better, the AI should refrain from sending units to respond that can't help, the AI should keep the commander safer.

2.7c (9-25-07): Balance tweaks and bug fixes.

2.7b (9-24-07): Added lobby option to change cheat multiplier, Bug fix for Sorian AI naval building, Added Duel AI 2.4.

2.7 (9-20-07): Improved SCU use. Improved perimeter defense building. AI will make use of multiple Gateways. Support for -1 SCU platoons. Some AIAC adjustments. Engineers will use transports. Fixed a bug with Strikeforce Land Units. New Strikeforce behavior (Applies to all Strikeforces including T4 units). AI will take chat orders from allies. Major tweaking and balance changes. New build condition called 'EnemyInT3ArtilleryRange'. Unit Spam fix. Added Duel AI 2.3.

2.6e (8-23-07): Fix for Cheating AIs (I hope), Jaws2002 Cheating AI will not share resources, Small fix for Jaws2002 AI.

2.6d (8-18-07): Modified strikeforces and defenses a bit.

2.6c (8-17-07): Fix for Rush AI on small maps in a FFA.

2.6b (8-15-07): Nukes will target ground, T3 Nuke Subs are now strikeforce platoons, Some small balance and timeout adjustments, Fix for early game transport use on Seraphim Glaciers.

2.6 (8-12-07): cheater AI wont share resources, Small nuke bug fix, Sorian and Sorian Rush now use Jaws2002's Strikeforce ship platoons, Fix pool platoon response, Small change to Commader attacking, Sorian and Sorian Rush AI will change tactics based on situations, Added T2 Bombers to Bean and Tortuga per Aralez's request.

2.5f (8-4-07): Small fix for AI Mercy use, Fix for GPG Horde AI bug, Rush AI will use PD if needed.

2.5e (8-4-07): Balanced transports a bit, modified T4 construction priorities, minor balance and teching adjustments, bug fix for Cruisers in Jaws2002 Water AI.

2.5d (8-1-07): Removed most of the T1 defenses from the Rush AI on 5x5 1v1, The AI will group late game T4 units, Patch compatibility for 3260, Balance fixes, AIs will group land units into bigger groups in reaction to enemy defenses, AI Land units will Use move when in enemy base instead of attack move.

2.5c (7-24-07): More Base Defenses, Fix for T4s stopping after building a unit, Commander will rebuild base if factories destroyed, Rush not so aggressive in 5x5 FFA, Fix for aircraft stuck on refuel pads, Commander can build a defensive point, Commander will find safe spot to upgrade at, AI will rush to build defenses in response to experimentals, AI can now use T3 Sonar.

2.5b (7-20-07): A few bug fixes for the Water AI, Loaded transports should not respond to distress calls, Rush AI far more aggressive on 5x5, AI will not build transports on 5x5.

2.5 (7-15-07): Fix for starting point bases, improved nuke target priorities, nukes will spread out more, Rush AI will group units, fix for transport pathing, fix for naval unit behaviors, fix for lull going from t1 to t2 and t2 to t3, Jaws AI will build some land units and use transports, strikeforces will pathfind, lots and lots of behavior and balance changes.

2.4 (6-16-07): Engineers look for uncompleted projects. Improve Cheating AI. ACU wont patrol if enemy has T3/T4 arty or nuke. ACU will run away from a large group of T3 units before taking damage. Anti-Nukes will be built near Naval Factories. Perimeter Defenses will have shields. Fixed T2 TML bug. Some defenses moved from base to perimeter. Stronger firebases. Rush AI will use heavy T1. Rush AI will rush more. Added mobile AA to Rush Spam. Shield response to T3 arty. Transport pathing fix. Anti-nuke response to nuke silo. Bigger late game platoons. Improved strikeforce priorities. Experimental groups added. Engineers will take over for a dead CDR. Air target priorities improved. Engineers will repair damaged buildings. ACU will attack enemy structures near base. Fix for nuke script. Commander run away behavior fixed. Artillery fix. AI will build perimeter defenses towards the nearest enemy first. The Sorian and Jaws2002 AIs will build Expansion bases and defensive points outwards from their base. Commander will find an active shield to hide under.

2.3: Forward T3 firebases will be built close to the enemy. GPG Tempest bug fixed. Fix for base alarms. Pathfinding threat evaluation improved. Strikeforces should go after targets. Balance changes.

2.2 (6-2-07): Threat response improved, Some core threat functions improved, Engineers will assist shields, AIs will use t1 mass fabs, AIs will use mass storage, AIs will reclaim nearby enemy walls, T2 Mobile AA included in T2 and T3 platoons, Fighters should guard transports, Lots of econ adjustments, More AI phrases, ACU will run away from T4 before taking damage, Air units more responsive, Assisting allies less sensitive, Scathis bug fixed, T4 air units fixed, Atlantis behavior improved, Scouting improved, Target switch bug fixed, T2 shields should be built again, T1 transports are back, Lots of minor bug fixes, Air units will look further to refuel, AI will build T3 artillery based on map size, T3 and T4 artillery will take shields into account when choosing targets.

2.1b (5-24-07): Unit pathfinding fix. T4 priorites fixed. More Rush AI spam. Ally response improved. AI will call for help less. Sorian AI economy adjustments.

2.1 (5-23-07): Better influence map. AI will not ask for help as often. AI will assist allies (human and AI) in trouble and will send a chat message.

2.0 (5-22-07): Fixed for patch. Threat detection improved. Threat response improved.

[see readme for older patch notes]

Please leave feedback and such, enjoy.

Download Links
Mirror courtesy of Multicast:

Sorian AI Pack (Regular Version): http://sorian-ai-mod.googlecode.com/files/01_sorian_aipack_283.zip

Note: The All version modifies the GPG AIs. It allows them to use most of the Sorian/Jaws2002 enhancements.It also fixes the GPG Horde AI
Sorian AI Pack (All version): http://sorian-ai-mod.googlecode.com/files/01_sorian_aipack_283_all.zip

Merged AI Pack (Regular Version): http://sorian-ai-mod.googlecode.com/files/01_sorian_ai283rr_merge.zip

Note: The All version modifies the GPG AIs. It allows them to use most of the Sorian/Jaws2002 enhancements. It also fixes the GPG Horde AI
Merged AI Pack (All Version): http://sorian-ai-mod.googlecode.com/files/01_sorian_ai283rr_merge_all.zip

Also available on http://www.rtscommunity.com/

Merged Packs Include:
Sorian/Jaws2002 AI Pack 2.83 + Conventional AIs
Giskard's Rommel and Yamamoto AI 4.6
Aralez's Bean AI 1.0 and Tortuga AI 1.0
Brent_w's Brent AI 0.2
Duncane's Duel AI 2.6

If have an AI that you would like to have included in the AI pack simply reply to this thread or send me a PM.

If you want to learn how to make your own AI see my guide here: http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=13445

Thanks

We would like to say thanks to the following supporters of this mod
Aralez
Scathis
O
Goom
ArchAngel
Xris Sparafucile
Moe
Yacoub
Relentless
and the rest of the people who have left feedback and made the suggestions that has helped this AI grow. I am sure I am missing a lot of you.

For those of you who wish to donate to us, please click here:

Nice work..permission to upload to RTSC?

Sure. Working on updating it. The AI has a bad lull as it techs up that leaves it very vulnerable, I am trying to minimize that.

Ooh yeah.

Trying it now...

-EDIT-

Well, I'd have to say it did seem harder than the normal Superior AI, at least a little. While it took him a while to get going, when he started getting into it he was attacking with some pretty serious forces. I wasn't really in any danger of him breaking through my front line, however, and getting T3 artillery up and running pretty much marked the beginning of the end. This was against Sorian C, of course, on Seton's Clutch.

The resources cheat works out great, however. Despite my having gone nuts with the mass extractors, power plants and mass fabs, the AI's resources as listed on the endgame screen still rivalled my own.

In much the same way as that works then, do you think there'd be a way to decrease the time it takes for the AI to build anything? Like, a 50% rate means the AI could do in 15 seconds what it'd take the rest of us 30 seconds to do?

This way it might get him attacking sooner, along with being able to rebuild faster if some of his buildings get destroyed.

All in all though, you're doing a great job with this. Keep up the good work

I'm working on getting the AI to build faster and with a better priority. The AI I am working with now far surpasses my first one. It can take on all the default AI's with no problem and has successfully beaten a Horde AI, Thirdlaw, and Two AI's my friend has been working on all on the same 20X20 map. Was awesome seeing him build up his tech 3 artillery before any of the others and pound the crap out of them while sending in swarms of tech 3 units covering the tech 4s, and this wasn't even the cheating AI. Will post it when I get it working just right.

Sounds good, and I just wanted to thank you for figuring out a simple way to create a cheating ai . I'll be downloading your new version as soon as it's available. Does it work on any style of map? It sounds like it would be most suited to a small/medium sized land map from the way you came up with it.

So far it seems well suited for most maps. Especially deadly on small or medium maps. Haven't done much testing on island maps though, but it should put up a good fight. The only downside would be the way the AI would waste resources building useless ground units.

I have to give a lot of the credit for the cheating part of the AI to Scathis. He replied to many of my posts and helped me through getting it implemented.

Feel free to take the cheating part out to add it to your own Ais if you want. Just take line 4022 out of ExecutePlan:


And take the AIResourceCheat function:


That will add the cheat to any AI you wish.

Ok, I am now officially watching this thread like a hawk

Ditto

Same here!

Isnt there a way to tell the AI if it is on an island plan to do X actions. I could have sworn I read in an AI file or something that the AI would look for island markers.

If you choose supreme AI then it uses the island markers to tell it what AI (Horde, Tech, or Balanced) to use.

If the Supreme AI finds that there's an island marker near by, it'll go with the Tech AI archetype.

Version 0.2 of my AI is out. Same download link as before. I have reworked the unit priorities (thank god for spreadsheets). Basically this AI will keep a steady stream of units going while it tries to build up defenses and tech up. I have put in measures to keep the AI from getting caught with it's pants down (read: teching up with no units out). I have also worked on the AI managing resources better. If you are going to beat this AI do it quickly, it loves artillery and sending 50+ tech 3 siege assault bots (no joking) with air support and tech 4's just for kicks. I've seen it happen on bigger (20x20+) maps.
I have also worked on trying to stop the tech 4 land and air units from zig-zagging around the map aimlessly. They will find a target and go for it, usually with backup.
I have also tried to help the AI deal with unit cap problems. This should be an all around better AI and a lot more fun to play against. Happy hunting!

As always please let me know of any bugs and please post feedback.

Very nicely done on this one.

Sorian C v0.2 is without a doubt the toughest AI I've fought yet. On Seton's Clutch, myself (UEF) in the north and the AI (Cybran) in the south, he showed up early and attacked often. I couldn't believe it when the T2 units started showing up on my front door - I was like 'already??!'.

One thing I did notice was that he didn't build any experimentals, which was surprising because it took me a while to get on the offensive. What with having gotten to T3 faster than I did, he had plenty of time. I really thought I was going to get owned. I'll watch the reply in a bit and see if he was building any.

This is a great AI though. Highly recommended if you like a challenge

This AI was a lot of fun. I played it on Theta Passage. It put too much priority on upgrading Mexes though, similar to regular AI. Replay here. (I made a few weird mistakes. I was playing around a bit.)

After complaining a lot about how the GPG Aeon AI ally just stands there the whole game and never moves or attacks, I was referred to this thread.

Will your AI ally come to your assistance with this AI? Will they move out and actually attack the enemy?

Over in that thread, I listed all the things I have disliked about the default AI so far:
http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=2372

Maybe you could check there for ideas of things to look for and implement here?

Things like having enemy AI submarines that will actually move from their rally point and actually search for your naval yards? Or getting the Air Transports hooked up with an AI that actually works? Will this AI actually Tech up and build anything past Tech 1? Will this AI tech up its Air Factories and actually build air units after its first air units are destroyed? At least making the AI ally so that it doesn't stand there doing nothing at all for 2 hours straight, that would be an accomplishment! Those types of things, the big things, and some of the small things too.

I was disappointed with the SupCom AI. It's nice to see that you guys can actually get in there and improve it!!!

Got to give this one a try, that's for sure.

Impressive, only played the non cheating ai so far, it's a definite improvement on the default ai. It gets off to a slow start though, but maybe that's because I only played it on 5x5 maps. I also noticed a tendency to send aircraft in one at a time...

Downloaded it.

Which of the eight different subdirectories do you stick it in, or does it go into the Supreme Commander subdirectory?

The zip file needs a small readme that tells us where to put the 01_sorian_ai.scd after we have downloaded it.

Obviously, this was my first visit to Mod Talk on these forums. I don't have months or years of experience automatically knowing where to stick these things.

It goes in Gamedata; it'll appear in the AI list when you go to place a player.

Gee, downloading atm, will test it asap!

Wow! You do have a loyal fan now!
I played a 2vs1 (me and a balanced AI vs the Sorian AI) and gosh, it almost wiped us both out! It attacked with huge Teir2 and 3 armies, built defenses like i never saw them before, i threw a Czar, a GiantCollosus and two battleships at the enemy and all that was left at the end were two heavily damaged battleships (both with ~20% hitpoints left). The Sorian AI took out my GC and the Czar, but eventually lost to the bombardement of the ships.

The hardest skirmish i played so far and i loved every minute of it. Damn good work, Sorian!

I do not know what exactly you changed but the attacking armies were bigger and higher teired than everything i saw so far from the AI. And the defenses, ouch!

Btw im beginning to doubt the game can run more than 1 AI type at a time. When ive tried and watch the replays ive noticed the same build queue is executed for all AIs and they tend to even build the same units. Even though the AIs involved are VASTLY different.

Also the return 150 part at the top of the AI list, the entire entry, seems to deselete my AIs when its present. The only time i see my AI doing what its told is when i remove the bulk of that code.

But its hard to follow because theres no comments and no clues in the AIbrain about it, just a series of vars that appear to be setup somewhere else. Im still looking for that somewhere else.

Giskard

Giskard: I had the same problem at first. What I did was uncomment this line in the executeplan:



Obviously yours will be different. I then enabled debugging and started the game in windowed mode and opened the log. To my dismay all of the AI's were running the same AI. The problem? This part of evaluateplan right here:



Where is says "sorian" must match the key in aitypes.lua:



If it doesn't then it will pick random AI's just like the supreme AI.

@The rest of the replies: Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying it. I will work on the experimental thing. I've been testing this AI over and over and fine tuning things so I must have broken it at one point when I was trying to get the AI to build defenses.
I never noticed the upgrading mexes thing, I will definitely look in to that. Upgrading mexes early may be the source of the small lull I have noticed with the AI. Is it just too soon or too many at once?

@LarkinVB: This AI will send whatever it builds. I have seen it build a fleet of subs for the sole purpose of disrupting the enemies navy. I have seen it build a fleet of tech 3 battleships and send them out. As for assisting it's ally, I have never tested this so I have no idea. Feel free to test it and let me know. If it can be fixed I will do it.

I will post when I have me next version out.

wow, already, this community is goin nuts modding this game. I love it!
so many mods, and so easily integrateable! ok im gonna try the ai right now.