Game Coding Q&A

[Jangoo]

How often does the AI decides "Hmmm....I'll burrow this creature?" What are the priorities for AI targeting my creatures with CC?

Every turn the AI decides whether or not to burrow a creature, which it will do if it has a decent amount of quanta. The priority for CC targeting varies depending on the type of CC.

Let me revamp this one:

So the AI will always burrow if it has enough quanta? Or will make a call on whether to burrow or not if it has enough quanta?

[UTAlan]

How does the AI decide which creature to use Momentum on? I would think an 8|30 dragon would be more appealing than a 7|2 spider, but Gemini consistently uses it on his spiders.



Yes, this was a loss. [/img]

[petersenk]

How does the AI decide which creature to use Momentum on? I would think an 8|30 dragon would be more appealing than a 7|2 spider, but Gemini consistently uses it on his spiders.

Guess what creature has an ability... 

[Xenocidius]

So the AI will always burrow if it has enough quanta? Or will make a call on whether to burrow or not if it has enough quanta?

This is actually very interesting.

Basically, each skill is set a skillscore. It is set using this formula:

Skillscore = (AI quanta in skill element - skill cost) / (AI quanta in skill element + 1) + 0.4

The skill (burrow in this case) will be cast if skillscore > (random number between 0 and 1), but there are some exceptions.

If the player has less than 3 , , and quanta, it will not burrow.

If it is already invulnerable (from Quintessence) or the AI's damage output > player's health (it can kill the player next turn), it will not burrow.

If the player has more than 4 quanta, it will ALWAYS burrow.

How does the AI decide which creature to use Momentum on? I would think an 8|30 dragon would be more appealing than a 7|2 spider, but Gemini consistently uses it on his spiders.

Guess what creature has an ability... 

Bingo.

Blessing, Plate Armor, Heavy Armor, Quintessence, Chaos Power, Momentum and Twin Universe have the same sort of targeting. Note that all but Twin Universe will only ever be cast on the AI's own creature.

Each have different estimates. Estimates for Blessing, Plate Armor, Heavy Armor, Quintessence and Chaos Power is 3. Momentum is 1. Twin Universe is 0.

Targeting scores on the AI's creatures are as follows:

First the creature is given a skillscore. If the creature has any skill skillscore is 3, otherwise it is 0. However, if the creature has skill deja vu, devour or has 0 HP, skillscore is set to 10.

Then it uses this to determine the score:

Score = (current ATK + skillscore - turns frozen - turns delayed) / 10

However, score is set to 0 if the spell is Momentum and creature already has momentum, creature has skill hatch, or if the spell is Parallel Universe and the creature is a Chimera.

Parallel Universe also scans the player's creatures.

If creature has a skill, skillscore = 3. Other than that it is the same as the above formula:

Score = (current ATK + skillscore - turns frozen - turns delayed) / 10

So to summarize, buffs will be played on high ATK creatures, preferably with skills, and will give high priority to its creatures with deja vu, devour or with 0 HP.

[Jangoo]

So the AI will always burrow if it has enough quanta? Or will make a call on whether to burrow or not if it has enough quanta?

This is actually very interesting.

Basically, each skill is set a skillscore. It is set using this formula:

Skillscore = (AI quanta in skill element - skill cost) / (AI quanta in skill element + 1) + 0.4

The skill (burrow in this case) will be cast if skillscore > (random number between 0 and 1), but there are some exceptions.

If the player has less than 3 , , and quanta, it will not burrow.

If it is already invulnerable (from Quintessence) or the AI's damage output > player's health (it can kill the player next turn), it will not burrow.

If the player has more than 4 quanta, it will ALWAYS burrow.

Thanks.

Guess the AI did learn quite a bit eh? What about aether though? A lightning will kill off any burrow-critter in no time ...

[gumbeh]

Are there any other uses of the "suspicious" tag?

[Xenocidius]

Guess the AI did learn quite a bit eh? What about aether though? A lightning will kill off any burrow-critter in no time ...

I'm not sure about that. God* knows why those elements were chosen either.

*Here 'God' refers to zanzarino

Are there any other uses of the "suspicious" tag?

Nope.

[petersenk]

... well, I still think it would be awesome, if we could define our own rules/functions for our arena decks, by using well defined and documented keywords. Then - if defined/overwritten - run that custom function in a try/catch-block. That might even open up a database of such functions for genetic/mutation-algorithms the AI could use/elaborate on... maybe 

I mean, really, writing on single do-it-all AI is just a horrible idea, as long as the algorithm doesn't consider what it's current deck actually consits of... and even if - that's just an insane task. But writing one AI that works well for a given deck, thats absolutely not a hard task and really, given the possibility and an easy interface/syntax, I'm sure most users would be capable of taking advantage of it.

(of course, there has to be such a do-it-all AI as a fallback. This idea would build ontop, overwriting a given set of rules/functions)

[Jangoo]

Guess the AI did learn quite a bit eh? What about aether though? A lightning will kill off any burrow-critter in no time ...

I'm not sure about that. God* knows why those elements were chosen either.

*Here 'God' refers to zanzarino

I think I'll reconsider lightnings for farming the Arena. If all those Shriekers don't burrow as soon as I play aether ... 

[Malignant]

When will AI use SoPatience?
Target you instead of creatures with spells?

[ddevans96]

How does the HP bar work?

[Xenocidius]

When will AI use SoPatience?
Target you instead of creatures with spells?

AI uses Shard of Patience if there is a Sundial on the field, you have a Phase Shield, you are under the effects of Shard of Sacrifice, or if the AI has more than 5 creatures.

When does the AI decide to hit you with a spell instead of your creature?

All spells that can be directed at your HP use this formula for the score of your HP bar:

Score = -estimate / (your HP * 5)

Shockwave has estimate -4, Lightning estimate -5, etc. Scores of creatures vary wildly between spells; I'll detail it all in my sandbox. Generally, if your HP is low enough it will target it.

How does the HP bar work?

That's a very broad question. Could you clarify it a bit more?