M28AI Devlog (v227)
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v160 Update
16 changes, including:- Tweaks to TML fatboy targeting to make the TMLs get built quicker during a mass or power stall, and making them more likely to target in certain cases
- M28's land units should be more cautious if they only slightly outrange the enemy (vs before where they'd be suicidal on the assumption they could kite)
- Fixed some occasional issues that could happen with air staging points being on water
- Air scouts should no longer be targeted near the enemy base even if M28 has air control.
- 2 workarounds for a LOUD mod for an issue with overcharge and an issue with bomber weapon range categories
Acknowledgements
Replays from the following:- Tazor
- Lohkrim
- c04spoon
- Vortex
(also had some from Radde which I hope to work through in the next release)
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v161 Update
Happy Christmas (almost!) everyone! 12 changes in this update, including:- Introduced new T2 bomber snipe logic - sometimes M28 should decide to just go for a T2 bomber snipe in place of its normal approach to the game (i.e. even if the enemy ACU is on full health)
- Fixed a significant bug that could break M28's asf logic introduced in v160
- Various adjustments to M28's snipe logic, so it shoudl be less likely to suicide gunships into a damaged ACU with significant anti-air defences
- Bombers should no longer immediately charge at a vulnerable ACU to damage it, but instead should build up their force and either abandon the attack if the enemy ACU gets in a safe position (e.g. under a shield), or attack in one go.
- Fixed a bug relating to the TML targeting logic
- 1 MOD specific change (reverting overcharge change made in v160 as the issue it was addressing should hopefully be resolved now)
Acknowledgements
- Radde replay from a few versions ago that prompted me to revisit M28's snipe logic (which then prompted me to introduce T2 bomber snipe logic)
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v162 Update
13 changes, including:- Fixed an issue with nuke targeting where it could understate the damage it expected to deal from a missile, and mae it more likely to fire when loaded if the enemy has T3 arti
- M28 should be more likely to get a game-ender if the enemy has multiple T3 arti
- Various improvements to the bomber logic, including no longer having strat bombers suicide into any enemy that gets within 300 of its rally point (quite how that logic lasted this long before I noticed it I dont know!)
- Added some fixes and redundancies for an issue where TMD woudl be insivible to M28 when firing at a mex that it detected when mid-upgrade.
- 1 mod specific change (adding slight support for T1 torpedo bombers)
Acknowledgements
- Radde – a number of replays on Xander Adaptive against v156
- Azraeel – Spotting a replay where M28 failed to win despite a strong eco lead, and spotting a typo made in a v162 commit before I’d even released v162!
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v163 Update
11 Mostly small changes, including:- Fixed a bug with M28's bombers if it approached the unit cap
- Naval units should remember if they recently ran from enemy air threats when deciding whether to advance
- Fixed a bug with Ahwassa targeting where it would incorrectly think its bombs would be blocked by the terrain
- Added 'fire and turn' micro to strat bombers
- 1 MOD specific change (T2 sniperbots shouldn't try and dodge shots like a LAB)
Acknowledgements
- Azraeel - Highlighting an error message relating to M28's bombers
- Purple Elf - Replay where UEF M6 transports wouldn't work if M28 was enabled for allies
- Radde - Replays from v156 on Xander Adaptive
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v164 Update
16 changes, focused on early naval cruisers, T1 hover bombing, and TML refinements:- Increased the delay before naval units return to a water zone where they ran from the enemy air, and had adjacent zones also run (but for a shorter period)
- Prioritised cruiser to be built ahead of a first destroyer in some scenarios, while making it more likely T1 naval factories get upgraded to T2 where cruisers are needed
- Early T1 bombers that try targeting enemy pgens should hover-bomb
- Various changes to TML batteries, so they no longer target monkeylords; consider targeting moderate value units such as mexes if htey think they can overwhelm the TMD, and consider also taking out the TMD in some niche scenarios.
Acknowledgements:
- Azraeel – QUIET naval replay
- Vortex – QUIET naval replay
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v165 Hotfix
Another hotfix where I forgot to remove debugging options in the previous release!Also added a chance of 2 early bombers instead of 1 to mix things up slightly
Acknowledgements
- Operon and c04spoon - Flagging that I'd forgotten to turn off debugging settings in v164
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v166 Update
First or last update of the year, depending on your time-zone! 11 changes, including:- More advanced targeting logic for ahwassa so it should be less likely to get in range of SAMs while trying to take down shields.
- Improved accuracy of gunship's assesssment of enemy AA so they are less suicidal in certain niche cases, while fixing a bug that meant SMDs were treated as an anti-air unit.
- T1 arti drops should, if outranging the enemy, consider what target would maximise the damage they deal to nearby buildings, instead of using M28's default attack logic.
- Fixed a bug with stealth boats not being built.
Acknowledgements
- Radde – 4 Xander replays and 1 mapgen replay
- Vortex and Azraeel – Noting M28 hadn’t built any stealth boats in naval games.
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v167 Update
9 changes including:- Experimentals should more aggressively target down enemy ACUs that get near them
- TMLs should be more likely to be built, including being better at finding unprotected buildings when deciding whether to be built
- Fixed an issue with UEF T1 hover-bombing, and made early T1 bombers more scared of AA
Acknowledgements
- Radde - Several replays on Xander
(also received various other replays which I'm hoping to work through for future releases)
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v168 Update
14 changes, including:- Fixed a bug where skirmishers and deceivers sometimes would suicide into enemy units
- Fixed an issue with torp bomber targeting where they would suicide into further away threats
- Added new ACU snipe logic for ACUs to go all-in on killing the enemy ACU if it's vulnerable
This update involved changing a lot of variable references and had an issue with the v167 changes not carrying over (and needing to be manually added) so if you come M28 acting strangely compared to normal let me know.
Acknowledgements
- Azraeel and Vortex - QUIET naval replays
- Radde - Xander replays from v166
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https://replay.faforever.com/23996869
v133 (did not upgrade, sorry)
Seems M28 lost to 1 scouted ML
Also, early expansion was questionable -
Thanks for the post, unfortunately once replays get more than a few versions old their use for making changes becomes severely limited, while it also becomes much harder to make such changes (as the code base they relate to may have changed making it difficult to incorporate into the latest version).
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v169 Update
19 changes, including:- When deciding if the enemy has too small a threat to kite them, fatboys and megaliths should factor in how many nearby friendly experimentals they have
- Fixed an issue causing M28 to think targets were unprotected from TMD even if that TMD had intercepted their missile, adjusted the calculation to make it a bit more accurate in its estimate of whether a TMD can intercept, and included ACUs in the potential targets
- T1 arti drops should ignore nearby enemies and just focus down units (previously theyd only focus down units if there weren't nearby enemies), and adjusted the relative values so they prioritise T1 mexes over T1 pgens.
- In some cases T3 land factories should be ctrl-k'd for reclaim
- Fixed some issues with gunships and asfs incorrectly assessing the enemy air threat and suiciding into the enemy air force (particularly in the early game)
- Increased aggression for strat bombers; and in some niche cases for combat scouts and MMLs
Acknowledgements
- Radde - various replays from v167 on Xander and mapgen
Trophy award
- Radde and Mhad - for beating 2 v168 M28AI 1.4 resource AIx on a 15km mapgen
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v170 Update
12 changes, including:- Significant increase in the threat required for units to engage enemy guncoms to reduce cases where M28 would think it could kill the ACU and end just giving the ACU free kills
- Fixed some bugs with selens trying to ambush enemy engineers at mexes
- ACUs should be more likely to travel to high value islands to fight for them on naval maps.
- Adjustment to submarine logic to factor in enemies close to being in range of the sub's zone (so the subs are less likely to advance when already in range of a nearby enemy).
Acknowledgements
- Radde - v167 and v168 replay (I'm still working through some other v168+ replays)
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v171 Update
9 changes, including:- Improved torpedo bomber targeting, so they no longer automatically include enemies near their primary target (based on adjacent zones), but instead check the units are actually close to the original target and have an AA attack
- Hopefully resolved a niche case where land units would think they outranged T2 PD and suicide into it
- Significantly increased the number of high priority naval factories to be built on high value ponds
Acknowledgements
- Radde - various replays against 168 and 169 M28, on mapgen and Xander
- Vortex - Longest Way QUIET replay highlighting issues with torp bombers
- Azraeel - Drakes ravine replay which highlighted the issue with units suiciding into T2 PD
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v172 Update
More of a hotfix, 7 changes, including:- Fixed a bug that could sometimes break M28's normal TML firing logic
- Fixed a bug that could cause M28's shield cycling to cause shields to never regain health
- Arti drops should be less likely to drop early if on high health and faced with only 1 enemy intie (as well as ignoring under construction inties)
- On maps without many mexes, plateaus with 1 mex should be considered for drops sometimes, while land factories should be considered for islands with only 2 mexes.
Acknowledgements
- Radde - Mapgen replay and several Xander replays
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v173-174 Updates
14 changes, including:- v173 - Added a workaround for the ahwassa switching targets at the last minute and no longer dropping a bomb
- v173 - Fixed some scenarios where land experimentals wouldn't go for an ACU kill
- v174 - Naval forces should run more generally if they lack enough AA to handle the enemy torp bomber threat, and should upgrade to T2 sooner
- v174 - Reduced some factory construction (including quantum gateways), e.g. on naval maps early on, or (in the case of gateways) when M28 still has mexes left to upgrade
- v174 - Adjusted rally point selection so units should be less likely to retreat into an enemy force that can hit them from an adjacent zone.
Acknowledgements
- Radde - 4 Mapgen replays against 172 M28 and a couple of earlier Xander replays (which formed the basis for the 5 v173 changes)
- Vortex - 2 naval based replays against 173 M28 (which formed the basis for most of the 9 v174 changes)
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v175 Update
7 changes this time, based on the following replay scenarios:- Radde v172 Mapgen replay - destroyers kept suiciding into an enemy shielded ravager firebase (now they shouldnt)
- Radde v173 Mapgen replay - M28 failed to quickly rebuild after losing part of a base (and an ACU) to a GC rush and instead built 8 TMLs for no reason, meaning the next GC (despite appearing a while later) was able to kill the other ACU with ease (now M28 should rebuild a dead player's base as a normal base sometimes,no longer waste mass on 8 TMLs in an attempt to snipe a ravager, and keep running its ACU from the GC even when the ACU is getting far from its base).
Acknowledgements
- Radde - 2 replays forming the basis of this update's changes
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v176 Update
6 changes, continuing the trend of mini updates after I've been through a replay, including:- Slight reduction in some cases to naval factories to be built and assisted
- T1 arti should recognise they outrange T1 PD and no longer run from them
- Fixed an issue that could cause units to suicide into enemy PD in a different zone
- Small chance added of UEF using snoops as a combat unit to be annoying
Acknowledgements
- Vortex - QUIET replay against v174 M28 (where some snipebots kept getting in range of an enemy ACU, and untis suicided into enemy PD)
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v177 Update
15 changes from this update; sometimes I can have no changes from several Radde Xander replays, this time I had 14!- Bombers should be significantly more aggressive, in part due to a bug that was limiting their search range to less than a range of 2 outside of adjacent zones
- Fixed a bug with tracking how much MAA the enemy has (which meant certain logic such as priotising sniperbots when the enemy is likely able to beat m28's gunships wasn't triggering)
- Fatboys should be prioritised over non-fatboy land experimentals after the first (to some extent)
- If M28 has got an ahwassa 99.9% complete, and one of Radde's teammates has a Ythotha that dies nearby, M28 should complete the ahwassa instead of having all of its engineers run away leaving the Ahwassa to die to the lightning storm (a change with very widespread application...)
- Also fixed a potential cause of a crash in LOUD games when M28 tries pausing units that have died inbetween deciding to pause the unit, and the logic for pausing it commencing.
Acknowledgements
- Radde - Xander replay against 1.3 resource M28 that prompted most changes this update
- Danger!? Snake? - Replay with a crash in LOUD
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v178 Update
7 changes, including:- Longer ranged units should be managed by the zone they're in, to reduce instances where they fail to kite nearby enemies
- Fixed a bug where corsairs wouldn't micro-turn after firing a bomb
- Decreased M28's tendancy to build torpedo bombers on land based maps so it should only build more if the enemy has a significant threat underwater and it's prevented from attacking from ground based AA (as opposed to inties/asfs).
Acknowledgements
- Radde - various replays on Xander against 1.4 resource M28
- Vortex - QUIET replay against v175 M28
