Here is some thoughts on the AI and Ship Building, point out any mistakes pls it would be appreciated
Complex to say the least. The AI needs to be dynamic enough to adapt to differant needs at differant stages of the game, from balancing exploration, colonization, war and economics which can change throughout a games lifetime. To begin with the AI will or should start off like any other player if possible, like any player it will explore, and colonize to begin with as the likelyhood of attack is low. Perhaps a set of hard coded instructions to begin with could be beneficial. For example a ship list consisting of 4 scouts, 2 surveyors a colony ship and transport to begin construction during the first few turns.
How should the AI decide when to build and what to build? considering there doens't seem to be much of a penalty in the number of ships bar money keeping a small sized "Navy" isn't going to be necessary for the AI. In times of peace perhaps it would be best to explore and colonize whlie slowly accumulating ships and scrapping older designs while replacing them with newer ones. If at all possible though no doubt hard the AI should be able to forsee events and prepare for them, generally preparing for War. Normally this can be done by having the AI able to cheat and Know both the number of ships the enemy has and perhaps the relationship towards the AI. However if at all possible having this taken from ingame intel actually gathered by the AI would be a bonus though hard.
Should the balance between colonization and Warship buliding be hardcoded or dynamic and affected by the game. For example it can be hardcoded beforehand into the AI what inputs from the "Environment" trigger what to build. This can be a number accumualted from various sources ie race relations, Ship numbers and Ship types available, differances in technology between Ships built and ship designs available.
A dynamic system would be more artificial intelligence in design, with inputs from the environment still the deciding factor but there output not always the same. For example the effect certain inputs have change with regards to the results of previous runs. Input/Output configurations that give rise to Good results, ie result in good exploration/colonization or perhaps sufficient sized fleets are kept and reinforced. This is a Higher AI so is doubtful to be implemeted any time soon.
Where to build the ships, should be simple enough to begin with, considering the fidelity in the types of shipyards and there availability, ship building should be concentrated on those systems with suitable industry at first. More complex issues such as positioning, availability of training etc can be added later.
What type to build? should the AI be able to descern information gleened from previous battles won or lost.
To begin with a simple system probably based upon size of empire, economics and various other factors such as number of enemies and there ship numbers can help descern the size. The compliment could also just be a simple predefined ratio of scouts/light cruiser/Heavy Cruiser etc, or as mentioned before learnt and adapted throughout the game.
Regards Wolfe
