RomanHoliday’s AI Rework [new workshop page]

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Authors: Mysterymilosh, RomanHoliday, Prometheus, Smally

Last revision: 12 Mar, 2024 at 13:42 UTC (14)

File size: 1.14 MB

On Steam Workshop

Description:

For more AI discussion / to give feedback, beta versions / upcoming version changenotes and a (likely) incredibly difficult monthly challenge, join the new RH discord! https://discord.gg/cefaYthEX8

RHAI 3.2.8 Now Available! (Beta Versions on Discord). Version 4.0 in ongoing development with many many improvements to a range of systems and game mechanics!

This AI behaviour rework and enhancement makes the game and every leader significantly more challenging, unique and fun to play against (even more so relative to the vanilla AI in the mid to late game). Civ 6 is a fantastic game but the one thing holding it back is passive, mostly unambitious and predictable AI, especially in multiplayer games with friends. To write this mod, I have spent a long time improving my knowledge of all of the systems, strategies and operations that the civ 6 ai uses. Here is the end product, enjoy and be warned, the AI will not play the way you expect 😉

These are the most important areas where I’ve completely reworked or improved the AI strategies, internal strategies, database choices, operations and behaviour trees:
(extended info on discord due to max character count)

• City assaults and then maintaining loyalty in cities after capture. There is a good chance some civs on the map will develop a multi-civ empire
• Much improved and more extensive strategy for all of the major victory types, including Science, Religious, Domination and Culture. (The default victory strategies are very simple. Many new extra strategies now trigger on top of the enhanced existing ones when certain conditions are met. For example, the AI now goes all in (and builds more defences) if it is about to win science or culture victory)
• Far more individual personality/ behaviours for each leader, to play to their advantage (and their historical personality, with some random variation)
• All leaders, but in particular militaristic, are far more aggressive when it is to their advantage. Attacks are made with considerably larger forces and often multiple cities at once, happen more quickly and are more likely to focus on a border city first or/and the settlement that is the least well defended. Defending units are also handled better, multiple tiers of walls are built when required and leaders maintain a larger standing army
• A specific rewrite of a late game behaviour tree for a huge improvement! If Oppenheimer worked on this mod, he would definitely regret it’s development
• Overhauled settlement and expansion. The AI now can and will claim unused land at a more rapid pace. Additionally, city settlement plot choice has been improved, particularly for specific civs and priorities in specific eras. Militaristic civs will forward settle more and have a higher focus on strategic resources and production. Leaders will settle near resources they have a bonus for, such as passable features for the Maori. All civs have a bias towards settling near important strategic resources and natural wonders.
• AI is much more effective in all other military aspects. Builds and makes use a large force of fighters, bombers and uses anti-air offensively and defensively in the late game. Uses Siege units to attack walled cities at a much faster pace and builds far more of them when needed
• Improved naval strategies and more effective naval invasions (as seen in some of the screenshots above)
• AI improves many more tiles and prioritises important tiles first (such as strategic resources and luxuries). However in some cases it still does not improve all strategics properly in the late game (e.g. if a farm is already built on it) and so the AI is given a small amount of strategics at higher difficulties and in the later eras to make up for this.
• Each leader is more unique at diplomacy and chooses their friendships wisely. Many leaders will often catch you off guard with surprise wars (the AIs life passion seems to be backstabbing me when i’m not expecting it in multiplayer games)
• Works in both Singleplayer and is Desync free in Multiplayer (tested with friends)
• Countless other improvements – Check the Discord for more information

Smaller Improvements Including:

• More intelligent trade deal and world congress decisions, such as potentially down-voting disaster requests and voting for motions that will help them in their best current victory type
• Much Improved GPP Situational Strategy
• Pillaging other civilisations or bombing infrastructure if it is the best strategy to do so and to heal / plunder during battle. Great for pillaging focused civs like Viking Norway
• AI is much more likely and will commit a larger and more comprehensive range of units to helping out their Allies if called into a war or an emergency.

Important Multiplayer Advice: To prevent desyncs, make sure to host the game on the person with the slowest processor (a useful tip for all multiplayer games, discovered by Spiffing Brit.)

Additionally, the game may start, but RHAI is not compatible with other AI behaviour mods such as Real Strategy (a fantastic mod btw) or AI+. Using both mods at the same time will break the AI and lead to conflicting, likely incompetent behaviour. (Late Game AI Compatible)

Credit:
Infixo for the Naval Superiority replacement behaviour tree (probably the best and most dedicated civ modder there is) and for helping me understand the best ways to mod the AI so much more
Delnar for his custom pillage operation and documentation
Prometheus for giving fantastic feedback and for very useful multiplayer testing

Additional Info:

• This is my best attempt at an AI mod using the available game files, that makes the AI aggressive when it has an advantage, better at winning, more unique and works in multiplayer. Of course because we do not have access to the actual DLL files there are still a few aspects of the AI’s behaviour we cannot improve as much. However, thank you very much to Firaxis for developing the game in a way that means there are still such a vast amount of game systems / database entries than can be accessed and improved or overhauled (such as the behaviour trees) despite this
• (Now optional) AI’s extra starting warriors at higher difficulties are roughly halved from vanilla to prevent the AI from ending your game with the aid of free units before you have a chance (especially on Deity)
• (Important if you are using a nuke tech delay balance mod) The AI is even better at building Wmds with my Resource / Small Balance tweaks mod as GDRs and Nuclear Subs are switched to multiple oil. As a result, the small chance the AI wastes all it’s uranium is eliminated. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3020200780. This also increases the cost of thermonukes and increases their range from 2 to 3 🙂
• This mod also includes custom leader personalities for a few historical modded leaders (JFD’s Soviet Union, Germany and Italy). More could be added on request. (Iceland in Progress)
• Scapeh’s Larger Mushrooms Clouds are great too 😉
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1889665014
• This mod makes no changes to the AI’s science, culture, faith, unit experience and production (extra food is still 0) from the game defaults at higher difficulties
• The AI gets 0 free units or buildings other than some strategically placed anti-air guns in the Atomic Era (due to exceptionally low internal scoring, will disable if I find a method to fix internally)
• Thank you very much for supporting my mod!! 🙂 Since April, I have spent many many hours on coming up with new behaviour improvements. As a student, any support on Kofi is always super appreciated!: ko-fi.com/romanholiday
• Gandhi is dying to meet you!! 😉