Army General's AI Improvements
Hello commanders!
We hope you are well. After last week’s hullabaloo, we’ll turn our attention to Army General. As a sign of the times, let's talk AI!
We have some interesting improvements coming to our strategic turn-based mode.
Let’s go!
[h2]AI and Army General[/h2]
All right, before we continue, let’s lift a tip of the veil on how AI works in WARNO’s Army General mode. This look under the hood should give you a better understanding of how we intend to improve the AI in Army General.
An Army General map is divided into various sectors. Each one features a status and is given a “weight” related to this status. A sector might be captured by a human player (known as that eternally wicked enemy of the AI) with its status turned to “to be attacked”. Likewise, a sector secured by the AI receives a “to be defended” status.
The “weight” mentioned determines how important a sector is. For instance, a sector with an objective will have a much bigger weight than no man’s land. The weight is influenced by each sector's status. A sector can have a high “to be attacked” weight when the AI needs to secure it, but a low “to be defended” weight once captured.
At the beginning of an AI’s turn, Army General pawns are assigned to capture or defend sectors. All pawns assigned to the same sector are collected as a single group. The more weight a sector has, the more pawns an AI will assign to it.
[h2]How AI used to work[/h2]
Since the release of our first Army General campaign, BRUDERKRIEG, some major improvements have made playing against the AI more challenging.
The first is linked to how the AI attacks opponents' pawns. Originally, it went something like this:
A major inconvenience of this method was that the AI if they had the opportunity, didn’t assault any easy targets (they weren’t even considered). More so, it didn’t try to optimize its movements, such as bringing as much attack power to bear against a target. In the end, from an outside observer, it felt the AI was not attacking in the most efficient way as it could be.
This behavior was inherited from WARNO’s predecessor, Steel Division 2’s Army General mode. In our World War II game, pawns would attack a target from a distance without having to be in direct contact. Back then, this approach worked well. However, WARNO’s Army General mode operates differently. Only artillery units can take part in a battle from a distance.
[h2]The new AI way[/h2]
So, that’s why we reworked the algorithms completely. From now on, the AI in Army General works as follows:
The new way of doing things will be a major improvement, as it allows the AI to launch several attacks with the same group in a single turn. It will also allow attacks on isolated “easy” targets. No more running away, human!
And since movements have been optimized, the AI will be able to attack priority targets (usually a “big” enemy pawn) with the appropriate pawns. Previously, it would have moved unsuitable pawns and would not have launched an assault.
[h2]There is more to come[/h2]
Of course, improving the AI is never finished. We are considering other improvements.
[h2]Preventing cheesy tactics[/h2]
Another update that has recently made its way into Army General is to prevent human players' cheesy tactics. Some pawns, especially helicopters, do not have a frontline’s influence value anymore. This means they can’t push a side’s zone of influence. It also means they can move around enemy pawns, surround them, and cut them off from supply.
As a negative effect, pawns finding themselves isolated behind the enemy frontline would always prioritize reconnecting with their own side. This meant that helicopters would cross the frontline only to move safely back immediately. From now on, pawns without influence will not be allowed to cross the frontline unless it means taking a position to attack an enemy pawn.
[h2]Until next week[/h2]
That’s all for this AI-heavy DevBlog. Let us know what you think. Keep the discourse civil, gentle people!
Join the WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
Until then. See you on the battlefield, commander.
We hope you are well. After last week’s hullabaloo, we’ll turn our attention to Army General. As a sign of the times, let's talk AI!
We have some interesting improvements coming to our strategic turn-based mode.
Let’s go!
[h2]AI and Army General[/h2]
All right, before we continue, let’s lift a tip of the veil on how AI works in WARNO’s Army General mode. This look under the hood should give you a better understanding of how we intend to improve the AI in Army General.
An Army General map is divided into various sectors. Each one features a status and is given a “weight” related to this status. A sector might be captured by a human player (known as that eternally wicked enemy of the AI) with its status turned to “to be attacked”. Likewise, a sector secured by the AI receives a “to be defended” status.
The “weight” mentioned determines how important a sector is. For instance, a sector with an objective will have a much bigger weight than no man’s land. The weight is influenced by each sector's status. A sector can have a high “to be attacked” weight when the AI needs to secure it, but a low “to be defended” weight once captured.
At the beginning of an AI’s turn, Army General pawns are assigned to capture or defend sectors. All pawns assigned to the same sector are collected as a single group. The more weight a sector has, the more pawns an AI will assign to it.
[h2]How AI used to work[/h2]
Since the release of our first Army General campaign, BRUDERKRIEG, some major improvements have made playing against the AI more challenging.
The first is linked to how the AI attacks opponents' pawns. Originally, it went something like this:
- First, the enemy pawns in a sector to be attacked or defended are identified. Among these hostile forces, the AI would select one (the target) according to criteria such as its type (armor, infantry, artillery) and attack/defense power. The AI would aim to attack this target, but only this one.
- Then, the AI would move all the pawns of the group assigned to this sector. If possible, the idea was to have them take positions around all the opponent’s pawns in the sector.
- Once the whole group had moved, the AI would check if it could mount an attack on the target depending on the availability of friendly pawns plus the predicted result (victory or defeat).
A major inconvenience of this method was that the AI if they had the opportunity, didn’t assault any easy targets (they weren’t even considered). More so, it didn’t try to optimize its movements, such as bringing as much attack power to bear against a target. In the end, from an outside observer, it felt the AI was not attacking in the most efficient way as it could be.
This behavior was inherited from WARNO’s predecessor, Steel Division 2’s Army General mode. In our World War II game, pawns would attack a target from a distance without having to be in direct contact. Back then, this approach worked well. However, WARNO’s Army General mode operates differently. Only artillery units can take part in a battle from a distance.
[h2]The new AI way[/h2]
So, that’s why we reworked the algorithms completely. From now on, the AI in Army General works as follows:
- The AI considers every enemy pawn in the sector to be attacked or defended, listing them according to type and power.
- For each potential target, it checks if it can move one or several pawns from the sector’s group in order to attack the enemy with a favorable predicted outcome.
- If yes, the AI creates this sub-group, moves it, and attacks.
- It repeats this process until it can no longer attack (and hopefully, those pesky humans have been vanquished).
- Once all battles have been fought, the remaining pawns from the group (if any) are moved to surround any enemy pawns in the sector. This is the same as the older algorithm.
The new way of doing things will be a major improvement, as it allows the AI to launch several attacks with the same group in a single turn. It will also allow attacks on isolated “easy” targets. No more running away, human!
And since movements have been optimized, the AI will be able to attack priority targets (usually a “big” enemy pawn) with the appropriate pawns. Previously, it would have moved unsuitable pawns and would not have launched an assault.
[h2]There is more to come[/h2]
Of course, improving the AI is never finished. We are considering other improvements.
- The AI will be able to decide whether to remove an unsuitable pawn from a group and replace it with a stronger and fresher pawn if this means the attack will have a better-predicted outcome.
- AI’s pawn positioning will be improved in anticipation of a player’s next move. Much in the same vein as a chess player. Picture this: if the AI attacks a weak garrison with the proper amount of force to defeat it, but if the human player has a strong reserve behind this garrison, ready to take it the next turn, the AI will take this potential counter-attack into account.
[h2]Preventing cheesy tactics[/h2]
Another update that has recently made its way into Army General is to prevent human players' cheesy tactics. Some pawns, especially helicopters, do not have a frontline’s influence value anymore. This means they can’t push a side’s zone of influence. It also means they can move around enemy pawns, surround them, and cut them off from supply.
As a negative effect, pawns finding themselves isolated behind the enemy frontline would always prioritize reconnecting with their own side. This meant that helicopters would cross the frontline only to move safely back immediately. From now on, pawns without influence will not be allowed to cross the frontline unless it means taking a position to attack an enemy pawn.
[h2]Until next week[/h2]
That’s all for this AI-heavy DevBlog. Let us know what you think. Keep the discourse civil, gentle people!
Join the WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
Until then. See you on the battlefield, commander.