How to make the AI harder to beat?

[Mabus]

Hi guys,

 

Is there a way to make the AI especially hard to beat? I do have Rules.ini, but what areas should I tweak to achieve this?

 

Since applying the Rules.ini changes, the AI only seems to build 5 structures at most, and barely any units, yet nothing has been changed in this regard..

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Cheers,

[Mabus]

The below section is what I'm referring to. What is the best way to make the AI just as aggressive as it usually is in CnCNet Skirmish?

 

 

; ******* AI Controls *******

; Computer Skirmish-Mode behavior controls. The ratio values are based on the

; number of buildings in the computer base that should be of the type specified.

; The ratio total should exceed 100% so that the base will always try to grow as

; it vainly attempts to achieve the specified percentage composition.

 

; Take note: The computer AI in Red Alert is merely a warmed over version

; of the AI experiment I wrote during the unallocated time in the month

; following C&C's release. It was more than adequate at that time (even

; difficult to beat), but since Red Alert is a very different game, the skirmish

; mode AI is somewhat under-effective. In order to improve the AI

; over this initial experiment, the following controls are provided. It might

; be possible to manipulate these values to achieve a greater challenge when

; playing the computer opponent.

[AI]

AttackInterval=3        ; average delay between computer attacks

AttackDelay=5          ; average delay time before computer begins first attack

PatrolScan=.016        ; minute interval between scanning for enemys while patrolling.

CreditReserve=100      ; Structure repair will not begin if available cash falls below this amount.

PathDelay=.01          ; Delay (minutes) between retrying when path is blocked.

OreNearScan=6          ; cell radius to scan when harvesting a single patch of ore

OreFarScan=48          ; cells radius to scan when looking for a new ore patch to harvest

AutocreateTime=5        ; average minutes between creating an 'autocreate' team

InfantryReserve=3000    ; always build infantry if cash reserve is greater than this

InfantryBaseMult=1      ; build infantry if building count times this number is less than current infantry quantity

PowerSurplus=50        ; build power plants until power surplus is at least this amount

BaseSizeAdd=3          ; computer base size can be no larger than the largest human opponent, plus this quantity

RefineryRatio=.16      ; ratio of base that should be composed of refineries

RefineryLimit=4        ; never build more than this many refineries

BarracksRatio=.16      ; ratio of base that should be composed of barracks

BarracksLimit=2        ; never build more than this many barracks

WarRatio=.1            ; ratio of base that should be composed of war factories

WarLimit=2              ; never build more than this many war factories

DefenseRatio=.4        ; ratio of base that should be defensive structures

DefenseLimit=40        ; maximum number of defensive buildings to build

AARatio=.14            ; ratio of base that should be anti-aircraft defense

AALimit=10              ; maximum number of anti-aircraft buildings to build

TeslaRatio=.16          ; ratio of base that should be telsa coils

TeslaLimit=10          ; maximum number of tesla coils to build

HelipadRatio=.12        ; ratio of base that should be composed of helipads

HelipadLimit=5          ; maximum number of helipads to build

AirstripRatio=.12      ; ratio of base that should be composed of airstrips

AirstripLimit=5        ; maximum number of airstrips to build

CompEasyBonus=yes      ; When more than one human in game, computer player goes to "easy" mode?

Paranoid=yes            ; Will computer players ally with each other if the situation looks bleak?

PowerEmergency=75%      ; sell buildings to raise power level if it falls below this percentage

FixAIParanoid=yes

FixAISendingTanksTopLeft=yes

[Allen262]

Here are some keys to add to your AI. They where added by Iran but not sure if Funky removed them from the CnCNet version

 

RemoveAITechupCheck=yes :when set to yes the AI will tech up to Radar Dome and beyond even when there are no Helipads or Airfields on the map.

EasyAIGoldValue=25 ; gold credits per 'bail' carried by a Easy AI harvester

EasyAIGemValue=50 ; gem credits per 'bail' carried by a Easy AI harvester

NormalAIGoldValue=100 ; gold credits per 'bail' carried by a Normal AI harvester

NormalAIGemValue=200 ; gem credits per 'bail' carried by a Normal AI harvester

HardAIGoldValue=150 ; gold credits per 'bail' carried by a Hard AI harvester

HardAIGemValue=250 ; gem credits per 'bail' carried by a Hard AI harvester

[Mabus]

Do I just add them to the bottom of the ***AI Controls*** section in the Spawn.xdp/Rules.ini file?

 

[Allen262]

Yes.

[Krypto]

Hi all

 

Hope you don't mind the bump but I have a few questions pertaining to this topic and it seems more sensible then creating a new thread.

 

So I've been tweaking with the 'AIGoldValue' settings raising it to 500 as the main problem I have is the A.I runs out of money too easily and early, they now build bulky, intimidating bases but I'm wondering is their a variable to influence how many tanks they build on average? They build too many infantry and not enough tanks which cripples their offensive ability, it'd be great to inverse the affect so they prioritize tanks over infantry.

 

What's the deal with the A.I selling tech centres? I know of the original game bug where you can sell it and still retain the new technology without having it present, but is it related to this as it's silly they keep re-building it making them waste time and money xD Perhaps this is related to the 'Tech Center Bug Fix' option, however this is grayed out in the skirmish lobby?

 

How do you know if Paranoid A.I is working correctly? I assume the intended effect is as soon as one A.I player is destroyed everyone attacks you and ignores one other? They haven't really done this yet, I've got these two commands relating to this under my A.I controls in 'spawn.xdp':

 

FixAIParanoid=yes

ComputerParanoidForceDisabledSkirmish=no

 

I wonder if I've done something wrong, I know CnCnet launches from ra95-spawn.exe and uses a seperate ini file, in this case spawn.ini and spawn.xdp so I assume you don't need a seperate rules.ini to be present in the folder because I can see my alterations already have an affect from modifying spawn.xdp.

 

I was also very surprised to see Soviet A.I can build Airfields and Migs despite it being very late game, as I can't recall seeing this in the original game, also a shame they can build M.A.D Tanks but don't have the intelligence to deploy them

 

Look forward to being enlightened soon

 

[FunkyFr3sh]

Hi all

 

Hope you don't mind the bump but I have a few questions pertaining to this topic and it seems more sensible then creating a new thread.

 

So I've been tweaking with the 'AIGoldValue' settings raising it to 500 as the main problem I have is the A.I runs out of money too easily and early, they now build bulky, intimidating bases but I'm wondering is their a variable to influence how many tanks they build on average? They build too many infantry and not enough tanks which cripples their offensive ability, it'd be great to inverse the affect so they prioritize tanks over infantry.

 

What's the deal with the A.I selling tech centres? I know of the original game bug where you can sell it and still retain the new technology without having it present, but is it related to this as it's silly they keep re-building it making them waste time and money xD Perhaps this is related to the 'Tech Center Bug Fix' option, however this is grayed out in the skirmish lobby?

 

How do you know if Paranoid A.I is working correctly? I assume the intended effect is as soon as one A.I player is destroyed everyone attacks you and ignores one other? They haven't really done this yet, I've got these two commands relating to this under my A.I controls in 'spawn.xdp':

 

FixAIParanoid=yes

ComputerParanoidForceDisabledSkirmish=no

 

I wonder if I've done something wrong, I know CnCnet launches from ra95-spawn.exe and uses a seperate ini file, in this case spawn.ini and spawn.xdp so I assume you don't need a seperate rules.ini to be present in the folder because I can see my alterations already have an affect from modifying spawn.xdp.

 

I was also very surprised to see Soviet A.I can build Airfields and Migs despite it being very late game, as I can't recall seeing this in the original game, also a shame they can build M.A.D Tanks but don't have the intelligence to deploy them

 

Look forward to being enlightened soon

 

 

It takes a lot of tweaking to make them awesome, it's about the combination of multiple settings to get it right.

You can type "coop v2" into the search to find some old maps I made and see how my experiments ended Maybe it helps you to adjust the AI to your liking.

 

 

Some keys are missing in the rules file, you can add them and play around with it:

 

[AI]

RemoveAITechupCheck=yes/no

EasyAIGoldValue=-1

EasyAIGemValue=-1

NormalAIGoldValue=-1

NormalAIGemValue=-1

HardAIGoldValue=-1

HardAIGemValue=-1

 

the [Easy], [Normal] and [Difficult] sections are also interesting btw

[Messiah]

so -1 means unlimited money for AI?

 

If you have too much infantry, set

[AI]

BarracksLimit=1

WarLimit=3; or more

 

See also: https://forums.cncnet.org/index.php?topic=4789.0 I experimented with the AI and some of the stuff mentioned there also go for skirmish stuff.

[Krypto]

Nice, thanks for the quick response.

 

Heh so you can give the A.I unlimited money that'd be ludicrous but interesting to try I'll search for those coop missions and inspect the rules for them.

 

With regards to limiting infantry, I suppose tweaking these two variables could also have an affect, but would it be better to increase or lower them?

 

InfantryReserve=3000    ; always build infantry if cash reserve is greater than this

InfantryBaseMult=1      ; build infantry if building count times this number is less than current infantry quantity

 

Also any answer on how paranoid A.I works exactly and whether I set it correctly? :o

[Messiah]

Paranoid=yes forces the remaining AIs to ally to each other if one of them is dead.

 

Ah and set,

BaseSizeAdd=99

otherwise he won't build any new structures if he has more than 3 buildings than you.

 

I don't know if that InfantryReserve and InfantryBaseMult has any effect anyway. I changed it sometimes without any (visible) result.

[Krypto]

Ah so that's what BasesizeAdd refers to, that might explain why in one scenario a Red Allied A.I had 6 Conyards, build 4 Advanced Power Plants then immediately sold them xD may be due to the default setting.

 

InfantryReserve does what it says on the tin, if their money is higher then the set valuable they build infantry non-stop, if it's below they'll still build Infantry but infrequently, I observed putting it higher makes them more inclined to build tanks as a result.

[Jacob Foerster]

On 4/5/2017 at 3:46 PM, FunkyFr3sh said:

 

 

It takes a lot of tweaking to make them awesome, it's about the combination of multiple settings to get it right.

You can type "coop v2" into the search to find some old maps I made and see how my experiments ended Maybe it helps you to adjust the AI to your liking.

 

 

Some keys are missing in the rules file, you can add them and play around with it:

 

[AI]

RemoveAITechupCheck=yes/no

EasyAIGoldValue=-1

EasyAIGemValue=-1

NormalAIGoldValue=-1

NormalAIGemValue=-1

HardAIGoldValue=-1

HardAIGemValue=-1

 

the [Easy], [Normal] and [Difficult] sections are also interesting btw

Where in the configuration settings would I be required to specifically place these codes because I am having a hard time deciphering the location they would be in the document.

[Messiah]

it's the [AI] section, these section are already in the file.

[Jacob Foerster]

4 hours ago, Messiah said:

it's the [AI] section, these section are already in the file.

Ah ok thank you I realized that about a few minutes after I posted the question lmao

I also have a question about the Al and it's infantry which keeps training them until there is so much the game starts to experience lag and how in clogs up the base so all of the Al's units and infantry can't move because they are all blocking each others path.

On 4/5/2017 at 3:31 PM, Krypto said:

Hi all

 

Hope you don't mind the bump but I have a few questions pertaining to this topic and it seems more sensible then creating a new thread.

 

So I've been tweaking with the 'AIGoldValue' settings raising it to 500 as the main problem I have is the A.I runs out of money too easily and early, they now build bulky, intimidating bases but I'm wondering is their a variable to influence how many tanks they build on average? They build too many infantry and not enough tanks which cripples their offensive ability, it'd be great to inverse the affect so they prioritize tanks over infantry.

 

What's the deal with the A.I selling tech centres? I know of the original game bug where you can sell it and still retain the new technology without having it present, but is it related to this as it's silly they keep re-building it making them waste time and money xD Perhaps this is related to the 'Tech Center Bug Fix' option, however this is grayed out in the skirmish lobby?

 

How do you know if Paranoid A.I is working correctly? I assume the intended effect is as soon as one A.I player is destroyed everyone attacks you and ignores one other? They haven't really done this yet, I've got these two commands relating to this under my A.I controls in 'spawn.xdp':

 

FixAIParanoid=yes

ComputerParanoidForceDisabledSkirmish=no

 

I wonder if I've done something wrong, I know CnCnet launches from ra95-spawn.exe and uses a seperate ini file, in this case spawn.ini and spawn.xdp so I assume you don't need a seperate rules.ini to be present in the folder because I can see my alterations already have an affect from modifying spawn.xdp.

 

I was also very surprised to see Soviet A.I can build Airfields and Migs despite it being very late game, as I can't recall seeing this in the original game, also a shame they can build M.A.D Tanks but don't have the intelligence to deploy them

 

Look forward to being enlightened soon

 

I see that a lot and sometimes the Al sells the tech centers for unknown reasons but one reason I do know for them doing it is so they can get some infantry to fight whatever enemy unit or infantry is in the vicinity. At least that is what it does with me.

[Volkov Boris]

can you make an ai improve mod for red alert remastered?