DarkBlizz

Absolutely amazing. I've played a few games and I was completely blown away. Thanks for posting.

First, thanks for your hard work.


Just played my first game and wanted to report. It was a ZvZ and I went fast Roach. I noticed the AI did not scout, so he actually spent a good amount of time scouting with his first Zergling wave. By the time he showed up to my base I was able to easily fend off with Roaches @ my choke. I then sent 7-8 Roaches and was able to win vs his Ling/Baneling army.

Just played a bunch of games, my quick suggestions:

   
• AI should be spending resources better.Seems like they stockpile. Which leads me to...
• Build more army producing buildings. About mid/late game they have 2-3 buildings, which as we know is nothing. When the AI has full worker count at their first expansion, they should gear up to have around 4-5 of their main unit building (ie Gateway). Especially Zerg, mid game (50-70 supply) should be around 4-5 Hatcheries. Late game should be like 8+. If they've got 3+ expansions you need a TON of buildings (8+) as the influx of minerals/gas will start pouring in.
• None of the above can happen unless they build workers. Workers workers workers. In SC2 it seems like you don't need to expand quite as much (by a slight amount), but you've got to keep your worker count up. Ideally I believe it's 20-22 per base and then transfer about 8-10 to your next expansion.
• AI needs to scout expansions and harass them. It doesn't have to be much mid game. A lot of people overextend or don't properly defend expansions. 14 lings, 7 m/m, 7 zealots can take down an undefended base fast.
• Drops / Destroying Rocks aka barriers. AI might not have an edge on decision making, but they are able to gain their edge in multi-tasking. Have them attack some place and then drop in other. Or just late game cheap base drops can be absolutely devastating. 40 ling drop in their main can chew stuff up. Normally late game their army is out fighting, so perfect opportunity.

Holy cow Had a pretty epic ZvZ game on Standard Difficulty. The AI is definitely reacting and responding better then most human casual players would.


I fended off the initial ling attack (barely), and then I counter attacked shortly after with Roaches & lings. I was able to kill most drones at the AI's expansion so I took this opportunity to expand and transition into Mutas. I noticed the CPU expanded so I sent my mutas there- it actually then counter attacked my natural with its full force of Roaches and Lings. It took out my drones and expansion before the Mutas arrived.


The AI then built Corrupters (unfortunately they're pretty slow and shitty) and expanded while massing a Ling/Roach/Corrupter army. It was able to hold off my 150 supply attack, but I just had too many expansions after that. GG.


One thing I can note is that it was holding onto its fairly large size army for a bit too long without scouting for my own expansions to harass. Of course the Cheating version will fix that, but it's something a decent player would do. Also the AI is still not building enough drones IMO.  Technically I believe it should be around 20/22 and then transfer some to the next expansion when it's up. But that might be asking too much. None the less, thanks a ton for the most recent upgrade. I'm thinking of trying the Cheating version, but that leads me to a question, would you rather us test and comment as much as possible on the Standard or Cheating Version? Thanks again for all your work.

Thanks for putting up a donation link, can finally give back!


Didn't get to toy around with 6.0 much, but the few games I had were great. I'll be sure to list my feedback on 6.1 in more detail. Only thing I could note is much more workers at expansions (especially Zerg as they lose workers via defense buildings). Good to hear about Air defense.

Quote- Expansion managing functions (defences, etc)

That's a tough one, the actual defense depends if you want to make it more realistic or more challenging. Most players don't actually build a lot of defenses at each expansion, they rely on strategy and rally of their troops to where they are needed. But this of course relies on planning ahead and expansion placement. In your case to prevent cheesing the AI, it might be more beneficial to have the AI place more building defense (cannons/bunkers/crawlers). This is because the AI would have a tough time choosing where and how to defend and for it to less likely string attacks. For example if it goes to defend a far away expansion, I'll just go attack its main.

Quote- New custom AI attack functions (resource harrasing, constant pressure on the player)

Drops? I think this really is a key strategy that the AI could really abuse players on, especially newbies. I think SC2 it's less effective (so far), but would keep players on their toes. The only other attack functions I could immediately think of, or rather strategy, is containing the player. This was HUGE in SC, especially for Terran. But SC2 introduces more mobile units and especially units such as the reaper and colossus that can scale the level. So it may be more effective if you just put pressure on the opponent's expansions.

Quote- 3 new opens, mid and late games for every race. (Which means 27 different variations per race and 81 overall)

Nice, nice, and nice. Variety is everything in this game. Once something (or someone) gets predictable the game will get old fast. Thanks for all your continued hard work on this AI, and I look forward to testing it out. You're fucking awesome.

Just played like 10 games under 5.5 no cheat, all with mixed results but overall very impressive. Early/Mid game is near flawless. Scouting and rushing at very normal 'human' intervals. Zerg seems most powerful early/mid, nice mix of lings/roaches. The back and forth moment actually seems to help with toss units and roaches, as they regen shield/hp. But that cpu movement glitch is still very exploitable (obviously) so I tried to play all my games not exploiting that.


Terran CPU
Seemed stuck on early/mid game units a bit too long, stayed with Marine/Marauder and then added tanks/viking to the mix, but seemed too much of a general of a mix and had no focus. Its rushes and movement glitch greatly hindered Terran, so never was under much of a threat. It did expand quite often, but not enough protection as Terran is a bit less mobile.


Zerg CPU
Incredible early/mid game. Lost once actually to non stop pressure of lings/roaches, which I held off until I noticed it also expanded twice while rushing. Eventually I was trapped and succumbed to the endless wave of zerg. I did not have much experience against late game Zerg.


Protoss CPU
Zealot rushes seem to be the theme early/mid game, which is always pretty formidable (unless you wall off). I played against toss 3 times and twice I was able to end it mid game by Micro, but the third game was one hell of one. I let them build-up and oh boy did they ever. Carriers in masse. They also expanded about 5 times so that was nice to see. Unfortunately it came down to Micro in each game, and that's where of course it's a bit glitchy.


Overall you have to applaud the Macro skill of the AI in this build. I had an absolute blast in the games I played and I look forward to what your upcoming builds have to offer. Thanks a million times over!