09-28-2014, 10:03 PM
Hi,
just some thoughts and minor nitpicking on AI design tendencies...
In the current state of the game, the AI often design engines that we would nowdays consider strange or pointless. Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm all for 'what-if' scenarios and some 'oddities' in the early years as would be historic, but seeing the AI design some weird U-shaped configuration with 500ccs for what is then sold as a sports car is kind of a turn-off. So, how does the AI currently select what type of engine they design? And how does it select what the engine should be like? This currently seems rather random to me.
Maybe it would be possible to implement an option to configure AI behavior via the .xml files - I'm always in favor of more modding options
. But I realize that this may take a lot of time and effort on your end, so I understand if that's not a possibility.
Also, I personally think that a system in which the AI selects its engines and possibly other components from a prefab list might be preferable to a semi-randomized system as it currently exists. Sure, programming and AI-wise this is surely a step backward - but maybe it would provide a better end result after all?
To elaborate further: I would envision a system where a list of pre-made engines (meaning that their values for displacement and the other parameters were pre-entered into a template) is opened to the AI depending on current year and possibly other factors (such as AI research proficiency) and the AI then selects an engine based on a) company 'culture' (the general outline of the company, like Porsche would never put a 1L Inline-3 into a 911), b) car type (fuel efficient engine for an econobox) and finally c) cost considerations. There could also be multiple different engines designed for the same purpose with slight differences (just for variety) selected randomly or based on probabilities. This engine would then be randomized slightly, displacement and such +/- 10 percent, to prevent two companies from putting out cars with exactly the same engines.
This would still provide 'variety' as it exists today - but make everything much more 'realistic'. If that's not what you're going for, that's fine, just thought I'd get this off my chest to see what you thought about it. If something like this would be possible - and if people liked it - I'm sure there'd be enough volunteers to provide a ton of different template engines, so that would surely save you some work.
Taking this idea a step further - this list could maybe also be opened to players selecting the 'simple design' or 'assisted design' option, making this step even faster and easier - just like you're planning to put a bunch of prefab bodies into the game, because some don't enjoy designing them.
just some thoughts and minor nitpicking on AI design tendencies...
In the current state of the game, the AI often design engines that we would nowdays consider strange or pointless. Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm all for 'what-if' scenarios and some 'oddities' in the early years as would be historic, but seeing the AI design some weird U-shaped configuration with 500ccs for what is then sold as a sports car is kind of a turn-off. So, how does the AI currently select what type of engine they design? And how does it select what the engine should be like? This currently seems rather random to me.
Maybe it would be possible to implement an option to configure AI behavior via the .xml files - I'm always in favor of more modding options
. But I realize that this may take a lot of time and effort on your end, so I understand if that's not a possibility. Also, I personally think that a system in which the AI selects its engines and possibly other components from a prefab list might be preferable to a semi-randomized system as it currently exists. Sure, programming and AI-wise this is surely a step backward - but maybe it would provide a better end result after all?
To elaborate further: I would envision a system where a list of pre-made engines (meaning that their values for displacement and the other parameters were pre-entered into a template) is opened to the AI depending on current year and possibly other factors (such as AI research proficiency) and the AI then selects an engine based on a) company 'culture' (the general outline of the company, like Porsche would never put a 1L Inline-3 into a 911), b) car type (fuel efficient engine for an econobox) and finally c) cost considerations. There could also be multiple different engines designed for the same purpose with slight differences (just for variety) selected randomly or based on probabilities. This engine would then be randomized slightly, displacement and such +/- 10 percent, to prevent two companies from putting out cars with exactly the same engines.
This would still provide 'variety' as it exists today - but make everything much more 'realistic'. If that's not what you're going for, that's fine, just thought I'd get this off my chest to see what you thought about it. If something like this would be possible - and if people liked it - I'm sure there'd be enough volunteers to provide a ton of different template engines, so that would surely save you some work.
Taking this idea a step further - this list could maybe also be opened to players selecting the 'simple design' or 'assisted design' option, making this step even faster and easier - just like you're planning to put a bunch of prefab bodies into the game, because some don't enjoy designing them.