I've been testing and tweeking my Wyoming Valley map and I found that the AI companies couldn't think their way out of a wet paper bag. I've been trying to make the AI companies more competitive by giving them bonuses in the beginning of the senario. Still when I play the AI companies get crushed!
So I'm asking other map creators...How do you guys make the AI companies more competitive?
Making AI Companies Stronger
Best way I've found is to give them a head start. Pre-build an AI company, make sure it owns some good industry to provide much-needed cash, and connect at least three towns together for it. Also make sure you've set the AIs to aggressive, that you've picked enthusiastic builders for owners, and that there's enough cargo and price gradients in the area for the company to be profitable.
Milo covered some important factors. I have a few more suggestions.
The AI does best in maps with lots of cities. Make sure not to place cities to close to rivers, or the AI won't connect to them.
For optimal financial performance, you could give all AI a break (25%) on track maintenance and/or overhead, one of the biggest chunks. I also always include two 'cheat' events; one to reset the AI's cash to $100k, if it is under zero, and another to give it ca. 500k if it made a loss in the past year - both triggered at year-end.
On long maps, consider destroying all AI-owned engines every 15 years. Otherwise, they end up being dragged down by a ton of ancient engines that operate in the red.
If you pre-start AIs, and plan on building track for them, consider connecting their track to each other. That way, they optimize each other's profits.
Generally, AIs do best when connected to some other company. Maybe you could give the HP an incentive for connecting to the AI?
Hope this helps.
The AI does best in maps with lots of cities. Make sure not to place cities to close to rivers, or the AI won't connect to them.
For optimal financial performance, you could give all AI a break (25%) on track maintenance and/or overhead, one of the biggest chunks. I also always include two 'cheat' events; one to reset the AI's cash to $100k, if it is under zero, and another to give it ca. 500k if it made a loss in the past year - both triggered at year-end.
On long maps, consider destroying all AI-owned engines every 15 years. Otherwise, they end up being dragged down by a ton of ancient engines that operate in the red.
If you pre-start AIs, and plan on building track for them, consider connecting their track to each other. That way, they optimize each other's profits.
Generally, AIs do best when connected to some other company. Maybe you could give the HP an incentive for connecting to the AI?
Hope this helps.
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LWVRR1964
I set a test map with the pre built AI companies, and It seems to work well...which gives me an idea for another senario! :D
Here is how the game is set up in the editor.
AI Company Setup (At start of Senario)
Stock Prices +25% for 10 years
Comapny Overhead Cost -50% for 10 years
Track Maintenance Cost -25% for 10 years
Buy/Build Industry Cost -25% for 10 years
All Company setup (At Start of Senario)
Sand/Water/oil usage -25% For the whole game
The usage was changed becuase of the size of the map. (It's not in scale)
Here is how the game is set up in the editor.
AI Company Setup (At start of Senario)
Stock Prices +25% for 10 years
Comapny Overhead Cost -50% for 10 years
Track Maintenance Cost -25% for 10 years
Buy/Build Industry Cost -25% for 10 years
All Company setup (At Start of Senario)
Sand/Water/oil usage -25% For the whole game
The usage was changed becuase of the size of the map. (It's not in scale)
making AI's stronger
Hi Guys,
I learned a lot from testing the Green Diamond Map over and over. The AI's got so aggressive I had to put a tight reign on them. I didn't do anything special like give them money etc. After experimentation I hooked them up to 3 to 4 cities each and took away all of their start up money. I gave the AI' Tycoons a little more money for investing in stock and repurchasing their company stock which they did with gusto. I found that if I made the cities they were connected to larger- they would expand less aggressively and run more trains and as a result would run at a profit. They expanded at a greater rate when their pre-connected cities were smaller,plus they would issue more bonds. I picked out AI personalities with good business and stock traits. It might be different with your map. The best thing I can tell you is to experiment with them and see how they behave. Sooner or later you'll hit a balance you'll be happy with. Take a look at the Green Diamond Map and see how the AI's are set up, maybe it might work for you too.
I learned a lot from testing the Green Diamond Map over and over. The AI's got so aggressive I had to put a tight reign on them. I didn't do anything special like give them money etc. After experimentation I hooked them up to 3 to 4 cities each and took away all of their start up money. I gave the AI' Tycoons a little more money for investing in stock and repurchasing their company stock which they did with gusto. I found that if I made the cities they were connected to larger- they would expand less aggressively and run more trains and as a result would run at a profit. They expanded at a greater rate when their pre-connected cities were smaller,plus they would issue more bonds. I picked out AI personalities with good business and stock traits. It might be different with your map. The best thing I can tell you is to experiment with them and see how they behave. Sooner or later you'll hit a balance you'll be happy with. Take a look at the Green Diamond Map and see how the AI's are set up, maybe it might work for you too.
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Canadian Viking
- Brakeman
- Posts: 171
- Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 11:46 am
- Location: Alberta, Canada
Making AI Companies Stronger
One of the great things about the original Railroad Tycoon game was that the 3 AI companies gave you real competition. It seemed I was always racing to build to some city before an AI company beat me, and sometimes they did.
I wanted some strong AI companies in my Building to Buffalo scenario and it took some experimentation. My scenario limits the track building in a year, and I found it necessary to give the AI companies a much higher number of track sections than the human player. Humans can plan to build halfway to a city late one year, and complete the trackage early in the next year. But the AI must do it all at once, or they will never do it. So give them a large number of sections to work with (the number will vary with the scale of your map).
It helps to have cities that are fairly close together without an intervening river. If your AI's are weak in one area of the map, try adding a few cities in that area, even if they are small ones. My AI's seem to be able to bridge a river at an oblique angle, but can't do it at a right angle.
I still don't have the problem wsherrick refers to of agressive AI's, but now I get several per game who do more than just connect two cities.
I wanted some strong AI companies in my Building to Buffalo scenario and it took some experimentation. My scenario limits the track building in a year, and I found it necessary to give the AI companies a much higher number of track sections than the human player. Humans can plan to build halfway to a city late one year, and complete the trackage early in the next year. But the AI must do it all at once, or they will never do it. So give them a large number of sections to work with (the number will vary with the scale of your map).
It helps to have cities that are fairly close together without an intervening river. If your AI's are weak in one area of the map, try adding a few cities in that area, even if they are small ones. My AI's seem to be able to bridge a river at an oblique angle, but can't do it at a right angle.
I still don't have the problem wsherrick refers to of agressive AI's, but now I get several per game who do more than just connect two cities.
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RulerofRails
- CEO
- Posts: 2063
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 1:26 am
Re: Making AI Companies Stronger
In the process of doing other things, I think I might have discovered something. I had an AI company with heaps of cash, but it wasn't buying any industries. In "Special Conditions", buying industries was allowed but building wasn't. When I turned building industries "ON", the AI started buying industries. This was in TM/1.06.