🚀 go-pugleaf

Richard Cretan <herr...@cris.com> wrote:

>Nope.  Blizzard has much to learn from Westwood, and not the other way 
>around.  It touts the AI for Warcraft II as being heuristic: it'll learn 

>from what you do.  But in actual practice, this only means:
>
>1) outnumbered troops retreat
>2) as the enemy upgrades, it sends tougher troops...but that's
>   hardly a case of it learning from your behavior
>
>In fact, so stupid is the AI that it won't attack walls.  Troops get 
>stuck in twisty rock and forest corridors.  They sometimes "time out," 
>standing there while you slaughter them.  And the AI control of peasants 

>will send them to certain doom: straight into your line of fire.  The 
>computer may expand its bases, but -- and this is a big but -- often 
>without terribly altering its attack strategy.  So you simply kill off 
>its troops and then spend a longer time wiping out its base after all 
the 
>defenders are gone.  Or simply kill the peasants, and the game's over.  

>That's "slightly more challenging than C&C"?
>
>Any C&C fans considering buying Warcraft II should know that it's 
hobbled 
>by AI that will guarantee the same playing experience over and over 
>again.  There are no surprises.  You can design levels with a 
>sophisticated editor...and then get the same play as you would from 
>Blizzard's built-in levels, if your level "works" -- if, that is, you've 

>given the AI a straight line of attack, tons of resources, and no 
>complications that it is woefully equipped to handle (say, a bend in a 
>mountainside that it can't figure out how to go around).  Unless 
Blizzard 
>makes drastic improvements, you'll be tremendously let down if you 
expect 
>play on a par with C&C.

      All this is true.  I bought Warcraft ][ before I bought Command and 
Conquer. However, I was really hoping the computer AI players in the 
multiplayer mode of Command and Conquer would put up a better fight.  
They don't seem to know how to send guys in groups when in multiplayer 
mode, or (and this is a big one for multiplayer) build bases.  It's kinda 
fun to go 2 on 4 or 5 computers in Warcraft ][ (challenging, even though 
the units are dumb), but you pretty much HAVE to play against someone to 
get a real challenge.  

     The point is, with either game, when you're playing in multiplayer 
mode, the best way to play is against a friend; much more challenging.  
Both AI's need improvement.