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Placing Conditioned Routes in the Action Phase


SeanPatrick

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Forgive me if this has been mentioned before:

I was just thinking about how we are currently unable to make conditioned routes in the action phase and how that limits the player* somewhat in terms of controlling AI behavior. Specifically the ability to make multiple BPs connected by conditioned routes "on the fly". Then it occured to me that the inability to create these routes does not equate to the inability to place them. Here's what I mean:

Let's say, for example, you want to have 2 BPs that a unit can switch between based on whether or not that unit is taking fire. In the planning phase, you could set up a simple route tree like this (routes exploded for clarity):

Routes.jpg

(In this example a unit at WP1 has a 50/50 chance of going to WP2 or 3. From WP2 a 50/50 chance of going to WP3 or 4, etc... WPs 4 & 5 have a "guard" tactic, so the unit will retreat if under fire. The end result is a 66% chance the unit will end up at one of the two BPs and a 33% chance that it will loiter in a circle once or twice before deciding. Not necessarily a bad thing.)

Now, drag select the whole tree and move it off to the side of the map, out of the way. Then, during the action phase, you can drag it wherever you want & adjust the locations of the BPs and routes to fit the terrain. And you could make multiple trees which may be much more complicated, of course.

Preliminary testing has shown this to work out alright. I'd certainly welcome any suggestions/improvements, though.

*Read "sim-er". :)

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No condition is needed for route D. The condition of route A will be tested first, and if negative, the unit would automatically follow D. E and F are essentially the same route, just going in opposite directions. It could easily happen that a unit would take E and F multiple times in immediate succession because the condition for C or B respectively aren't met (Random variable XNew gets re-rolled every time it is being tested). Likewise a unit could return to its previous firing position (4 or 5) that it just abandoned for good reason, depending on what the random variable says.

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No condition is needed for route D.

Good point.

It could easily happen that a unit would take E and F multiple times...

Yeah, I realized that and I haven't thought of a good solution yet. But during testing it doesn't seem to happen that often. Also, it may be a good thing sometimes. Depending on the situation, it may cause a unit to loiter long enough to avoid an arty attack before returning to the BP (which will probably be safe again for at least a minute or so).

Likewise a unit could return to its previous firing position (4 or 5) that it just abandoned for good reason, depending on what the random variable says.

Also true. But that randomness may be an advantage, again depending on the situation.

Anyway, I'll keep working on it and see if I can't refine it a little. Thanks for the feedback!

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Okay, after thinking about it that was probably a really bad example to use as I've figured out a much simpler way to do that particular task.

The point was that you could have any kind of conditioned route chain waiting "in reserve" ready to be deployed if the plan suddenly changes. (Like that ever happens. ;) )

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