death probability

deonjo · Post by **deonjo** » June 7th, 2007, 12:10 am

Yet another idea

I know this is probably already apart of the game, but to make it more easy to use, i have this idea. Why can't we put the likelihood of the unit surviving, on top, or above each unit, on a hex. That will make it more visual, and give you a better grasp on the health of a certain front. This would be a better alternative to just "eyeballing" your probabilities, and helps a lot when you have lots of units, so you don't spend all your time, looking at the probabilities.

Snarius · Post by **Snarius** » June 7th, 2007, 12:26 am

Here's why it wouldn't work: There's no way for the computer to tell what exactly it would need to survive before your turn ends. Also, if the ai doesn't hurt an enemy unit it may not attack it again.

Humans are way better than the computer at approximating danger to a group of units.

deonjo · Post by **deonjo** » June 7th, 2007, 12:38 am

well, the computer would know. that's how we can tell the probability in the first place. But the thing is it might take too long to compute or not worth the effort, but it is indeed possible.

You just look at the units that can attack.

If it's 100%, then either your unit has so much health, or it can't be attacked by any unit.

It probably will never be 0%, unless you have absolutely almost no health, and the other unit has many attacks, with a high probability each time.

So, it's just to find the in between. But the algorithm itself shouldn't be too hard. Just would it take too much power from the computer to calculate for an entire army, or just not worth to code.

PingPangQui · Post by **PingPangQui** » June 7th, 2007, 10:39 am

Hi Deonjo,

I don't know if that is really useful (In campaigns maybe to a certain extend). There are often just too many options your opponent has.

Btw. having a look onto a "battle field" experienced players will in most cases know what to do without looking at the stats. E.g. The decision "between placing a unit on good defense terrain from where it can be attack by three opponent units or place it on bad defense terrain from where it can be attacked by only one unit", depends very much on the situation as a whole.

I think the amount of things that is displayed now is quite reasonable enough. Players won't improve their game play by having displayed everything, but only by becoming more experienced and sharp minded (like when playing chess), i.e. by thinking about a situation by themselves and not getting served every thing. It's not much about looking at the stats (occasionally one does in fragile situations) in my opinion. Having a holistic view on a match makes it especially for beginners easier to learn how to play. Details are for those who want to become experts, but be sure to gain advanced level beforehand. That said, having in mind how far a unit can move, where it has good defense and where bad, how many and which opponents can attack a certain unit on a certain location, etc. is much more important and which makes a good player.

UngeheuerLich · Post by **UngeheuerLich** » June 7th, 2007, 11:05 am

I think the death probability is one of the main aspects when computer decides which unit to attack first.

PingPangQui · Post by **PingPangQui** » June 7th, 2007, 11:52 am

UngeheuerLich wrote:I think the death probability is one of the main aspects when computer decides which unit to attack first.

Though I'm not sure if the AI "thinks" about multiple attacks at once, i.e. attacks of more than one unit at a time. In any case, this is exactly why I said that it might be useful campaigns, but of low value in multiplayer matches (assuming no AI is involved).