Forum Link :GPGNet Forums
Related Files :FTP Directory
This is WIP for developers, not a release. Advanced AI is a mod for Supreme Commander / Forged Alliance that was supposed to implement a whole new AI framework. Unfortunately I split my time between this mod and several others including Advanced Tactics, Advanced Coop, Mod Support and Multiplayer Save with the result that none were completed to my satisfaction. Advanced AI probably got the least time of all of them, however it did reach a point where I was able to assign an AI to my army (using Advanced Coop) and have it automatically send engineers to cap mass spots. The best part of this framework is not what it DOES, but the thought that went into HOW it would do it. I put a lot of time into planning the file layout and splitting tasks into smaller and smaller modules so that parts could be extended with new mods and AIs. I also made an effort to design it in a way that could be ported to other games and engines in the future. Unfortunately (for you) I was experimenting with different concepts and some (many?) of the files in the mod are simply part of one experiment or another. I haven't got around to cleaning these up. In addition I haven't really worked on this AI in over a year so my memory of what does and doesn't work is sketchy at best (that's why I included several versions of the mod.) The code took 2 directions. One version reads AI behaviours from .txt files and parses them into AI bytecode. It was intended this bytecode would be game independent so it describes AI actions in broader terms than simply supcom concepts. It also contains some musings on data structures and protocols the AI could use for game-independent communications. I don't think I got much further than a simple parser and some other experimental stuff. You'll find two versions of this in 'Advanced AI Testing.zip'. The other code is an actual supcom AI framework with loadable (lobby recognised) AIs. It has only one AI "Rush" which replaced the supcom AI of the same name. I believe this was the working AI (it could cap mass points). It was a lot less ambigious than the other but also the most useful for modders looking to adapt this work to new supcom AI. You'll find this in 'Advanced AI FA.zip'. In addition 'Advanced AI Working.zip' is (I believe) the same code but with some dependency mods it may call on for extra functions or behaviour. In particular 'AI Support' modifies the lobby to support AI mods like this, 'Mod Support' fixes some bugs supcom has with mod loading order and 'Advanced Utils' contains a rich set of global functions I load into the UI and Sim scopes. 'Advanced Coop' can be used to place the AI on your team so you can interact with it. There's talk that some of these patches will end up in the Supcom 'Community Expansion Pack' so check that out when it is released to avoid duplicate functionality. I'm porting much of this framework to the Spring (Open-source RTS) Engine for use in my new 'Metalstorm' mod. If you are interested in AI development but not Supreme Commander in particular you may find (or contribute) to a more advanced version as part of that project. Enquiries can go to "spliff \at/ warriorhut /period\ org" but please include "AI" in the subject line as I may begin aggressively filtering my email if my SPAM volume increases. Regards, SpliFF