Are all AIs rubbish?

[jetengine]

Thanks to various virus based issues I've not been able to game as often as I'd wish, so I've been looking at solo gaming. Except all the AIs seem to be pretty naff. Is this just me?

[Elbows]

That's a pretty vast and sweeping statement.  What scale, what kind of games, what genre, etc?

I've never played a game with AI which is equal to playing against a human being.  I have written one game which is cooperative, but it's based on a dungeon layout, so it makes it much easier than say, a typical wargaming table.  Being able to measure spaces, etc. makes it a bit easier to handle.  However, as much as I enjoy that game, I still don't enjoy it solo - even though the rules are functional.  Thus I only play it co-op with buddies.

[Silent Invader]

For a long time, a generic (ie, rules agnostic) solo AI was kind of the Holy Grail of Gaming for me but I couldn’t find anything or indeed write anything that fitted the bill.

Now I use a more simplistic, ruleset specific guide, which does give me a satisfying game:

For The Pikemans Lament

[Sir_Theo]

I think there are some fairly decent solo games out there but it is pretty hard to model an AI that is anything even approaching a human opponent in a wargame. Using gridded tables and stuff like card activations help but you are still following a script or pre programmed behaviours. I wonder how long it will be until mobile/computer apps are developed to give offer more sophisticated opponent? that's technology that is starting to be used more and more.

For solo tabletop gaming there are some amazing board games available now that give very satisfying solo games.

[carlos marighela]

If the AI sucks just level the playing field by getting plastered before the game. It’s almost Christmas after all. 

[Jemima Fawr]

If the AI sucks just level the playing field by getting plastered before the game. It’s almost Christmas after all. 

That certainly helps, but I find solo gaming a piece of cake, as my natural tactical incompetence, allied to the fact that I can't remember what I was doing 5 minutes ago, means that my opponent always does surprising things. 

[pauld]

I find I can solo most rules by simply playing both sides

However

I do throw a lot of randomness into the mix and have chit pulls for movement first and then chit pulls for combat sequence after with the Lardies Tea Break mechanism thrown in for good measure.  Throw in an objectives or plot points with uncertain effects and testing for opening the box or whatever and you have quite an explosive mix.

Each side has to adapt in the face of events and play what is best or most advantageous at the time.

Can be utter chaos or nail biting but you can always do it again.  Some may like and others shudder in horror but it suits me.

I do tend to play skirmish level though.

[carlos marighela]

That certainly helps, but I find solo gaming a piece of cake, as my natural tactical incompetence, allied to the fact that I can't remember what I was doing 5 minutes ago, means that my opponent always does surprising things. 

What’s the old maxim? “ The aim is to surprise your enemy not astound him”. 

[Harry Faversham]

That certainly helps, but I find solo gaming a piece of cake, as my natural tactical incompetence, allied to the fact that I can't remember what I was doing 5 minutes ago, means that my opponent always does surprising things. 

That happens to me too, all the time. Who needs special rules, for drunk and incompetent Occifers, when you've got a plonker commanding both sides!!!???

[fred]

I think it does depend on what scale and type of game you are playing - and also what you want to get out of a gaming experience?

There are a number of good solo or co-op board games that are good games, and work as the game itself is designed to be played that way (ones that come to mind are Castle Panic, Clank and Forbidden Island). A key mechanism in all of these is some kind of count down clock (the castle walls being knocked down, the dragon and the island sinking) against which the players have a small chance to reverse or slow down, but it is always moving to the end of the game. By putting a timeline into the solo game this should help as you have to keep pushing to the goal, you can’t sit back.

Another common mechanism is to have more strength / numbers controlled by the AI than the player has. Quantity always has a chance of winning even if the AI plays it poorly.

As others have said, I find that playing both sides can work pretty well - although I nearly always favour one side a bit over the other. But I do find sometimes that a solo game can become a bit mechanistic - roll the dice move the figures, roll the dice, move the figures. There does need to be something that makes you think a bit more.

[Easy E]

The AIs are fine, it is solo-wargamers who are all rubbish!*    


Onto AIs, they are exceedingly hard to pull off, without a ton of work for the designer and the player.  The holy grail is to create some balance between the effort and the impact of the solo-rules. 

However, there is more to a good solo-wargaming experience than jus the AI.  The most important thing for a solo-wargaming experience to produce is choice and surprise for the human player. 

If anyone is so inclined, here are some thoughts on other aspects that matter beyond the AI itself.

Deployment:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2020/05/wargame-design-solo-gaming-deployment.html

Scenarios:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2020/06/wargame-design-solo-wargaming-scenarios.html

If you screw those up and your AI is mediocre, your solo-game experience is in a world of hurt. 




*= To be 100% clear, that is not a series post.

[Robosmith]

You're far better off turning to computer games rather than solo wargaming IMO. It's just superior in almost every way because the AI is far beyond a basic table you have to follow. If you want to play solo tabletop and roll some dice then board games or card games designed for a single person is a stronger option. Systems designed to fill in basic intelligence don't generally break down well into single page function tables.