JESTER V 2.0 & Forthwind V 2.1

[yuenhsiaotieng]

Lol that's awesome, but one of the reasons we love this ai is because it's so chill on the siege. So that's only a bug? If you could teach me how to program something like that in general I'd love it. Build no more than x of a certain unit or class at a time.

[wattle]

... I've been quietly working on a really big update over the past few months that greatly improves both ai's...

[neilkaz]

... I've been quietly working on a really big update over the past few months that greatly improves both ai's...

Great news indeed and I am hoping for an AI that can compete with Immortal which is awesome and clobbers the game's AI now in 4v4's as seen from my testing.

[CSAxIsxRecruiting]

Can I use this AI with Voobly 1.6 Community Patch? What about with 1.5/WK?


Does this play also Bedouins or Land Nomad? What about MIchi or Nothing maps?

I don't believe it will work in WK or Voobly for multiple reasons. 1 large reason being I use the unit-line commands rather than each individual unit command (for example: archer-line vs. archer, crossbowman, arbalest etc) to save time, and also I don't own or play in either of those versions so unable to test them for it. If you read through these threads I believe there may be an early version of Forthwind that Esty updated and posted to support WK, but don't hold me to that

Both Jester and Forthwind can play nomad! Even in custom maps. It can also play games where all it has is 100 wood and no town-center and no lumber-camp and has to start from complete scratch. If it isn't working fully then I may have updated it already in the new version to be posted soon.

Both ai's are not optimized for Michi (but can build wonders). I have tested them on custom forest-nothing maps and they did ok, but any other "nothing-type" maps they have not been tested on. They might struggle a bit with those types of maps.

Well, you don't need to "own or play" any of those versions, we (at least I'm here, but pretty sure there're a lot more players) can test it for you and give you results of playing with it...

Just a small update from voobly versions:

1.5 RC + 1.5 Game Data is the same than playing with WK Mod (this means all HD expansions).
1.6 RC + 1.6 Game Data is the same(99%) than playing in Steam DE (You can also use 1.6 Game Data. for new graphics).

Both versions are community edition... The thing is that at least I, and few players inside CSA are getting bored of playing against Barbarian in nomad, and the few AI that we have seen over the game do the same strat everygame in everymap(feudal army and try to push; if you trush them, they start dancing with TC garrison/ungarrison while trush kills them...)

So I was expecting your AI to play nomad maps and if they get trushed, to stay back, check if they can attack tower, otherwise to boom in the back and then kill the enemy... is too hard to do that? (idk if Forthwind do that as you said it's not available for Voobly)

That's all. Regards

[screamingkoos]

Hey Everyone!

It's been almost a year I think since I last posted on here, but I have a super exciting update for Jester.

Jester has received a multitude of updates since my last post. I just posted Version 2.0 (November 26, 2023). I left the older Jester version and also the last Forthwind version just in case anyone still wants access to those ai's.

I just want to thank you guys so much for trying out Jester and to all of the other scripters on this site for your invaluable help. Seriously appreciated! Enjoy the download

The following is copy pasted from the beginning of the main Jester.per file:

;JESTER.AI (Formerly Forthwind [T]), Created by ScreamingKoos
;Version 2.0
;Release Number: 5
;Release Date: November 26, 2023

;NOTE: Jester is built off of a similar foundation for Forthwind ai, also created by me. The major differences are that this ai is slightly
;less random, does not build walls or trush, and has more updates which makes it stronger than vanilla Forthwind.
;Currently both ai's play similarly, but if you want to use the "best" ai, then play with this ai (Jester.ai), this ai also does much better in team games and has better stability.

;SUMMARY:
;Jester is much more up to date and competitive than its brother ai, Forthwind, which is more random. Jester was built off of Forthwinds foundation but has since changed in style considerably.
;Jester does not cheat, only Jester V 2.0 can play all civs as of up to and including The Mountain Royals DLC, and all maps excluding migration, "nothing" style maps, and has basic rules for partial or full water maps that it will work on it but not as competitively as land maps.
;Jester does not work for WK or UP or AOE II HD. Jester only works and is tested for AO2 DE (Definitive Edition).

;DID YOU KNOW? (quick facts)
; Jester can play nomad style maps (land or water just not migration-types), and has rules to always prioritize either a lumber-camp, mule-cart, or town-center when his last tc is destroyed (or game starts without one)!
; Jester will automatically sling extra resources to any allies that are low on resources, in the imperial-age only. You can still use taunts 3 - 6 for a more manual way to ask for resources (player or computer allies).
; Jester will always match your stance. If you change stance to enemy, Jester will also change his stance to enemy. If you change your stance to ally, Jester will mirror you. Comes along with some chats for every type of stance change during the game. There is NO tricking this guy!
;
; Jester responds to several taunts in the game and depending on the age may respond differently, most taunts work when Jester is set as an ally. Taunts are listed below:
;==========TAUNTS:==========
; Use taunts 3 - 6 to ask for resources, 31 to attack, 32 to pursue his default aggressive strategy, 33 to boom, 36 to disable attacking, 37 to build a wonder (imperial-age only), 43 for current strategy information, 44 for number of resources, 45 for a temporary retreat,
; taunt 50 - flare a location on the map and send this taunt for a chance of Jester to build a tower, donjon, krepost, or castle at the location, 52 - flare a location on the map and then send this taunt for a chance Jester will build a market at the flared location,
; taunt 61 - 68 - Jester will temporarily target the numbered player (only enemies, note this taunt might be bugged, needs more testing), taunt 72 - jester goes militiaman-line, 73 - Jester goes knight-line (including shrivamsha-rider or savars), battle-elephants, steppe-lancers, or...
;... camels. This is dependent on the current civilization and only works for that current age. Use these in imperial-age for a more permanent strategy. Taunt 104 - Jester only resigns when he runs out of villagers and town-centers (both enemy and ally Jesters), 105 resets normal resign rules.
;===========================
;
;==========UPDATES for Version 2.0:==========
; - Every civilization in the game is now playable by Jester up to and including "The Mountain Royals" DLC. There is a chance for Jester to use any units old or new in the game! (NOTE: Does not include special scenario units, only units found in multiplayer games).
; - New strategies have been added for Jester including castle cavalry-archer rush, castle elephant-archer rush, castle bohemian hand-cannoneer rush, Gurjara feudal camel-scout rush, castle shrivamsha-rider rush, and also an all new castle siege-rush strategy that any civ can do!
; - Fixed siege unit rules. Jester now uses battering rams, mangonels, scorpions, bombard cannons (including houfnice's), and trebuchets more intelligently depending on the target enemy's unit composition.
; - Switched out or changed most of the resign chats! They are randomly generated to keep new ones cycling into your games! xD
; - Mostly fixed a terrible DUC leak that would trigger all of Jester's units to the corner of the map when he was attempting to dodge enemy watch-tower arrow fire. I have rewritten or looked over all of the DUC rules and applied fixes, haven't encountered the bug in all recent testing.
; - Jester now uses scout micro to gather gaia sheep more efficiently. Works for every beginning scout type including scout-cavalry, eagle-warrior, and camel-scout (gurjura).
; - Numerous military and economic rules have been tweaked including military countering rules, camp placement rules, gathering rules, defensive rules, and more.
; - Fixed up-set-placement rules for many buildings. This means the first few defensive fortifications are now built towards the front of the base and not as randomly as before. Still testing different numbers for this however.
; - Improved build orders for every age/strategy. EXAMPLE: Jester no longer builds a blacksmith first when flushing, but rather a range or stable.
; - Jester now builds more military buildings in imperial-age over time.
;
;==========KNOWN ISSUES/WIP:==========
; Jester will break easily against tower rushing or castle drops, there is basic defence rules against this but not as intuitive yet. (WIP - on hold)
; Jester sometimes under reacts or overreacts to some unit compositions (sometimes trains no skirmishers against longbowmen or way too many when enemy is making cavaly). (WIP - investigating)
; Sometimes Jester gathers way too much gold or stone in the feudal-age when under attack. This can lead to very long up-times to castle. (WIP - investigating)
; Jester on water maps in general, I'd like to improve the water rules more in the future (WIP - on hold)
; Attacking rules are sometimes too aggressive in some situations to the point Jester throws all of his military units away. (WIP - investigating)
; Jester will have more variety in imperial-age strategies in a future update. (WIP - working on)
; Mule cart logic may need DUC rules to fix the mid to late game of them bunching up together with no resources around them. (WIP - on hold)
;
;==========CONCLUSION:==========
; Jester can be a fun ai to test your own ai against, play in team games, or even use in some scenarios. It is by means not a perfect ai, and uses minimal DUC, but something I hold dear to working on for years at this point. Please leave a comment of your experience on the ai scripters website,
; AOK Heaven website, or in the ai scripters discord group about your experience and if there is anything you'd like to see added/improved or just your general experience! Thank you for playing with Jester, GL HF!!!
;-ScreamingKoos

[venomus]

Woah! Thanks for the update!

I always play against a team of Forthwind and Jester and for some time it was noticeable that they had lost a lot of strength. I love that Forthwind is able to create a wall even if it doesn't optimize it, it's a great feature.