The Ancestors

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FireBall37
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The Ancestors

Post by FireBall37 »

Hey everyone! This is just something fun I decided to do for anyone who's interested. I'm going through my backups and finding the earlier versions of Shadow that I made. To be honest, Shadow was a completely different AI back then! :) In fact, I didn't discover UP for a long time, so some of these can't even lure boar. :P

This is just something fun in the spirit of others (Mr Elephant, Philosopher, et al.) finding AI's from the past. Don't expect too much, but I hope some people enjoy seeing the progression of Shadow to his present form. :devil

--SHADOW 0--
First release: Shadow 0! This is the very first version of Shadow that I made, having very little game knowledge outside my own play (I wasn't that good either)! In the file there is a description of his army comp and best civs (I think, I can't totally remember what all I did). I think he can use most civilizations, even the meso civs. I think the strategy is just getting to Imperial and getting relics before fighting, with a strange mix of military and booming! :head
After watching Shadow 0 in play, you will probably be shocked at how bad he is! If I recall correctly, my inspiration was using cav archers to exploit the built-in AI ability to pull ranged units back after firing (ability-to-maintain-distance) At the time, I was trying on my own to figure out build orders and how many vills to go for. Also, I was mainly testing vs AI's that went for relics early, so that is his main focus! I guess this shows that starting AI's don't have to be perfect!
Now that I write this I'm thinking I might regret it, but nevertheless here it is.

--SHADOW 1--
Alright, here's the next step in the journey: Shadow 1. This marked a switch in my army focus as now Shadow focuses on an infantry-based army with support units. Still doesn't understand basic ideas about villagers... :( My main test opponent was DeathShrimp (the SampleAI on the disc)

--SHADOW 2--
Really just a better version of 1, with much more military and is more aggressive. Don't expect too much though...Around here Shadow was starting to challenge the CD ai (Petersen) :dance

--SHADOW 3--
In Shadow 3, I realized that knights were good lol. Shadow 3 will "krush" with non-meso civs and go for archers/eagles as meso. Gets a decent army and tries to win by getting relics and protecting them. Still any decently-timed attack should overpower Shadow :(

--SHADOW 4.04--
Finally Shadow 4! In the switch from 3 to 4, I decided to try my hand at a flushing strategy. I decided to focus on Vikings and a ranged flush. With the new strategy Shadow really started improving. This Shadow will perform a decent flush with only simple retreating micro. Also features a cool game evaluation that chats how Shadow thinks the game is going. Added boar hunting here!!

--SHADOW 4.06--
In this version the first signs of group micro show. At this point I started trying to beat AI's like Maiar at their own game, and micro seemed to be the way to do it. This version may be fun to play as the micro is much simpler and maybe less frustrating to play! Also, Shadow will go ham on siege in castle age!! By now Shadow can lure deer (imperfectly sometimes)

--SHADOW 4.07--
This is the last step before Shadow took on its current basic form. The micro is improved from 4.06 and should give a pretty good flush. After this version I switched away from siege bc of Barbarian :head


Well, hope you enjoy seeing some of the journey that Shadow went on before getting to his current state! :D
Attachments
Ancestors.zip
Seven unique earlier versions of Shadow
(293.66 KiB) Downloaded 150 times
Last edited by FireBall37 on Tue Mar 08, 2022 6:09 pm, edited 14 times in total.
author of the Shadow AI and Snippets

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MrElephant
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by MrElephant »

Downloaded! Thanks for the AI Fireball! Cant wait to try it out.

This awesome that you still have some of the older versions of shadow. And it is cool to compare AIs from the past to what they became!
Last edited by MrElephant on Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Author of Charon, Reactionary, Ahulane, and BlackKnight!

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FireBall37
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by FireBall37 »

Have fun!! If anything, it'll make other AI's look better :P
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MrElephant
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by MrElephant »

Maybe next time Philosopher gets on discord, we can try to stream some of the older ais again.

This time we also have the handicap feature, so maybe we could compare older ais with handicap again new ais without. Maybe that would be interesting.
Author of Charon, Reactionary, Ahulane, and BlackKnight!

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FireBall37
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by FireBall37 »

That is true. A good way to level the playing field and add more flavor to the scene!
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FireBall37
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by FireBall37 »

Uploaded the next Ancestor! Getting better, maybe? :unsure:
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FireBall37
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by FireBall37 »

Alright everyone, posted a fuller list of the ancestors of Shadow. Includes some cool older strategies I tried and shows the beginning stages of micro. Some other cool stuff too. Enjoy :dance
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Rorrik
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by Rorrik »

This is really cool! Thanks for sharing. It helps show how much iteration there is before getting to what you end up and, and how different it is than where you thought it was going.

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FireBall37
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Re: The Ancestors

Post by FireBall37 »

Glad you like it Rorrik :)
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