| Re: Testbed creation - Dummy or actual |
Thu, 08 March 2012 16:15   |
|
 BeeKeeper |
 | Officer Cadet 1st Year |
Messages: 214
Registered: December 2007
Location: Devon, UK, GMT | |
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I have used test beds for two different purposes so far. The first is simply to test a new race design for a game. In this scenario I set up a game with as far as possible the same conditions as the game I am planning on playing in, i.e. the same size universe, number of players etc. The other players are of course* the AI so I set them as expert and simply choose as wide a selection as possible. Not very scientific I suppose and as a refinement I should probably try and second guess what other PRTs the "real" players are going to select, although of course this does not work for IT - which the AI does not do.
The problem I have found with this method is there is a huge amount of luck in the draw of planets. Not so much of the HW but in what planets are suitable for colonisation around the HW. This has had a big difference in the outcome of the test bed games I have played so far.
The second use of test beds is simply to model a predicted battle.
I have come unstuck with this (SAS4 still hurts!) when I did not fully model all the players involved. For example, I was one of three players planning an attack on a fourth (he won the game so don't feel sorry for him.) and I simply added up all our ships and put them into a test bed as one player against the opposition. The model showed we would win but in reality we lost because 3 teams against one is not the same as one against one. What happened was the stronger player simply took us apart one after another, he did not attack us all at the same time - which is what I had modelled.
* I suppose it would be possible to set up a test bed where you play everyone and not use the AI - but I would need to be marooned on wi-fi enabled desert island to have the time for such a game.
[Updated on: Thu, 08 March 2012 16:20] Report message to a moderator
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