Phantron wrote: One thing I find is that you don't really have to work on denying AI the obvious color most of the time, because they probably won't take it anyway because they can actually see a better move. Often time you see the obvious match 3 red and you think that's the best move since the other side has a heavy red attacker, but instead the AI will say match 4 environmental tiles for a row for junky tiles, because statistically that match 4 has a high probability of turning into a cascade and get it more tiles even if it's the worst kind of match 4 it can get. The AI also don't seem to have any sense of urgency. It is not going to try to deny you the last 3 red you need to fire off your move, and likewise it is not in a hurry to pick up the last 3 red it needs to finish you off if it sees a match 4 somewhere. I find that once you start seeing AI not making any cascades, you really want to match things near the top of the board, because you know the AI prefers cascades if at all possible. So the fact he made a move without cascade implies the board currently has no combo potential, and that's good for you, so you want to keep the board as is. Sometimes I'd even match 3 enviornmental tiles at the top row to just preserve the board.
Bugpop wrote: Phantron wrote: One thing I find is that you don't really have to work on denying AI the obvious color most of the time, because they probably won't take it anyway because they can actually see a better move. Often time you see the obvious match 3 red and you think that's the best move since the other side has a heavy red attacker, but instead the AI will say match 4 environmental tiles for a row for junky tiles, because statistically that match 4 has a high probability of turning into a cascade and get it more tiles even if it's the worst kind of match 4 it can get. The AI also don't seem to have any sense of urgency. It is not going to try to deny you the last 3 red you need to fire off your move, and likewise it is not in a hurry to pick up the last 3 red it needs to finish you off if it sees a match 4 somewhere. I find that once you start seeing AI not making any cascades, you really want to match things near the top of the board, because you know the AI prefers cascades if at all possible. So the fact he made a move without cascade implies the board currently has no combo potential, and that's good for you, so you want to keep the board as is. Sometimes I'd even match 3 enviornmental tiles at the top row to just preserve the board. Indeed! Although we need to make this less wordy. This is profound yet so little comments.
Phantron wrote: I find that once you realize the AI always knows the best move it makes it a lot easier to play against them. If the AI makes an ordinary match 3 (no cascade), you don't have to spend time looking for good moves aside from the area immediately changed by this action, because if a good move exists, the AI would've found it already. Until your AP consuming moves are ready, you want to preserve a board with low cascade potential for as long as you can because here you're on even ground, while in a board with high cascade potential (like the opening of the game), the AI has a huge advantage since it knows all the cascade possibilties while you probably do not.
Zathrus wrote: The AI has no idea what is off the board, any more than you do. The AI has no idea what move you'd make. It has very simple matching rules with simple preferences. It doesn't get mega cascades any more than you do, the difference is pure human psychology -- we remember things that hurt us FAR, FAR better than we remember things that help us.
someguy wrote: Yeah, the AI doesn't know how to match a 5-tile L shape, or how to use the same character ability more than once per turn. If anything, the AI's dumbness and flaws give players the advantage. Which I think it should, otherwise newbies would angrily quit in droves, especially when fighting something like a 5/5 Rag for the first time.
Zhirrzh wrote: The L thing I've noticed. I'm pretty sure I've sat there after a monster cascade and watch the AI chain Thunderclap and Lightning Storm repeatedly until I'm dead dead dead.
IceIX wrote: Zathrus wrote: The AI has no idea what is off the board, any more than you do. The AI has no idea what move you'd make. It has very simple matching rules with simple preferences. It doesn't get mega cascades any more than you do, the difference is pure human psychology -- we remember things that hurt us FAR, FAR better than we remember things that help us. Pretty much this. New tiles aren't generated until they need to fall. The AI has no idea what they would be any more than you do. The AI also uses a somewhat simple matching algorithm with some percentage slip to give it a bit of a more organic feel. It doesn't plan ahead at all.
Misguided wrote: If by "algorithm" you mean that the AI blindly chooses 4-way matches regardless of color, then I'd agree.
ApocryphicV wrote: I'm thankfully they didn't use the AI that they used for the original PQ. Boy was that one a hard one to beat with crazy cascades and perfect drops for them.
Zathrus wrote: ApocryphicV wrote: I'm thankfully they didn't use the AI that they used for the original PQ. Boy was that one a hard one to beat with crazy cascades and perfect drops for them. What makes you think they didn't? The original didn't cheat either.