Re: Is acp-min useful?

[Keir Novik <K dot E dot Novik at qmw dot ac dot uk>]

On Sun, 5 Mar 2000, Stan Shebs wrote:

> So here are the options I see:
> 
> 1. Leave kernel alone, add to interfaces (somehow) to give
> finer control over acp usage.
> 
> 2. Eliminate acp-min entirely.  Use free-acp to handle actions
> that might need more than the remaining acp.
> 
> 3. Revert to the pre-fix behavior, where acp can go negative,
> but negative acp ends the turn for that unit.
> 
> I slightly favor 2. over 3., because GDL already has too much
> obscure stuff, but I could go for 1. if somebody came up with
> workable interface mods.
> 
> What do you think?

I do think acp-min is useful, and I prefer it the way it was implemented. 
Let me describe three situations; as long as these can be handled, I'm not
picky as to the implementation in the GDL. 

(i) Infantry land on beach, but need to spend a few turns regrouping
before they can advance.

(ii) A unit is attacked by several enemy units, but can only defend
against a limited number of attacks in a given turn. 

(iii) Aircraft landing on a carrier must spend a few turns refueling
before they can take off again.

I don't see how free-acp alone can handle these.

-- 
Keir Novik                               E-mail: K.E.Novik@qmw.ac.uk
Computing Officer                         Phone: +44 (0)20 7882-7759   
Centre for Computational Science            Fax: +44 (0)20 7882-7794   
Department of Chemistry
Queen Mary & Westfield College (University of London)