Re: Revised exploring_worth function

[Lincoln Peters <peters2000 at mindspring dot com>]

On Sat, 2002-07-20 at 14:33, Bob Carragher wrote:
> Maybe I am misunderstanding the meaning of "explorer worth."  Does
> it include factors such as building costs (particularly the number
> of turns required to build one), visibility range (and whether it,
> in turn, can be seen -- e.g. subs), and defensive capability?  A
> carrier is all good and well for exploring until it runs into its
> first sub or is spotted by a bomber.  Now, if it's complemented by
> subs, destroyers, fighters, and maybe a battlewagon, it'll be a
> much tougher unit to destroy, but that's a pretty high cost for a
> vehicle of exploration.  (Then again, such a group has other uses
> as well.)

Currently, I don't think that any of the "worth" code considers building
costs, vision range, or visibility, and I think that the only functions
that consider offensive/defensive capabilities would be offensive_worth
and defensive_worth.  Not that those factors aren't relevant; the code
just is not yet there.

> 
> Maybe this is becoming too game-specific, but would it be possible
> to divide the (known) world into theaters, and then have there be
> exploration/reconnaissance plans for each theater, with the producing
> units in each theater set up to produce what is needed for those
> plans?  That might help to avoid duplicate effort (e.g. if each town
> tried to produce local reconnaissance units, even in a densely
> populated area).  How to effectively determine theaters is left as
> an exercise for the reader.  B-)

I haven't thought about how a reconnaissance plan would work, but I
imagine that figuring out a procedure that would work in every game
would be more difficult than writing the code itself.

> 
> It looks that way.  I did not know this game existed, but it has
> all the units that were available in the "abstract" period, plus
> a few more.  Some of the unit type names have changed -- the dreaded
> "ogre tank" is now a "bolo."  It also has this annoying "research"
> requirement, which I am unable to make happen -- with the unfortunate
> result that I cannot build anything!  A rather boring game, if you
> ask me.  B-)

Are you running version 7.4.1?  There's a bug in it that prevents
research.  I suspect that it appeared because someone was trying to
configure Xconq to not ask if the player wanted to build something that
the side has not yet developed and the selected unit could not develop
(as would be the case with villages in "postmodern").  The bug has been
fixed in the CVS sources; you should download and install them if you
can.