3-Way battle simulator

[NewSith]

Well, in general (assuming Kipper gave me a green go), I say what I said to Figgy back on TS one day. With only three conts for three empires there's no way to NOT have uncapturable footholds on each. So my biggest hope is that there's a sanc after more maps are added.








Either that or have that Flying Fortress (2142 Titan) idea suggested by many. At least one per cont for each empire, acting as a mobile base. I really want to be short so:
Flying Fortress:

• is created in the uncap.
• is acting as a mobile base (with airterms).
• is destructable only from the inside or with some special weaponry.
• can move around freely.
• has very heavy Air-to-Surface weaponry.
• is a tide-changing factor that would force coordinated outfits to try and destroy it before it reaches frontlines. Otherwise zerg will get a very decent advantage on the field.
• dueling another Flying Fortress is a friggin epic show.

EDIT:

• is highly vulnerable to SkyLance AA turrets, setup around the footholds to prevent zerobase camping (good concept use, eh?)

[Alanim]

I let it run for a few hours and here are 4 screen caps that I took at random times, it seems like a always evolving front line, but since planetside 2 would have 1 never moving base for each team I don't think it'll move like this.

While it looks like VS always has the lead, they actually took turns on who the top dog was.

FIRST(TOP LEFT), SECOND(TOP RIGHT), THIRD(BOTTOM LEFT), FOURTH(BOTTOM RIGHT)

[NewSith]

Originally Posted by Alanim

I let it run for a few hours and here are 4 screen caps that I took at random times...

Originally Posted by Kipper

PS. Please don't abuse my webserver! Run it for a bit, then turn it off, no leaving your comp running all night seeing what will happen - because what will happen is I will remove the page... thank you!

Laughing Out Loud

[Hamma]

Originally Posted by basti

The current version pretty much shows what a big group of random people that only work together moment to moment would do. Means, right now its a zerg simulator.

This is true for sure. Some more variables in there and it could be pretty badass. But it is cool to look at and think about how things might work.

[Kipper]

Originally Posted by Alanim

FIRST(TOP LEFT), SECOND(TOP RIGHT), THIRD(BOTTOM LEFT), FOURTH(BOTTOM RIGHT)

Lol, well I can see I need to think about a lower bandwidth version! But still, what you have there is what I wanted to see and this proves it will happen if that was all taken from the same simulation.

It means that the empires in advancing one place lost in others to the point where they naturally exchanged bases and positions on the map, which means battles were fought in every hex and there was loads of variation and unpredictability for those who fought them.

If the starting hexes had been uncappable - we'll need to test this - but I just dont think that would happen, because the territory would be anchored, and even if an empire was moved away from its starting hexes it would still be able to push out from them, and human nature says the Zerg would try to reconnect their territory, at the cost of expanding other directions IMO.

[Alanim]

Originally Posted by NewSith

Laughing Out Loud

Well... whoops...didn't see that part.

Also yeah with anchored territories I doubt there's be a natural movement of ownership such as what we've seen here... it'd have alot less movement. Also sorry about hoggin' all your bandwidth!

*edit* and yeah, that's all one simulation.

[wattle]

Originally Posted by Alanim

FIRST(TOP LEFT), SECOND(TOP RIGHT), THIRD(BOTTOM LEFT), FOURTH(BOTTOM RIGHT)

I think it's mainly because Vanu get a huge head start at the beginning of the simulation thanks to them being farther away at the top of the map. We could easily debunk this theory if we were able to change empire starting positions to our will.

Cool simulation though, loving the website too.

[basti]

Originally Posted by Kipper

Lol, well I can see I need to think about a lower bandwidth version! But still, what you have there is what I wanted to see and this proves it will happen if that was all taken from the same simulation.

It means that the empires in advancing one place lost in others to the point where they naturally exchanged bases and positions on the map, which means battles were fought in every hex and there was loads of variation and unpredictability for those who fought them.

If the starting hexes had been uncappable - we'll need to test this - but I just dont think that would happen, because the territory would be anchored, and even if an empire was moved away from its starting hexes it would still be able to push out from them, and human nature says the Zerg would try to reconnect their territory, at the cost of expanding other directions IMO.

Not really.

The zerg moves forward or stays in position. Thats what the zerg does. In case a undefended hex gets attacked, some would go to defend, some stay where they are.

In case you get a split between your territorys, then it really depens on the situation if you want to reconnect or not. There seems to be no actual benefit between connection territorys (other than the capture time), means there is no actual reason to reconnect them, means there is no downside in being seperated, resulting in the attempt to push faster than you loose territory behind you. Works if only two empires fight, but if the seperated faction gets to fight the third empire to push forward, theyre fucked up. If you can predict such a situation arising, then theres no point trying to go for it, as it will result in you loosing most of your territorys. If you can avoid the third empire alltogether (for example if you cap a territory deep within enemy territory, and start from there), then its likley that you would try to expand your seperated territory, as it means that your main territory is somewhat secure from one empire, while you have loads of oppurtunitys to attack.



As you can see, the whole thing gets complicated rather quickly. Damn, cant wait for beta, i want to break the whole sytem already and exploit the hell outta it!

[Princess Frosty]

Quite like this, despite it being kinda basic, I think as others have said to actually see one or more winners it would be good to allow users to weight the priority of attacks so that we see this "double team" idea going on.

It would also be good to be able to change those values mid-simulation (stop/change/start) so that once one faction is nearly dead the 2 allies can turn on each other, maybe good for simulating in a basic way what sort of time is good to turn on temporary allies and with how much focus.

For example is it better to turn at the last minute or early on, with only a small force or with a large one, those would make great variables and should be easy to set as coefficients to the priority of tiles to attack.

[Skitrel]

Question, is more development happening to this? Or is further conversation about it pointless?

There's lots of things people would really like to see in this, it has the potential to be an actual useful tool as opposed to just a novelty.

[Mightymouser]

I downloaded Kipper's code, but I've never really done intensive projects (read: useful) in PHP; so I swapped it over to Java. Still working out kinks, and setting up the back end, but I'll get an applet up and hosted somewhere at some point "soon".

Here's a current working screenshot (forgive the ugly GUI, making it pretty is down on the todo list):

clicky for bigger

And currently I've implemented:

I'm using the hex map for Indar as seen in the various videos and screenies

You can customize the starting layout, or start with a neutral board, or a three-way preset (seen above)

you can select a custom target to be attacked next round by any empire, or let the random selection logic select one itself

The selection logic is this:

If there is a neutral hex connected to an owned hex, select it (if more than on, a random one is chosen)

If there are no neutrals; select the hex with the most sides connected to your owned hexes (in the case of a tie, random selection among the best)

If the entire board is neutral, select a random start point

With a 1/100 random probability, a totally random hex will be selected anywhere on the board, and overwrite the previous logic

You can select to 'defend' a hex, and doing so makes the enemy fight over the hex for a longer period. As does multiple empires attacking the same hex.

You can move the simulation one turn at a time, or have it auto-play at various speeds (from 1 turn every 5 seconds, to one turn every 10 ms)

Capturing a hex takes 3 turns; at the base level, (unless it is neutral, then it flips in 1 turn). The already mentioned delays are then added onto that base time.


Things I want to add:

Variations in hex worth, and attack time; currently every hex is treated the same.

Delays based on if an empire is being double teamed

Possibly a way to choose an empire's "population levels" and then have that population affect target selection, and fight times

the option for secondary (or tertiary) targets.

The ability to layout a 'battle plan' several steps in advance, rather than having to select targets one at a time

"Hotspots" both visually, and in the sense that target selection will take into account the current fighting zone, rather than move across the board sporadically.

"Make it pretty"

Any other suggestions would be welcome, though I can't promise that everything will be feasible with my current code setup...

[Graywolves]

This thread makes me think of something like RISK: Battle for Auraxis

[Arius]

This is realistic. The 3 empires are duking it out for some time now, and NC is crushing all resistance, like always.

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Arius

This is realistic. The 3 empires are duking it out for some time now, and NC is crushing all resistance, like always.

That's because in ps2 NC is seriously OP as always.

[TheBladeRoden]

I like the risk idea where each territory have a set number of soldiers in it. Then every tic each soldier moves one space toward a target hex. Then when groups of enemy soldiers run into each other, the program decides who gets killed considering number advantage and dice rolls. Winners take the territory they were moving into, and dead soldiers respawn after a couple tics in some non-frontline hex.