First off, the ZONS couldn't deal with 7 players who simply swarmed it. It had too little numbers to deal with gobs and gobs of siege tanks.
Hardcoded issues meant the AI would softlock and hardlock often enough that it couldn't finish the fight in a lengthy game.
The AI was still subject to a multitude of exploits that plagues AI, such as worker training, nuke abuse, and worse of all, overlord abuse.
Talking to Bajadulce at BroodwarAI, he was constantly mentioning that I should make a grafted AI that produces stronger units to allow it to compete against Fastest players and large numbers of players in standard conditions. I usually said, "I don't really want to do that or go through the effort to do that". But, now I'm bored enough that I'm actually going to do it.
But I'm not just going to give them tougher units. Oh no. That would be too easy. Thus, Armageddon Onslaught was born. I haven't started yet, which is good for you, because here's your opportunity to throw me some unit and attack suggestions.
What is Armageddon Onslaught?
Armageddon Onslaught is an AI built to kill players in a 1v7 matchup on a cheesy fastest map. It will have its own unique selection of units that players do not have access to. It will build these units very fast, attack very fast, and remain on the offensive. It will have a very wide variety of units with crazy new attacks and attributes stylized with demonic force that will force players to adapt to an entirely new type of game. Each of these new units will have custom sounds, and many may have custom graphics.
The AI will also have access to special structures that allow it to overcome many previous weaknesses, such as Overlords, worker training, and defensive pitfalls. It will be able to build Overminds that produce psionic pulses and decimate targets, as well as special anti-air towers with AoE damage to punish people who specifically whore carriers. Additionally, a lot of the custom units will be designed to force players to use micro to their fullest advantage to defeat them.
AO will be the most fearsome opponent you have ever faced. I promise this.
I'm posting this thread here for modders and players to give their suggestions to my existing unit ideas. I'll get to work on this in the near future, whenever I am not lazy.
This mod will be for 1.10. I do not support any versions above 1.10.
DoA says he'll try making me a limit remover that should solve the weapon firing issues in ITAS that this mod will surely suffer once I go berserk with the Iscript. This means I can go berserk with the iscript, and make stuff like Comets that create DoT aoe effects.
This mod will push cannibalizing unused entries to the absolute limit to provide custom weapons and effects. The Armageddon units will be around twice in number of the original Zerg race.
This AI will engage attacks in ascending tiers of randomly mixed units, then switch to a randomly arranged final attack sequence similar to ZONS. It will produce these units from special buildings at very fast rates. You must be prepared to defend against very large rush attacks.
This AI will be hard. Unbeatable? Not likely, given hardcoded problems surely to arise. But it will be insane. This is the AI for survival enthusiasts and hardcore carrier rushers.
Here's some of my unit ideas so far.
Tier1
"The Onslaught Begins"
Blood Hound
(Zergling)
50 health, 50 shields, 1 armor
7+1 base damage, 20+2 critical damage, very fast attack speed, can burrow
This unit is the basic unit of the Armageddon Onslaught. It is small, fast, durable, and extremely deadly. Its critical strike means it can pump out burst damage at unpredictable rates, given off by a unique slashing animation and sound.
Finger of Despair
Special Scourge. Has permanent cloak, and around 20 life, 75 shields, and 5 armor.
Necrosis Bomb - The Finger of Despair will deal very large amounts of damage to air units in a small aoe. This will prevent players from solely whoring carriers or bcs to abuse the AI. I expect FMP and cheese players to loathe this unit.
Gloom
Special Overlord. Is permanently cloaked and fairly durable. The AI builds these in addition to special supply structures. Has speed and transport right away.
Tier2
"The Sky Rains Fire, Tears of Blood..."
Devourer of Eyes
Special flying unit that cloaks nearby friendlies and attacks with a yet undecided medium-ranged projectile.
Thunderer
Typical ranged unit. Comparable to the Hydralisk. Has around 125 health and 20 shields, with 2 armor. Can burrow.
Attacks -
*Lightning Bolt - A bolt with range comparable to an upgraded dragoon. Slower ROF than a hydralisk, but around 20+2 damage.
*Overload - A random chance to fire a spray of bolts that deal 10+1 four times in an AoE.
Armageddon Lurker
Does not need to burrow to attack. Will have about 250-350 health, and 3-4 armor.
Attacks -
*Meteor Shower - Standard attack. Launches a wave of meteors from high above that bombard a target location and deal 10x10+2 explosive damage.
*Fire Nova - Special attack. Random attack. Emits an enormous shockwave of fireballs around the unit that deal 40+4 normal damage.
tier3
"Death's Pendulum Has Swung Its Last Toll"
Destroyer of Hope
800-1000 health, 5-6 armor, produces a concussive shockwave when in motion that deals around 40-50 damage in an aura around the unit, decimating infantry blocks and walls.
Attacks -
*Scythe of Chaos - Generic melee attack. Will deal something like 30-40+3 damage.
*Impending Doom - Random attack. Will cast a Maelstrom that effects all types of enemy units nearby the target.
Hellgate Guardian
Special Guardian or other such air unit. Can attack air units.
*Plasma Comet - Standard attack. Fires a long-ranged high-damage plasma comet at a target enemy. Fairly long cooldown.
*Devastation - A random chance for the comet to explode violently upon impact, dealing aoe damage in a large radius.
Shadow of Fear
Special Defiler. Has the ability to cloak.
*Psionic Impulse - The Shadow of Fear will release a pulse around its body that deals damage to all enemies that surround it. This isn't particularly dangerous to individual opponents in front of it, but enemies seeking to surround and kill the defiler will be in for a surprise. Since I am unsure if hero defilers will use their abilities (since all of that stuff is neatly hardcoded), I will give them the ability to cloak as well, which I assume the AI will use. If not, the mechanics for this unit will change.
Tier4
"Game Enders."
Infested Battlecruiser
An advanced unit. This is a new, special unit designed to help the AI end games in its favor after a certain time limit.
The IB will have around 1.5k health, 4-7 armor, and 300-500 shields. It is a detector, and can cloak.
*Gygias Battery - The Battlecruiser will fire in a long volley of laser pulses that deal damage in an aoe. The attack will be something like 10x20+2 explosive.
*Deep Torpedo - These missiles are also fired in the volley. They deal large amounts of concussive damage.
Attacks with undecided units
Doom Comet - Summons an enormous Comet that crashes upon an enemy and deals massive aoe DoT.
Glyph of Chaos - An attack like Glave Wurm that fires a spinning energy scythe, similar to the one in MFTGATRL and ARII.
Grand End of Time - An attack that was supposed to be featured by HK's Dreadnaught Ascendant, that never got finished. Creates a marker that ticks down on a target location. Once it finishes ticking, it will create a devastating explosion that will utterly annihilate enemies within a very large radius.
Chemical Storm - A very fast concussive DoT attack that hits a large radius. Best negated with large units that have full armor upgrades, and most effective against clustered small units like interceptors. Basically the same thing seen in MFTGATRL.
Gamma Ray - Same as the MFTGATRL Battleship ability. Deals explosive AoE DoT around a target enemy.
Endless Rage - A melee attack that gains strength the more it hits a single opponent.
Resurgence - An attack that has a chance to mind control an enemy unit.
Negative Singularity - An attack that draws in energy around it, dealing minor damage to enemies, then explodes, dealing massive damage to enemies. Similar in appearance to the HK Dreadnaught's attack.
The purpose of this thread is for others to give suggestions to possible units and attack types. I do not promise a quick speed of progress, because I suffer from depression and I have other things I must do (such as writing my novel, TOA). However, this is a small enough project that I can assure its eventual completion.
I currently do not plan to provide any mods that create alternate build orders for AI belonging to other races. The AI for the other races in this mod will be slightly modified standard AI.
Everything here is subject to change.
Here is the Tech demo I made for SK when it was still in production.
Download this file. Start up SC with it, doesn't matter which version. Run a singleplayer as zerg, cheat, and get some defilers. Send them into the enemy base, and let them auto attack dudes. Wait out for their randomized secondary attack. Check out the Ultralisk, too.
http://www.staff.samods.org/iskatumesk/SKTechDemo2.exe
That mod above will demonstrate some of the functionality the new units will have. It should go without saying, but no one can use any of the content in that mod without my permission.
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