Does RRT2 know (or remember) a human player's tendencies?

[immpy]

I play my Southern US Nine map very frequently. I am surely nearing 100 plays. I am absolutely addicted to takeovers and mergers with the AI. I cannot help myself. I enjoy taking unprofitable, poorly run RRs and turning the tables around. I would say it is definitely a tendency of my style of gameplay. I do it unconsciously....if the opportunity presents itself, I grab it. And it is a way to expand my RR along with the usual laying of new line.

Here's what happened in my most recent playing of the game. After acquiring enough stock shares (51%+) I assumed the chair of an AI Company. The ousted CEO then proceeded to start a new Company. This was expected, it happens all the time. But he named his new Company the "Shore to Shore RR" which struck me as odd, since the AI usually names their companies based on the 2 initial cities they connect, or something like one of the city names followed by Southern, Western, etc. This Chairman started with a small stake (2K or 3K of shares) and the rest were left for other investors. I normally snatch all remaining shares by buying them at this point. But, I waited a few gameplay months to see where this new RR was going to spring up. IT NEVER DID!! I still greedily bought up all the remaining shares; the CEO then sold his initial stake, at a tidy profit, and I was now the proud owner of a RR that was a Company in name only. They did not have ONE liquid asset to their name. No stations, rails, locomotives....they probably didn't even have a rail tie spike to their name....LOL. I had been taken! I immediately merged my main Company with this one, and the CEO started another new Company, this time an actual RR connecting 2 cities.

Did, or does, the game know (or remember) a human player's gameplay tendencies in order to exploit these against him/her? Is it even possible? The warning sign was the oddity of the choice of name for that first Company, signaling something strange was at bay. It sure gave me a chuckle.

Somewhat related to this, but not from the Southern Map, which happened a few years ago, was an occurrence of an AI starting it's first Company (near the beginning of a game) with the name of Conrail....Conrail!!! This struck me as odd....a name well known to even the most ignorant person of railroading and its history. I certainly knew the name. The Game Year was in the mid-1800s, so it struck me as doubly odd that Conrail was chosen as a Company name. Unfortunately, the game crashed within seconds of this happening, and before I was able to save the game. I always wonder how that game would have turned out, and if the Company called Conrail would follow history to any degree.

Thanks for listening, and please relate any similar experiences....this game continues to amaze.....

 

Edited January 4, 2017 by immpy

[jeffryfisher]

No, I don't think the AI is sophisticated enough to analyze human behavior and exploit habits. Instead, I think the baron randomly needed to start a company but then failed to find a short-line to build. When a new AI company fails to find a route at start-up, it will randomly pick one of the names from the language file. The fact that the baron had little stock suggests that he had little to invest, which may have left his company undercapitalized and hence unable to build a route.

Congratulations on helping him out of his rut.

As for Conrail, it's one of the names in the lang file (at least in my modded version). It can come up at random. What was more amazing was when a baron in one of my games started up Transcontinental RR and eventually connected to Galt's Gulch. I just about fell on the floor when I saw that announcement!

[immpy]

Yes indeed Jeffry. As I stated, this game is capable of amazing us at times. And that is surely what it did to me. Thanks for the precise explanation of what went on. I got to thinking about it some more after posting, and I realized I was just a victim of my own foolish megalomania. The game was just doing what it was, and is, programmed to do, after all. I still get a chuckle out of it all. Incidences like these which happen to us from time to time give this game its flavor and charm. And keep us coming back for more. These will be remembered for a long time after multiple Gold wins in various scenarios will have long been forgotten, by me at least.

Imagine though.....a game that REALLY could adjust and learn from an opponent...that sure would be something....

[jeffryfisher]

Sounds like advanced AI. The kind of predictive, opponent-adaptive awareness you suggest is uncommon even among us humans. For each Napoleon there are thousands McClellans.

[MaglevForever]

If there's a limit on track building that fulfills the condition of "cannot build a short-line". And we see the same thing. A random name for company with pure cash. Such companies can be used for personal gain. Short them for a year or two, until their stock price drops since they have no earnings, then merge them for free cash around 50 cents on the dollar.

 

PS.

I've been keeping half an eye on Project Automata It's a new game that some guys are trying to make. They failed Kickstarter funding, but I think they are still working on the game. The game isn't mainly focused on railways, it has trucks, boats etc. and has more focus on industrial production. I can't see it replacing RTII, but it might be interesting. I mention it because they hope to use Artificial Learning for their AI. They don't give lots of info, but most of it is in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QaWrrAfm_U