Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Talk among developers, and propose and discuss general development planning/tackling/etc... feature in this forum.
Post Reply
Link
Merchant
Merchant
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:23 pm
Location: In the pilot seat of my Areus.
Contact:

Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Post by Link »

I had an idea for a feature out of the blue just now: considering practically everything on a ship is upgradeable, and the technology in the VS universe is advanced enough to merit extensive use of artificial intelligence, why not have the ability to buy and upgrade various AI components around the ship?

A quick draft that I'm essentially writing up as I think of it: you start with a basic AI Core Module - everything more advanced than a brick with engines and guns strapped to it will have one. Even autotracking and automatic friendliness indication won't work without at least the most basic model of AI Core Module (AICM). Now, where it gets interesting is the extra modules that can be used to expand the AICM. Some of the modules I have in mind:
  • Docking Controller - the basic model displays the optimum path for docking as a virtual overlay on the HUD, and more advanced models would allow using the autopilot to fly there automatically.
  • Autotracking Computer - the basic model would be included in the AICM and simply keeps the guns pointed so that they would hit the target, were it to continue flying in a straight line at the current velocity (N.B.: weapon mounts still need individual autotracking capability for this to work). For more advanced modules, acceleration, manoeuvre heuristics would be included, and finally, the most advanced models would include optimal damage calculation. For example, if the enemy ship is close enough for the AI to see a section that has sustained more damage than the rest, it would train the guns on that section, rather than simply the bulkiest part of the ship.
  • Emergency Landing Module: when triggered by the pilot, or when the ship is very very close to being destroyed, the AI flies the ship to a dockable planet or station for emergency repairs. Basic models lock on to the nearest planetary-mass gravity well; more advanced models include the nearest friendly station in the search for a landing space, and the most advanced models will (a) try to find a path that does not take you close to enemy ships or stations or (b) if that is not possible, flies to the target using evasive manoeuvres.
  • Rare Aera/Rlaan/Confed Milspec AICMs with special abilities, offset by lower performance or features compared to the standard type.
For AI modules, you should have an AICM model equal to or greater than the module in order to use it properly, however you can run some modules on a lower grade of AICM, at the cost of occasional bugs and generally reduced performance. So, for example, you'd need an AICM IV to run an Emergency Landing Module IV properly - if you run it on an AICM III, it would sometimes mistake an enemy for a friend, or fly you right into an enemy rather than evading hir.

Some other ideas that popped up as I was typing the above:
  • Flares that deter heatseeker missiles. These can be deployed manually, or automatically by the AI - with the right upgrades in place, of course.
  • Encrypted communication between other ships, that can be detected and broken by an AI module. E.g. you get a message stating the AI has decrypted a conversation, and you get a transcript: "<1> I got the creds - you got the stuff? -- <2> Yeah bruv. Meet at the jump to Cardell." You then quickly SPEC to the jump point, blast the two ships out of the sky, and hopefully scavenge a nice wad of credits and a crate of illicit substances of some description. Various grades of encryption could be present, requiring various grades of Communications Decryption Module to break.
  • Hidden jump points - detectable only by their gravitation, such as when you suddenly drop out of SPEC. There could be rewards for finding these (e.g. by visiting a University planet after jumping through one), and the wireframe would show up once you claim this reward. Additionally, they could possibly lead to uncharted territories where Ancient technology or other forms of treasure could be found.
  • Black holes, pulsars, brown dwarves, neutron stars, quark stars, etcetera. Not related to the AI at all, but damnit, we need funky star types!
  • Ability to change or upgrade subunit weapons (and possibly other upgrades?) easily. For example, add a drop-down box to the upgrade purchase interface, where you can select each subunit of your ship. You can then buy and sell upgrades for the subunit rather than for the main ship.
So yeah, basically just some brain-farts I felt were worth posting. :)

(Wow, have I really not posted on these forums since April 2009?)
klauss
Elite
Elite
Posts: 7243
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:40 pm
Location: LS87, Buenos Aires, República Argentina

Re: Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Post by klauss »

Link wrote:I had an idea for a feature out of the blue just now: considering practically everything on a ship is upgradeable, and the technology in the VS universe is advanced enough to merit extensive use of artificial intelligence, why not have the ability to buy and upgrade various AI components around the ship?
You just started from a fals assumption, rendering your whole post... academic.

AFAIK (someone correct me if I'm wrong), in VS canon high-level AIs are outlawed or something like that.
Oíd mortales, el grito sagrado...
Call me "Menes, lord of Cats"
Wing Commander Universe
charlieg
Elite Mercenary
Elite Mercenary
Posts: 1329
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 11:51 pm
Location: Manchester, UK
Contact:

Re: Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Post by charlieg »

klauss wrote:AFAIK (someone correct me if I'm wrong), in VS canon high-level AIs are outlawed or something like that.
Sounds a bit bizarre....

Even on the premise that high level AI is outlawed, it could be purchasable on the black market and/or used by pirates? How can you police a galaxy?
Free Gamer - free software games compendium and commentary!
FreeGameDev forum - open source game development community
CLoneWolf
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 443
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 5:14 pm

Re: Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Post by CLoneWolf »

klauss wrote:AFAIK (someone correct me if I'm wrong), in VS canon high-level AIs are outlawed or something like that.
(Big disclaimer: all that follows is heavily IMVVHO)
I wouldn't know, but... regardless of how Link called it, where's the AI in the basic versions of his first 3 ideas? All I see is math applied to input from sensors; it might be so computationally heavy to feel like "intelligent" or "magic", but still just math needing no neural nets/AI cores.

- Docking Controller: Car Parking Assistant systems outlaw in VS? :wink:

- Emergency Landing Module (let alone the most advanced): scan and pick... cheap FM radios automatically scanning and memorizing the best channels outlaw in VS? :wink:

- Autotracking Computer (let alone heuristics which is probably the most AI-related idea of the whole post): again, straight math on sensor input.

What I mean is that, even in case the true heavy AI parts can't be canon, there might still be room for upgrades based on good ol' dumb but lightning-fast software, so I wouldn't reject the whole chapter already :roll:

On a side note, on further combat help, I'm quite sure the most wouldn't want it, as it'd only worsen the pushbutton warfare issue; and evasion prediction... Nice AI, yes, but.... "I can has beamz!" :mrgreen:
(If weapons ever get separate models, I'll reskin my Ktek beams with plates saying "Evade this!")
Deus Siddis
Elite
Elite
Posts: 1363
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:42 pm

Re: Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Post by Deus Siddis »

Universe Document wrote:Certain forms of indentured servitude, especially as concerned AIs, were not outlawed, given certain contract conditions, much to the dismay of the Andolians and the relief of other parties unwilling to emancipate their few AIs that survived the nano-plague.

. . .view them in a way not dissimilar to how AIs are viewed by many LIHW, Forsaken, and some Purists: thinking machines, that do work on our behalf when properly treated and guided.
So it seems AIs are legal within at least most factions, though you maybe can't buy them in Andolian territory.

The Aera might have a ban on them though, I remember it said someplace that they don't use them out of fear they would become another competitor, essentially.
klauss
Elite
Elite
Posts: 7243
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:40 pm
Location: LS87, Buenos Aires, República Argentina

Re: Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Post by klauss »

CLoneWolf wrote:On a side note, on further combat help, I'm quite sure the most wouldn't want it, as it'd only worsen the pushbutton warfare issue; and evasion prediction... Nice AI, yes, but.... "I can has beamz!" :mrgreen:
(If weapons ever get separate models, I'll reskin my Ktek beams with plates saying "Evade this!")
Ya, and BTW, quite a bit of those features mentioned are on the drawing board already, like hidden jump points, black holes, and stuff like that.
Oíd mortales, el grito sagrado...
Call me "Menes, lord of Cats"
Wing Commander Universe
Link
Merchant
Merchant
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:23 pm
Location: In the pilot seat of my Areus.
Contact:

Re: Feature ideas: upgradeable AI and more

Post by Link »

Aww. Oh well - it wasn't a full-fledged, well-thought-of suggestion anyway. Yeah, it's not really necessarily AI, but my train of thought basically went something like "if a ship had an AI with a human to govern its actions, which features would the AI provide?" and I came up with what I listed. It might indeed be possible without AI. (Although, man, would I hate to be the person to code such systems for real-life space ships!) Perhaps it would look more reasonable if you renamed it from "AI Core Module" to "Core Computer"?

Anyway, do whatever you want with the ideas - even if that means discarding them entirely. As I said, it was more a brain-fart than anything else, and there are no hard feelings on my part if it turned out to be mostly or entirely useless! :)
Post Reply