The ai_helper functions are optimized for speed (as much as possible in a general setting) and do all the necessary tests. For example, get_units_with_attacks() checks both whether the unit has attacks left, and whether it has any attacks in the first place.
The relative ranking of the CA scores is not changed, except for one case when two CAs had the same score.
Reasons:
- All scores should be lower than the scores of the default Goto CA (200,000) and the default scores of most Micro AIs (300,000).
- Break tie, resulting in uncertain order of execution, of place_healers and retreat_injured CA. Healers should be placed first, to allow retreating injured units to adjacent hexes.
- Set default for generic_recruit_engine to slightly above default AI recruiting score. That way it takes effect even if the default CA is not removed.
- Increase move_to_any_enemy CA score from 1 to 1,000. It is still the lowest score that way, but allows for setting up custom CAs with even lower scores (even if it is just for end-of-turn statistics or the like).
Now that all the AIs use external CAs, there is no need to use the persistent 'data' variable any more, unless information is to be exchanged between different CAs or is supposed to be persistent across save/load cycles.
The old method is very slightly faster in some circumstances (e.g. for
simple filters and when all units have moves/attacks/etc. left), but we
are talking fractions of micro seconds. By contrast, depending on the
filter used, the new method can save large amounts of evaluation time
once some units have move or attacked.
This removes the Lua deprecation_message function in favour of exposing the C++ variant to Lua instead.
It also moves all deprecation messages to a separate logdomain, making them easily enabled en masse.
When the AI moves a unit out of the way for another unit’s move, it is
occasionally possible for the former unit to use up all its movement
points (e.g. if it has few MP or on narrow crowded maps). If that unit
is on the list to be moved later during the same sequence, this caused
ai_helper.robust_move_and_attack() to return nil, which then made the
Fast Micro AI produce an error message.
(as proposed by @DeFender1031)
All existing deprecation messages in the Lua code have been changed to
use the new deprecation system.
The goal is to eventually use an equivalent system for ALL areas of the API.
This covers all the main higher-order functions included in WFL, except zip.
The two already implemented in ai_helper have been replaced with redirection stubs.
Otherwise it is too easy to exploit this by baiting the AI leader to
run into a trap, and it is too difficult for what it's worth to make
sure the attack location is safe. If only the side leader is left to do
such an attack, it's more often than not not a good idea to do so
anyway.
