Anything I Can Do To Increase AI Speed on my Computer?

[Just Another Jinx Main]

From what I've been reading, the AI speed is at least partially related to your CPU. When I play on hard the AI goes super slow, but when I check my CPU it's only at about 60 to 70% usage and the CPUs aren't overheating, so it doesn't seem to be a CPU issue?

Did anyone find something that decreases how long it takes AI to think, or is this just an issue for everyone no matter what?

[AronFJenks]

It does seem a bit slow.

I just did a test run of a program I wrote that performs a bunch of math calculations on a series of numbers and prints the resulting properties. It looped through 100,000 numbers and processed the different properties for each, in 1.43 seconds.

This same program can run for 40 minutes, looping through billions of numbers, without raising the core temperatures more than a few degrees Celsius.

Conversely, when I run Wingspan on this very same (powerful) computer, it takes a while for all 4 AIs to go, especially with hummingbirds in play, and the temperatures of the core components seem to increase by 10 degrees Celsius, despite my rans set to run at very high speeds in such circumstances.

[AronFJenks]

Also, the game does not seem any slower on my crummy old ipad.

[Wylie28]

The AI isn't going to be able to multi-thread that well. Thats the nature of AI. Your main game thread is whats being maxed out.

Its your CPU.

[Wylie28]

Originally posted by AronFJenks:

It does seem a bit slow.

I just did a test run of a program I wrote that performs a bunch of math calculations on a series of numbers and prints the resulting properties. It looped through 100,000 numbers and processed the different properties for each, in 1.43 seconds.

This same program can run for 40 minutes, looping through billions of numbers, without raising the core temperatures more than a few degrees Celsius.

Conversely, when I run Wingspan on this very same (powerful) computer, it takes a while for all 4 AIs to go, especially with hummingbirds in play, and the temperatures of the core components seem to increase by 10 degrees Celsius, despite my rans set to run at very high speeds in such circumstances.

Thats almost nothing compared to the calculations the AI are doing. Yes, your temps hardly raise because the workload you gave your PC is extremely negligable. Its barely doing a thing. Run a chess AI on your machine, you will see the same thing as wingspan.

[AronFJenks]

Originally posted by Wylie28:

Originally posted by AronFJenks:

It does seem a bit slow.

I just did a test run of a program I wrote that performs a bunch of math calculations on a series of numbers and prints the resulting properties. It looped through 100,000 numbers and processed the different properties for each, in 1.43 seconds.

This same program can run for 40 minutes, looping through billions of numbers, without raising the core temperatures more than a few degrees Celsius.

Conversely, when I run Wingspan on this very same (powerful) computer, it takes a while for all 4 AIs to go, especially with hummingbirds in play, and the temperatures of the core components seem to increase by 10 degrees Celsius, despite my rans set to run at very high speeds in such circumstances.

Thats almost nothing compared to the calculations the AI are doing. Yes, your temps hardly raise because the workload you gave your PC is extremely negligable. Its barely doing a thing. Run a chess AI on your machine, you will see the same thing as wingspan.

Help me understand why exactly it takes the AI so long, if you are willing. I want to fully understand the process.

If I were going to write the code for an AI, I would probably use a lot of If / else statements, which I wouldn't expect to be so slow or such a drain on resources.

Are you saying that the AI is thinking along the lines of a "strong" chess AI, thinking many moves ahead, branching out into a very large number of possible scenarios to evaluate which play to make?

Because if so, I can see why that would be a very slow process - but, nothing about the way the AI plays indicates it is actually doing that. It seems to make each move without a plan, which really should not take very much time at all.

For example, the Terraforming Mars AI moves instantaneously. Terraforming Mars is a more complex game than Wingspan - how is it that the TFM AI moves instantly while the Wingspan AI, which is no better at the game, move so sluggishly?

[AronFJenks]

Originally posted by Wylie28:

Originally posted by AronFJenks:

It does seem a bit slow.

I just did a test run of a program I wrote that performs a bunch of math calculations on a series of numbers and prints the resulting properties. It looped through 100,000 numbers and processed the different properties for each, in 1.43 seconds.

This same program can run for 40 minutes, looping through billions of numbers, without raising the core temperatures more than a few degrees Celsius.

Conversely, when I run Wingspan on this very same (powerful) computer, it takes a while for all 4 AIs to go, especially with hummingbirds in play, and the temperatures of the core components seem to increase by 10 degrees Celsius, despite my rans set to run at very high speeds in such circumstances.

Thats almost nothing compared to the calculations the AI are doing. Yes, your temps hardly raise because the workload you gave your PC is extremely negligable. Its barely doing a thing. Run a chess AI on your machine, you will see the same thing as wingspan.

Also, I do not entirely agree with this.

I've played chess and Othello games against a computer opponent that makes moves almost instantaneously. And Those games are more difficult to play well than Wingspan is.

[thebends43201]

Anyone who says it's your CPU is completely making stuff up. This has been a known issue forever. AI is noticeably faster if you use the medium speed, and anecdotally it doesn't change a whole lot about AI strat. (Even on Hard AI is really not good.)

[AronFJenks]

Originally posted by thebends43201:

Anyone who says it's your CPU is completely making stuff up. This has been a known issue forever. AI is noticeably faster if you use the medium speed, and anecdotally it doesn't change a whole lot about AI strat. (Even on Hard AI is really not good.)

Yeah, the CPU thing is nonsense.

I can play terraforming Mars against 4 AIs, and the moves are instantaneous. And that's on my old ipad. My computer is significantly better than an old ipad, and yet the AIs move very slowly.