Subscribe to download
BetterAI

This mod is work in progress, meaning everything should work fine, but some things are bound to break from time to time! I try my best to maintain this project and keep all functionality of the mod up-to-date, though you can help with valuable feedback and contributions on github (via issues/pull-requests). You are free to use any content from it aslong as you reference this project.

Bleeding edge version of this mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2412847976

Stay up to date with the github repo! . https://github.com/Mxt-dot/BetterAI/issues
I also started streaming, mainly eu4 with the mod. Live feedback, hanging out, whatever. Eu4 always in english, as most other stuff. Beware, german accent.
https://www.twitch.tv/mkvalid

https://www.twitter.com/MkValid
Obviously not ironman-compatible due to changing files other than just graphics :( But hey, there's a challenge to be had, be creative :)

Compatible (fully/partially) with other mods that DON'T change defines, buildings, ideas, development, institutions, fort mechanics...
There is interest in the community for compatibility with the following mods. If you like, contribute and open up this mod for a wider audience:

Lux in Tenebris, Idea Variations

Vanilla? Vanilla! This mod is an enhancement of existing AI tweaking mods and focusses on the VANILLA gameplay. Everything you know and learned in your thousands if hours is there in the same cozy way.

Thanks to all already existing AI mods for inspiration.
Special thanks to my dude stackpoint/LoStack and Melle for contributing with the devclicker, which actually works way better than what I had before. Perhaps he has some nice contributions on other projects too. https://github.com/stackpoint
Also thanks to Question, for allowing me to use and tweak the "disband mercs" mod!

PLAY THIS GAME ON HARD OR VERY HARD TO EXPERIENCE THE BEST AI POSSIBLE .

I tweaked the bonuses for the difficulty. "Hard" provides -1 unrest for AI and the ages give 10%/15%/20% forcelimit for AI for age of reformation/absolutism/revolution (on all difficulties).

This mod is supposed to enhance the behavior of the AI to actually invest in Missionaries, to build more buildings and to wage more wars with the goal of blobbing like a player would.

Still, a nation is nothing without proper building structure. Therefore the building importance got tweaked a bit to prefer manufactories, workshops, etc. and to give less importance to docks and similar.

Ahh the famous debt spiral we got used to from the 1.30.X patch. This mod will mostly fix it! For real. Due to nations' focus on debt payback and overall creating a vastly more robust nation you will see the AI bouncing back from various situations or just being able to support insane amounts of troops. Example: Average ottomans supporting 300k+ troops with 250+ income in 1600. Without Quantity ideas picked. Yes. Additional fancy bonus is the AI declaring bankruptcy (if necessary) right after a hefty war in a safely manner to prevent paying back debt endlessly. Not my implementation, but it is more pronounced due to this mod!

A competent player would prepare for a bankruptcy to not end up at -3 stab and a disaster. Similarly, the AI will take precautions to ensure it ends up at 0 stability before declaring bankruptcy by spending adm mana on stability. A bankruptcy insurance, so to speak :)

With this mod, the AI is capable of upgrading their forts more consistently when higher military techs are reached. No more level 2 forts in 1700 russia. Of course the AI pays for it aswell, just like the player does.

Did you ever shout at the AI "Why don't you exploit your tax to fix your crippling debt" ? Well, well... do I got something for you! The AI exploits its tax (pre year 1600) and will do so when facing high debt. Especially useful in early game and more often than not enables mamluks to fight 4+ fights against the ottomans or to even come back from a losing position.

The AI, especially russia and lithuania, doesn't bother adding new forts to its country besides the conquered ones. With this mod, the AI not only upgrades existing forts, but also fill areas where no Zones of Control is present. Lithuania, Russia, Sweden and other large countries therefore cover their country with strategic fort placements while paying attention to optimize placement to keep the number of forts as low as possible.

This current revision also contains improvements to AI mana spending, meaning it will not waste mana when reaching cap but instead try to invest into provinces. This should be in the basegame!

The AI now is also capable of devpushing institutions in the best provinces it can find, meaning either capital, gold provinces or just provinces with good trade goods. Of course the AI can't do it for free, meaning it spends 2k mana like the player does.

The AI will prioritize multiplayer meta builds, and the general idea-pick order is adapted to be very smooth and playerlike. No more randomness! (Tweaked contribution by Fridericus Rex)

There are modifications done for the defines which make the AI more aggressive, but also cooperative in case they are sieged down. Plenty of things work together to create a more robust AI at wartime.

The AI will resort to selling land to estates more often as it is just such a nice income source. Also they will not be super cautious and instead actually USE their estates for points etc. and amass up to 4 privileges at the same time per estate. Fancy and helpful. AI still gathers more crown land when absolutism+ hits. (Though let's be honest, the AI has no idea on how to increase absolutism. Not before, not now.)

Additionally, the AI is more cautious when revoking estate land and it will not provoke any rebellions. In this mod, you won't see the vanilla rebel spam in 1444.

The AI struggles a lot with debt. One of the reasons is that they pay for mercs beyond necessity. Even the Beta patch 1.30.4 does not completely fix this behavior and takes too long to disband units. With this mod, the AI disband their unnecessary mercs quickly while keeping an eye on a high enough army percentage so it does not become easy prey after disbanding. Reasonable. (contribution by Question!)

This mod will not do miracles. It will just try to use the tools we have on our disposale.

- Chime into my streams, or just ask here. I can't guarantee any progress in term of the mod features and you shouldn't expect it per se. That being said, usually the stuff I work on is the issue list on github or pressing things in this comment section :)

- you can directly see it up-to-date on the github page :) https://github.com/Mxt-dot/BetterAI/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Aenhancement It's more convenient to track there.

- up-to-date list, on the github page. Directly leading you to the bugs, anotated with "bug". How convenient. https://github.com/Mxt-dot/BetterAI/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Abug
__________________________________________________________________

SOME OF THESE THINGS WON'T HAVE A FIX AT ALL, BUT I TRY! :)
For all up-to-date issues, discussions, brainstorming, etc. check out...
GITHUB REPO :
https://github.com/Mxt-dot/BetterAI

Feel free to contribute and comment!