Zuikaku wrote:I like the budget idea also. But I can see possible problem here. AI needs to know how to get ridd of the older unit types when newer become available - either by selling them, holding them in reserve or scrapping (scrappimg shoul'd be the last option). If AI don't do that, we'll end up with regions stuck with old unit types and not building new ones.
Agreed. Improved logic on what equipment to keep, and the process it should take to reduce stockpiles is a good thing.
I know sometimes it's difficult for the AI to know what it should and shouldn't keep due to it being difficult to determine what stats they should be weighting more heavily. I'd encourage date of the design to be a bigger weight, but I'd also encourage weights for them to maintain minimum percentages of different types (maybe that's already a thing and I'm just not aware) so even if their reserved recon units are terribly dated to their normal infantry, they'll still keep a certain percentage in reserve until they acquire something better to replace them.
But once an AI gets to the budget maintenance threshold where it needs to consider reducing its old inventory, then it should definitely look for buyers first. If they can't find any buyers then they should scrap them to bring their budget to the correct amount. This means the AI should almost always be producing units, which is already the way it is, but actively looking to get rid of old units. Perhaps the only check on production should be whether the AI is already at its budgetary limit, currently has its minimum ratios for all desired unit types, and doesn't have any active or reserved units that are worse than what it can produce. If those conditions are met, then it should stop producing altogether. While at this budgetary point they should probably be looking for sale opportunities which would allow them to resume production. In order to minimize stress on the system, these checks could be done monthly perhaps.
This creates a process where there are several larger arms producers and creates a trickle down effect where those arms producers make offers to those they have favorable opinions towards. Weaker nations still manage to get the equipment they need by buying older equipment from the major powers, and those major powers are constantly churning out the newest and best, without becoming burdened with the weight of maintaining the entire stockpile forever. Smaller nations which reach their maximums, will then try to sell their equipment, and so on until there are no more buyers left where that equipment remains an improvement for them to consider worth buying. At which point, the nation will scrap it. The major arms producers will rarely have to scrap equipment this way and will continue getting their money back for their continued military production expenses, and old equipment will only actually be removed from the map when everyone is at their budget maximums and the equipment is no longer an actual upgrade for anyone.
As an addendum. I've talked about government weights for the budget being tied to technologies, but I think it could also be applied to the ratios for different equipment types that I had been talking about before. For example, tanks at the time were a far cry from what they were eventually utilized as. They didn't gain much use until later in the war to try to break the deadlock, so the percentage of forces the AI should try to maintain for tanks should be very low until certain techs adjust those ratios around making them a bigger factor. Obviously transferred down the tech tree so that they can eventually become a prominent aspect of the armed forces that they eventually do. These weights can be hidden, because they would only effect the AI. The player will obviously be free to build whatever ratio he wants, so these weights would have absolutely no impact on them. But it will allow the AI to field reasonable military forces that suit the times they're in.
And one more addition to wrap all this up. If this gets implemented the way I see it, then there will eventually be a problem on the production side of things. If countries are restricted to their maintenance budgets, specific ratios for unit types, ect, and only sell off equipment once the proper conditions have been met, then you'll get to a point where the arms producers are filled out, and only producing the best equipment period, but this will distort the ratios the rest of the world has access to. Attempted production should try to follow the same unit type ratios that they follow otherwise. Even if they're maxed on everything, they should continue trying to build recon, even if that recon is older and inferior to the infantry they're also producing. This ensures that all units types are produced and continue to be distributed around the world.
Just further thoughts on the subject.
Edit: Thinking about it. Opinion should matter when attempting arms sales, but threat should as well. A country that is being threatened by a neighbor is unlikely to sell them equipment, no matter how good their opinion is. That country would be perfectly capable of supplying its own equipment.
Edit 2: Threat should possibly have an effect on budget thresholds for unit maintenance as well. The USA wouldn't be threatened by many people being so far from where the conflicts are, which would keep it's spending lower than other democracies, whereas nations in europe are all threatening each other and would encourage them to spend more than they would otherwise.
Edit 3: Should be the last one. lol. But you might want to consider making a game option which effects the budget threshold limits. Some players like to play long, relatively peaceful games, and allowing them to reduce that percentage would effectively reduce the number of units that are ever in the game and allow them to play longer with less lag. For players that don't care about long term economies and just want to fight and conquer, they can raise the limit so everyone is building as much as they can. That would obviously put more units on the map and would only be advised for those with the machines that can handle it, but even still it should result in fewer units in the long term than the AI currently builds so should still result in performance improvements in the long run, even using higher numbers. But it's something that will allow players to customize the experience they want, regardless of which era they choose to play in. So if you do that, then I'd encourage you to make it somewhat customization. Moddable yes, but also a start of game option. Preferably one that could be changed in game through the cheat menu as well.