Maybe I'm just not getting something but I don't see why the AI would want to go back and forth nor the need to generalize n units of ore = 2n credits. I'm not sure where the AI got the number "11" in your 11 units of ore = 22 credits but wouldn't using the AI's current cargo capacity make more sense? If the AI has a ship that can hold 15 units of ore it should not mine 11 (where did the 11 even come from?) then get half way back and decide it wants 15. One would think that once it decides it is going to mine (whatever magic makes that happen) that it would mine the number of units it's cargo hold can hold (unless no more was available) and then there will be no temptation to keep turning back because either there is no more room in the hold or there is no more ore to mine to tempt it.Progress report on my test scenario: my NPC has successfully docked, bought the transfer unit, headed out to the roid field, mined some ore, returned home, and sold it. I guess that's pretty much....success!!! But I'm not 100% satisfied, because he changed his mind a few times - while headed back to the station, he would suddenly decide to mine just a few more rocks and then head back. This happened a few times before the voyage was made in entirety. The underlying problem is the difficulty of exploring an unbounded quantitative space - everything is formulated discretely at the moment, such that the AI will say "oh, if I had 11 units of ore, I could sell them at the station for 22 credits!" Hence, as soon as it mines 11 units of ore, it heads back. If, during the trek back, it suddenly realizes "wait! I could mine 15 units of ore and make EVEN MORE credits!" then it may turn around.
That might seem dumb of the AI, but in reality, I think the ability of a human to generalize the cost benefit of a situation into a functional form...i.e., by saying, "oh, if I had n units of ore, I could sell them at the station for 2n credits!" is simply...incredible. Not entirely sure how I'll deal with it yet, but, as always, the solution will present itself in due time with enough careful thought
Post
Tue Nov 19, 2013 9:42 am
#1