Mostly Harmless

Mostly Harmless is an AI by possibly the most well known AI creator for Total Annihilation, Switeck. This is a continuation of his "Original" and "Fair" AI's. However now it is named "Mostly Harmless."

Anyone who thinks it's ability is related to it's name will find themselves being swarmed several times. This AI knows what it wants to do and how, and from the word "Go!" sets about doing it.

Mostly Harmless will lead an interesting first five minutes. It will churn out as many construction units as possible and expand like mad. It will get resources, and will build as many factories as it can support while staying just above zero metal and energy. This is really the main issue of Mostly Harmless, this is what can make it such a powerful opponent and yet, also such a weakling.

This is an AI that is more vulnerable to being raided than any I have ever seen before. A good player will have won this game by the third minute with Jeffies or Weasels alone. With nothing in the enemy base to stop them they can sweep through destroying everything. Should they find a construction unit, then the game is over, as upon losing it, Mostly Harmless will immediately build another, slowing down its move to military units.

Should you allow Mostly Harmless even the most minimal of breathing space though, and you will find some very powerful forces winding their way to your base. Switeck has put together some very effective groups of units. Flashes and Instigators guard Samsons and Slashers, while Rockos and Storms blow your buildings to pieces. These units aren't so different in speed terms that they get too far apart, and so you'll have a fight on your hands should you run into them. If the AI has a weakness, it is that it is weighted to that while being effective on open maps, it makes very little use of mobile plasma units, meaning that a single DT line, or hills, can bring a Mostly Harmless force to its knees. I think the CORE AI overuses Dominators, considering they cost almost the same per tick as a Sumo, I don't believe that the AI needed quite so many.

Raiding is made very easy by the defenses built by the AI. Missile towers are thin on the ground, and a single light tank is enough to overcome any defenses. Mostly Harmless does manage to get Guardians and Punishers up, with a minimum of nano-stall, which is fairly impressive. These are certainly a good investment in stopping a large attack. However against raids they are useless, and it is easy to sneak a few tanks in amongst the lines of this AI. Again however, as the game gets on Mostly Harmless will put up HLT's and surprise you. This AI will use a variety of units at various times, and use them well. But this is the AI's greatest flaw, as it's total focus on attacking can make it a rather dubious AI for players who enjoy a good free for all.

No matter how many times you raid or hit hard, you'll feel as if you're not making an impact. The likelihood is that you're not. Because the AI concentrates so little towards lasers it is almost constantly creating resources. This means that for every solar panel you destroy, another two are probably being built somewhere else. Sometimes it feels like the AI is playing a fighting retreat. While the front lines fall, new back lines are created. The problem is if you destroy a couple of construction units. Because they are weighted so highly, the AI will almost instantly stop it's military unit production to start producing slow to build construction units, and if you hit hard at that point in time, it can bring about the end of the game.

Overall Mostly Harmless is definitely not an AI for small maps. It's tendency to expand for the first five minutes means that you will have no trouble killing it off. However on maps of size 20x20 or more, this AI can be incredibly tough. It will push its resources to the limit in it's push to get troops, and it will be building nukes on the 30 minute mark more often than not.

This AI also has two very balanced sides. Playing a team war with the AI is perfectly fair as neither the ARM or CORE AI have a definate advantage over the other. Switeck's profiles also support almost every additional AI unit you could ever think of, if you need a bigger challenge you simply add AI units. This completes what is already an excellent example of a non-cheating AI and leads to its high score.

This is an AI that aims more for the long game than anything else, it knows what it wants to do, and it does it well. Mostly Harmless is an AI that is certainly worth a look. With Switeck keeping it up to date, it is one to be reckoned with.

- Quitch