Die you human scum!!

It can sometimes be difficult to find an opponent to play X-Wing Miniatures. Maybe because you don’t enjoy getting out of your cave or perhaps you live in a far-away planet in the outer-rim of the galaxy. There can be times where you want to play by yourself or times you want to play co-op with your buddies against an A.I opponent. There are options to play on-line, with the downside that you don’t get to use your real miniatures.

If you want to play solo (meaning by yourself, not against Han Solo), you can indeed fully pilot one team yourself and have a pre-determined logic pilot your opponent. If you search online, you will quickly find there are currently several systems to play X-Wing Miniatures against a pre-determined A.I., including:

- Herkybird’s X-Wing Solo Rules
http://herkybird.tynesidewargames.co.uk/x-wing.html

- Heroes of the Aturi Cluster Campaign
http://dockingbay416.com/campaign/

- Ralph Berrett’s X-Wing Miniatures A.I.
http://s-fear.com/xwing/

Why create a new one? After playing with the above systems for a while, it becomes very apparent there are some limitations. All these systems modify the standard game rules and simplify things to make the A.I. viable with several pros and cons:

Pros:
- Simple to use.
- Fast-paced A.I. logic.
- It can have some fun moments here and there.

Cons:
- The A.I. logic is linear and quite predictable.
- There are way too many simplifications on how the A.I. moves, acts, attacks, etc.
- Many strategies that apply to regular games fall apart because of rule changes.
- Many upgrade & pilot cards become non-functional.
- The A.I. gets unnatural advantages (free target-locks and no stress on red maneuvers!!).
- Since the rules are simplified, you are quite limited to play against relatively simple squadrons.
- All games against the A.I. feel mostly the same.
- Overall, the game feels like a different game.

The Tactical Droid A.I. system overcomes these by providing a level playing field for both the human and automated players of the match. Except for a few minor changes, rules for both sides remain the same as the ones of a regular X-Wing game. It also focuses on keeping the system easy to use and just as fast-paced as a 2-person game.
The system relies on a predetermined logic, while at the same time allowing controlled randomness to avoid being predictable. It also supports many of the options and complexities of regular games.

Perhaps the best thing of having a robust & capable A.I. is that it also enables you to play a co-op game with one of your buddies against a large A.I. opponent!!

I am currently working on the first release of the Tactical Droid A.I. system and hope to have it ready soon!

Nice, love new AI’s and coop options. Thanks for the alternatives star brother.

This looks useful, but also really complex.

Do you have the expertise and/or time to put the AI into a program or app?

45 minutes ago, Infinite_Maelstrom said:

This looks useful, but also really complex.

Do you have the expertise and/or time to put the AI into a program or app?

The system is actually very fast-paced. There is a small learning curve but once you are familiar with it, the A.I. plays just as fast, if not faster, than a human player.

I have uploaded the files for the Tactical Droid System (v0.9) in the Board Game Geek webpage. The files should be approved and available hopefully soon!!

For more info, you can visit their forums:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1966381/new-tactical-droid-i-system-x-wing-play-solo-or-co

Cheers!

EDIT: I've setup a temporary download here (now removed):

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/732686/X-WING_TacticalDroidAI_v0.9.zip

The Tactical Droid A.I. System is now available at the Board Game Geek website:

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/161995/tactical-droid-i-x-wing

Feedback, questions and comments welcome.

New version 0.95 is out, now supporting all Imperial and Rebel ships, plus some Scum ships. Example cards:

Version 0.95 Changelog:
- Added Maneuver Tables for all Rebel small and large ships
- Added Maneuver Tables for some Scum ships
- Added Coordinate action in Actions Logic Card
- Improved step #11 and #12 in Actions Logic Card
- Improvements & corrections to Imperial Maneuver Tables
- Improvements to Maneuver Cards, including deploying ships
- Improvements to Buff/Debuff Logic Card (Beta, previously named Abilities Card)
- Improvements to Secondary Weapons Logic Card
- Graphical redesign of all cards
- Corrected A4 pages.
- Some improvements & corrections in Instructions_Full.pdf

***DOWNLOAD***

To download the latest version (0.95) go here:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/e2cvyr7clqjv5tw/X-Wing_TacticalDroidAI_v0.95_HQ.zip

Currently working on the next version:

- Support for all Scum ships

- Support for all Huge ships (including logic)

Files are now available at Mediafire:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/e2cvyr7clqjv5tw/X-Wing_TacticalDroidAI_v0.95_HQ.zip

Finally was able to finish all Scum and Villainy ships!!

Download:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ap27gh1yfltbl7j/X-Wing_TacticalDroidAI_v0.95_ScumShips.zip

Dear Starfighter Pilots, Smugglers and everybody,

The complete full-featured Tactical Droid A.I. system for X-Wing Miniatures is now available!!

Play solo like never before!! The A.I. system uses all the rules found in a standard X-Wing game, no simplifications, no A.I. cheating. You can play solo against an A.I. opponent, or better yet, team up with a friend and challenge a large A.I. fleet!!

The system is fast and efficient. Once you get familiar with it (there is a small learning curve), you will find that the human player takes longer to play than the A.I.

Here is a quick summary of how the system works (full instructions included in download):

**Planning Phase:
Human player proceeds as normal. The A.I. player chooses a target to track using the Maneuver Logic Card, then determines which Maneuver Table to use. For example F(6).

Maneuver Logic Card:

Example of Maneuver Cards:

**Activation Phase:
All ships activate as normal by order of PS. When its an A.I. ship, a d10 is rolled to determine which maneuver the A.I. ship will execute using a Maneuver Table Card. Only here the maneuver is made known, therefore you can't cheat the A.I. Let's say the A-Wing's F(6) table rolled the d10 at 7, then the maneuver is a 3-speed K-Turn.

Example of Maneuver Table Card (showing both front and back):

The A.I. ship moves. To choose an action, the Action Logic Card is used:

**Combat Phase:
All ships attack in sequence as normal. When its time for an A.I. ship to attack, use the Attack Logic Card.

These are the logic cards that are used the most. There are other logic cards only used on specific cases:

- Coordinated Flying: How the A.I. moves in formation.

- Maneuver Corrections: To avoid asteroids and fleeing.

- Buff/Debuff: For support ships.

- Secondary Weapons: When the A.I. ship has one or more secondary weapon.

- Asteroid Placement: Method to randomly place asteroids on the board.

- Place Forces: Method to randomly place forces on the board.

- Huge Ship: A.I. on how to fly and manage energy on huge ships.

- Special Cards: How the A.I. uses certain upgrade cards.

*** DOWNLOAD HERE ***

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/161995/tactical-droid-i-x-wing

Change-log:
v1.0 (First Full-Feature Release)
- Added Logic Card for Huge ships.
- Added Maneuver Cards for all Huge ships.
- Added Asteroid Placement and Place Forces Logic Cards.
- Tweaks to several Logic Cards.
- Tweaks to Maneuver Cards.
- Tweaks to all Maneuver Table Cards.
- Maneuver corrections can now clear stress as applicable.
- Addition of Coordinated Flying Logic Card (formations & support).
- Changed background art color of Maneuver Table Cards based on faction.
- Added instructions for new and changed content in Instructions_Full.pdf.
- General improvements and clarifications on Instructions_Full.pdf.

A new addition is that the Tactical Droid A.I. System now also supports Pilot Cards and Squadron Cards specifically tailored for play with the A.I. system.

Pilot Cards contain a pilot with upgrades plus specific logic for the Tactical Droid A.I. where applicable (blue text). Some examples:

Squadron Cards are two-sided mini-sized cards that contain a group of pilots plus some information for the Tactical Droid A.I. Each squadron can be assembled in multiple strength levels. If you want a challenge you can play against a squadron of a higher level than yours!! Some examples:

Scenario Cards are a thematic pre-determined set of squadrons from opposing factions that will battle each other. They are also two-sided mini cards. Example:

The Pilot and Squadron cards will be released as sets for each of the X-Wing Wave Expansions, staring with Waves 1 and 2 on the initial release.

*** DOWNLOAD HERE ***

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/161995/tactical-droid-i-x-wing

New version 1.1 is up. Also pilot and squadron cards for wave 3, 4 and 5.

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/161995/tactical-droid-i-x-wing

Are there intentions to convert this to XW2.0 ?

On 6/15/2018 at 12:02 AM, OoALEJOoO said:

New version 1.1 is up. Also pilot and squadron cards for wave 3, 4 and 5.

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/161995/tactical-droid-i-x-wing

Hi. I have been using this AI for months now and I LOVE it. Big thanks for all your efforts.

So, same question as pfs2222 - are you thinking of updating to cover 2.0? Mainly for the maneuvers. I tend to choose the most sensible action options for the AI (with a bit of randomness thrown in). So it is really the move choices that I would love to see updated.

Hello!

Absolutely yes! I finally was able to get a set of conversion kits and will start the transition to 2.0. Currently finished the maneuver table of just a few imperial ships.

It will be a bit tricky to work out the logic for linked actions but I think I have a few solutions for that.

If you ever need beta testers, I happily volunteer my services!

People like you are some of the best parts of x wing, thank you

Any idea what sort of algorithm Sandrem uses for Fly Casual?

On 1/6/2020 at 5:48 AM, _Drink_Up_ said:

Hi. I have been using this AI for months now and I LOVE it. Big thanks for all your efforts.

So, same question as pfs2222 - are you thinking of updating to cover 2.0? Mainly for the maneuvers. I tend to choose the most sensible action options for the AI (with a bit of randomness thrown in). So it is really the move choices that I would love to see updated.

The activation logic is meant to indeed choose the most sensible action with a bit of randomness thrown in. 😊

On 1/13/2020 at 5:16 PM, bitsai said:

If you ever need beta testers, I happily volunteer my services!

The shift to 2ed is a good opportunity to do some improvements. Things I've considered and would love to hear everyones input:

• Rearranging the maneuver card tables from C&F on one side / S&O on the other side to C&S / F&O. From my playtesting, it seems the C and S tables are the ones slightly more used and having them on the same side would reduce card flipping a bit.
• Seems the most elegant logic to apply to linked actions is the same logic used for pilots equipped with 1ed Push the Limit. Trouble arises for linked actions that have positioning (e.g. Barrel Roll, Boost) as their second action. The best compromise seems to be reversing their order (positioning is now the first action).

My plan is to first complete the Empire maneuver tables, then update/tweak the AI logic for 2ed. Next in line would probably be quick-build pilots of the Empire.