SP - Player, NPCs & Troops Political AI needs intelligence regarding marriage, etc.

[Taveren]

The AI programming making decisions related to marriage alliances between clans, and especially nations needs some work. It is terrible at present!
Examples of illogical AI decision making:
1. Daughter from tier 4 Western Empire clan (led by Phostor, rich) marries daughter Phaea to a poor Battanian Clan 5. This is simply illogical. Firstly, a Western Empire Archon who is rich would seek to establish closer ties within the EMPIRE, or perhaps with another rich Northern/Southern Empire family. The Empire looks down on the other nations, so this simply would not happen, unless it is the ruling family, which I could understand. Logic should be: marriage offer from outside kingdom weighed against cultural difference multiplied by recent/current wars, evaluated against political power gained (not lost) during transaction. I can not for the life of me see that a rich Empire Archon will sell a daughter to a dirt poor mountain dweller living in squalor.

2. Marriage offer received for family member from level 5 Northern Empire clan (Neretzes) for brother. Sound good? Well, here are the confounding issues. At time of offer, clan is mercenary level 3 with no holding. Have never met leader of offering clan, fighting for a different kingdom (Aserai), and have never worked for Northern Empire. This is pure nonsense. An high ranking Empire clan would never offer a son/daughter to a low level mercenary they have never met. Logic should be: offer made when high level clan, average to rich, has a holding (they expect her to sleep in a army tent?). As a mercenary this could be made in combination with the offers to become a vassal (e.g. we would like you to consider becoming a vassal and here is something to cement our alliance from my good friend X who happens to have an unwed daughter).

This type of stuff happens all the time (I have played 3 different PCs, 1.7.2 stable x 2, and now 1.8, and it kills immersion when stupid things are happening in the world. Medieval/ancient marriages were made for power, to increase alliances, to increase the reach of the clan. Simple. And there should be an automatic major increase with the clan when you agree to this alliance (e.g. 50, as you are now "related").

It is nice to get these offers, but they should make sense in the geo-social-political environment the game is set in.
Thanks

 

[Taveren]

Just to elaborate, this could be a formula:
Request for marriage: Factors considered:
1. Cultural impact [-2 if at war, -1 if different kingdom, 0 if same but unaffiliated (Empire different faction), +1 if Empire, same faction, or ruling clan different kingdom, +2 if ruling clan same faction]
PLUS
2. Clan strength [-2 if level 2, -1 if level 3, 0 if level 4, +1 if level 5, +2 if level 6]
PLUS
3. Clan fiefs [-1 if no fiefs, +1 for very fief/castle, +2 for every city/settlement]
PLUS
4. Clan finances [-1 if poor, 0 if average, +1 rich, +2 very rich].

Success if total > 4 as example. This could stop some of these illogical decisions

 

[Taveren]

Another insane/ridiculous situation: clan member offers ONLY one option (happens to be his 49-year old widowed mother Erta), instead of the obvious same aged matched female (player character is 24, matched female is 22 - Svana).
You can't make this stuff up. Thank goodness for console cheats or I would ditch this nonsense

 

[RozBritanicus]

Another insane/ridiculous situation: clan member offers ONLY one option (happens to be his 49-year old widowed mother Erta), instead of the obvious same aged matched female (player character is 24, matched female is 22 - Svana).
You can't make this stuff up. Thank goodness for console cheats or I would ditch this nonsense

I totally agree with all you posts . That is now way an Empire clan would marry of the daughters to Battanians not way there barbarians . They may consider Aserai and Vlandia these two factions are more civilised. I would say they wouldn't consider Battanians Sturgians Khuzaits the only way this would happen was if the Empire faction was down to last few clans and faced clan destruction and may us marriage as peace time offering. Something else to take into consideration is this the mother determines what race to child is born . So in my game I am Battanian but all my children are empire . So they make bad governors for the towns. This game mechanic is like an after thought. TW needs to put effort into more than town and village maps and cambat. Everything else is really broken or doesn't make any sense .

 

[Emperor1997]

I totally agree with all you posts . That is now way an Empire clan would marry of the daughters to Battanians not way there barbarians . They may consider Aserai and Vlandia these two factions are more civilised. I would say they wouldn't consider Battanians Sturgians Khuzaits the only way this would happen was if the Empire faction was down to last few clans and faced clan destruction and may us marriage as peace time offering. Something else to take into consideration is this the mother determines what race to child is born . So in my game I am Battanian but all my children are empire . So they make bad governors for the towns. This game mechanic is like an after thought. TW needs to put effort into more than town and village maps and cambat. Everything else is really broken or doesn't make any sense .

So, empire childs are always better than battanian childs, because battanians can only rule over 5 towns.
The mother gives culture to all childs is known bug, They are working on it.

But yes, there should be no marriage between empire factions and the enemies of the empire: Battania, Vlandia and Sturgia.