ResonanceBot 5.1c Info & FAQ

;-------------------ResonanceBot AI was made by @Resonance22---------------------------
;-------------------http://www.youtube.com/Resonance22Channel--------------------------
;-------------------This AI plays only Random Map and requires 150 or more Pop---------
;-------------------Also requires Dark Age start and Standard/Low Resources!-----------
;-------------------It is also capable of playing Regicide well------------------------

;-------------------DO NOT MODIFY MY CODE IN ANY WAY! Thank you! ;)--------------------
;-------------------Instead request features in the Steam Discussions or on Twitter----
;-------------------Modifying the code can and will break the AI, ask me first---------
;-------------------Requires Aoe2 HD Edition due to engine differences-----------------

Thank you for downloading my Custom AI! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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ResonanceBot 5.1c Setup:
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Now that you have successfully downloaded the AI from the Steam Workshop by clicking the "Subscribe" button, the Custom AI "ResonanceBot5.1c" should now be a selectable AI.
Simply create a lobby (single or multiplayer) and click the arrow next to the Computer player.
That will open up a drop-down menu where you can select the appropriate version of my AI.
Remember to always use the newest version available to ensure the best possible experience.
I routinely update the AI with new features and fixes so keep your eyes peeled on my social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and the Steam Workshop. Use Twitter to get my email if needed!

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General Information:
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This AI (ResonanceBot 5.1c) was designed by Resonance22 to provide the most fun experience possible.
In order to achieve this, the AI is packed full of personality, customization, and flexibility.
It trains units to counter the enemy and has a very wide variety of randomized strategies to choose from. Every match is different.
When the AI is defeated it will typically ask its opponents for permission to Resign. (see required settings)
The difficulty levels have been balanced carefully to always ensure a quality match.
The AI also automatically adjusts the difficulty to meet the average skill level of the enemies. <=
This ensures that my AI always produces a good game, even with a wide variety of friends. <=
My AI also offers helpful *optional* advice and serves as great practice for players looking to improve.
If you're looking for something fun to play with your friends, my AI should be perfect for that.
It's a nice stress-free way to practice with a group of friends without worry.
For once you do not need to be concerned with balancing the teams, since the AI does that for you.
ResonanceBot is less rush-oriented on lower difficulties when it detects newer/casual players (can be adjusted).
It also does not flawlessly manage its economy so it is far more fair, taking time like a human would. The HD and DE AI heavily rely on flawless not-human-like lategame economy management with simultaneously flawless military control.

Over time I plan to expand upon my AI and add more features.
You can occasionally find me hosting lobbies with my AI and joining other lobbies that host ResonanceBot 5-1c.
I most frequently play on DLC expansion lobbies in Age of Empires II: HD Edition with my viewers.
You may also find me live streaming gameplay of my AI here: http://www.twitch.tv/resonance22
I may also upload gameplay of my AI here: http://www.youtube.com/Resonance22Channel
Send feedback or suggestions for me to: https://twitter.com/Resonance22 or https://www.facebook.com/Resonance22
If you enjoy the AI, you may support continued development on: https://www.Patreon.com/Resonance22 (thank you!)

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Required Settings:
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Game: Random Map, Turbo Random Map, Regicide
Map Style: Standard, Real World, Custom
Location: Any Map BESIDES - Migration or any similar style maps. (AI engine cannot transport villagers)
Size: Any Size (preferably the appropriate size for the number of players)
Difficulty: Any Difficulty (ResBot is a bit tougher than default AI, try 1 difficulty lower at first)
Other Players: Any
Resources: Preferably Standard/Low
Population: 200 or above! (can play at least 75 and above, but not recommended)
Reveal Map: Any
Starting Age: Dark Age!
Victory: Any (Preferably Standard, or Conquest)
Treaty: Any (none or anything up to 60. does 30 - 50 well, 90 is unstable)

Team Together: On
Lock Teams: On
All Techs: Off
Record Game: Either (doesn't matter or affect performance)

The AI may be able to play on other maps and settings to a degree. AI cannot use Siege to cut trees (ex: Michi, Forest Nothing).
However the Starting Age must be the Dark Age and the Population must be at least 150, can play 125 alright.

ResonanceBot is designed to play against and or ally with humans or other ResBots, it teams well with itself. Other AIs use different commands and communication methods so don't mix them.

Note on Difficulties: ResonanceBot is a bit tougher than the default AI so try 1 difficulty level lower.
My philosophy on difficulties has always been that all levels are useful. So yes Easiest is actually a real setting. :) Plenty of players use it. Standard is relaxing too.

IMPORTANT:
-To chat with AI you must first go to the Chat Menu (trumpet icon) and *select Everyone.*
-Using chat shortcuts like * are not compatible with AIs in general.
-Audio Taunts must be enabled as of Patch 4.7 due to a bug with the engine the developers introduced. <=

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Preferred Maps and Civilizations:
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-Britons, Byzantines, Vikings, Persians, Celts, Chinese, and Mayans.
-Italians, Indians, Magyars, Berbers, Portuguese, Burmese, and Vietnamese.
-Arabia, Arena, Fortress, Valley, Ghost Lake, Rivers, and Team Islands.
--To an extent: Hideout, Hill Fort, Oasis, Valley, Yucatan, Continental, Golden Pit, Salt Marsh (dlc dataset).

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Difficulty Differences:
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Easiest: [For very casual players or beginners (1500ish HD or below rating)].
-Limited to 25-60 villagers. Scales off opponent's skill level to ensure a quality match.
-Economy efficiency is below average and human-like. Short buffer to adjust economy.
-Limited to only 2 Castles.
-Early game play speed is reduced. Advances through the ages rather slowly but it scales with opponent's speed.
-Military unit micro-management is less consistent than the higher difficulties.
-Attacks periodically rather than applying continuous pressure. Waits slightly between attacks, preferably 3-5 mins. Also waits to grab Relics.
-Attacks may be weaker against newer players until 30 - 70 mins passes (scales off player skill). Still attacks all players *fairly*.
-Most specialized strategies (usually involving rushing) are disabled while still maintaining variety.
-Delays researching max Blacksmith defense upgrades and a few advanced technologies. Forgoes a few.
-Scales initial attack size to match the targetted player, ensuring new players that get attacked don't get overwhelmed early.
-Military control scales down with army size - triggers around 30 mins if ahead and persists for 5-15 mins. Resets when behind. Approx 75% reduced efficiency.
-Does not always prioritize training units to counter the enemy. Short buffer before counters are added.
-Does not rush. For the most part the AI will not attack before 30 minutes. First 2 attacks are in waves, wave 1 is very small.
-Does not cheat for extra resources.

Standard: [For casual players or low-novice players (1600-1500ish HD)].
-Limited to 50-90 villagers. Scales off opponent's skill level to ensure a quality match.
-Economy efficiency is a bit below average and human-like. Short buffer to adjust economy.
-Limited to only 3 Castles.
-Early game play speed is slightly reduced. Advances through ages 2-4 mins faster than Easiest but does not take full advantage of it.
-Military unit micro-management is slightly better than on Easiest.
-Attacks may be weaker against newer players until 25 - 50 mins passes (scales off player skill). Still attacks all players *fairly*.
-Attacks periodically rather than applying continuous pressure. Waits slightly between attacks, preferably 2-4 mins. Also waits to grab Relics.
-More specialized strategies are allowed compared to Easiest, however the AI will not attack early unless provoked.
-May slightly delay researching max Blacksmith defense upgrades and a few advanced technologies.
-Military control scales down with army size - triggers around 30 mins if ahead and persists for 5-10 mins. Resets when behind. Approx 50% reduced efficiency.
-Does not always prioritize training units to counter the enemy. Short buffer before counters are added.
-Does not rush. For the most part the AI will not attack before 25 minutes. First 2 attacks are in waves.
-Does not cheat for extra resources.

Moderate: [For somewhat experienced or novice players (1700-1600 HD)].
-None or very few of the restrictions for Easiest and Standard apply, although it still balances the difficulty so everyone can enjoy it.
-Prefers to play its best but still may play slower early/mid game to match opponent's skill/speed.
-Economy efficiency is average and *human-like.* Shorter buffer to adjust economy.
-May slightly delay researching expensive advanced technologies.
-Advances ages appropriately. Ex: (Feudal 12:00 - 13:30, Castle 18:00 - 24:00, Imp 38:00 - 48:00)
-Military control scales down with army size - triggers around 35 mins if ahead and resets if behind. Approx 25% reduced efficiency.
-Less likely to Rush but still possible.
-Does not cheat for extra resources.

Hard: [For somewhat experienced or average players (1850-1700 HD)].
-None of the restrictions for Easiest and Standard apply, although it still balances the difficulty so more can enjoy it.
-Advances through the ages a bit faster. Ex: (Feudal 11:30 - 12:30, Castle 17:30 - 22:00, Imp 34:00 - 42:00)
-Economy efficiency is above average and *human-like.* Shorter buffer to adjust economy.
-Slightly wider variety of interesting strategies are available to Hard.
-Military control scales down with army size - triggers around 35 mins if ahead and resets if behind. Approx 10% reduced efficiency.
-To compensate for limitations in the engine: Every 5-10 minutes the AI will receive very small amounts of free resources carefully scaled to opponent speed/strategy, reduced over game time.

Hardest: [For experienced or skilled players (1850 HD or above rating)].
-None of the restrictions for Easiest and Standard apply, although it still balances the difficulty.
-Advances through the ages at the speed of a strong player. Ex: (Feudal 10:45 - 12:30, Castle 16:30 - 22:00, Imp 32:00 - 38:00)
-Economy efficiency is above average and *human-like.* Shorter buffer to adjust economy.
-Wider variety of more interesting strategies are available to Hardest. > Intended for very skilled players. <
-To compensate for limitations in the engine: Every 5-10 minutes the AI will receive small amounts of free resources carefully scaled to opponent speed/strategy, reduced over game time.
-All strategies work vs Hardest if executed very well. The difficulty has been thoroughly tested by experts.

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AI Engine Limitations & Exploits:
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ResonanceBot is meticulously balanced to be beatable on all difficulties without the use of the following strategies, referred to as "laming" or AI Engine exploits since the AI cannot react to them properly. To get the best experience, please avoid using these strategies. Thanks! :D
-Tower Rushing the AI (building forward watch towers in the Feudal Age. Castle Age is fine)
-Stealing or killing their animals or walling off the AI's resources before the Castle Age.
-Using your Scout to attack the AI's villagers or animals in the Dark Age.
-Migration is not compatible as AI cannot transport villagers. Forest Nothing also does not work. Michi *does* work but the AI engine is unable to siege trees. Treaties work! Note that if a Custom Map is identified incorrectly, use Twitter, Steam or Email to contact me. Likewise, you can use the Commands section to manually tell it if it's a water map or not.

Note: Once its base gets too large, ResBot will delete its walls due to unit pathing limitations. This is a limitation, not an exploit. :) ResBot loves to play Arena and Fortress.

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Strategies:
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These strategies are selected at random for variety. Chances change based on map, civ, and a few factors.
ResonanceBot will adjust its strategy over time or if the enemy has sufficient counter units.
Some of the strategies are not available to the Easiest difficulty, for example any early rushes.

Dark Age:
-Drush (low chance, only if an enemy is scouted early)
-Feudal Age Rush (medium chance, more likely on flank position)
-Fast Castle Age (medium chance, more likely on pocket position or closed maps like Arena)

Feudal Age:
-Archer Rush (high chance)
-Scout Rush (high chance)
-Mixed Flush (medium chance)
-Mixed Flush with Men-at-arms (low chance)
--Note: Only for Goths, Vikings, Celts, *Malians, and Aztecs
-Galley Rush (high chance, only on water maps)
-Tower Rush (low chance)
--Note: Only for Teutons, Koreans, Incas, Spanish, or Mongols

Castle Age:
-Knight Rush (medium chance)
-Eagle Warrior Rush (medium chance)
--Note: Only for Aztecs, Mayans, *Incas
-Camel Rush (medium chance)
--Note: Only for Indians
-Crossbowman Rush (medium chance)
--Huns and Mongols civilizations will go for Cavalry Archers instead.
-Mixed Crush (medium chance)
-Monk Rush (low chance, more likely on higher difficulties)
-*Battle Elephant Rush (low chance, *Malay medium chance)
-Balanced Navy (high chance, only on water maps)
-Fire Ship Rush (low chance, only on water maps)
--Note: Chance is increased for Byzantines or if the AI is in the pocket position.
-Castle Drop (low chance, might also use Petards for a wall bust)
-Aggressive Forward Buildings (low chance, more likely in team games)
-Boom (low chance, more likely on pocket position or closed maps like Arena/Black Forest)
--Note: On closed maps the flank position still has a chance to go aggressive in the Castle Age.
-Unique Unit Rush (medium chance)
--Note: Only for Spanish, Mayans, Koreans, Celts, Slavs, Turks, Mongols, Chinese, Italians, *Berbers, and Goths
-*Portuguese Organ Gun Siege Push (low chance, slightly more likely on higher difficulties)
-*Genitour Rush (low chance, requires a *Berbers teammate)
-*Ethiopian Crossbow/Pikemen Rush (low chance)
-*Ethiopian/*Malian/*Burmese Infantry Rush (low chance, Ethiopians/Burmese use Pikemen, Malians/Burmese use Longswordsmen. May add unique units.)
-**Bulgarian Infantry Rush (low chance, varied combo of Longswords, Pikes, Konnik. possible Skirm/Mangonel support.)

Imperial Age:
-Balanced Army (high chance, unit choices vary based on its civilization and enemy civilizations)
-Archer/Gunpowder Focused (medium chance, early Imperial Age only)
-Infantry/Champion Focused (low chance, early Imperial Age only)
--Note: Only for Goths, Japanese, Teutons, Celts, Vikings, *Malians, and Slavs
-Cavalry/Cavalier Focused (medium chance, early Imperial Age only)
-Technology Focused (low chance, early Imperial Age only, will get advanced upgrades before army)
-Cavalry Archer Horde (low-med chance, early Imperial Age preferred)
--Note: Only for Huns, Mongols, *Magyars, **Cumans, **Tatars
-Eagle Warrior Flood (medium chance)
--Note: Only for Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas
-Mass Paladins/Tarkans/Hussars/Imperial Camels (medium chance, pocket position only)
-Unique Unit-focused strategy based on civilization (medium chance, land maps only)
--Note: Only for the Unique Unit Rush civs as well as Japanese, Byzantines, Britons, Indians, and Persians
--Also for: *Berbers, *Ethiopians, *Malians
-*Portuguese Organ Gun & Archery Range Push (low chance)
-Build a Wonder (low chance, only on Standard Victory, more likely on higher difficulties)

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Commands/Taunts:
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The AI can respond to certain chat commands (3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 31, 36, 38, 40, 42).
IMPORTANT:
-To chat with AI you must first go to the Chat Menu (trumpet icon) and *select Everyone.*
-Using chat shortcuts like * are not compatible with AIs in general.

Taunt 3 "Food Please": (Allies Only)
-AI will tribute the player who sent the command some Food.
-The AI will not tribute the player if the AI is low on Food.
-The AI will also not tribute the player if the AI has not researched Coinage and is not in the Castle Age.

Taunt 4 "Wood Please": (Allies Only)
-AI will tribute the player who sent the command some Wood.
-The AI will not tribute the player if the AI is low on Wood.
-The AI will also not tribute the player if the AI has not researched Coinage and is not in the Castle Age.

Taunt 5 "Gold Please": (Allies Only)
-AI will tribute the player who sent the command some Gold.
-The AI will not tribute the player if the AI is low on Gold.
-The AI will also not tribute the player if the AI has not researched Coinage and is not in the Castle Age.

Taunt 6 "Stone Please": (Allies Only)
-AI will tribute the player who sent the command some Stone.
-The AI will not tribute the player if the AI is low on Stone.
-The AI will also not tribute the player if the AI has not researched Coinage and is not in the Castle Age.

Taunt 12 "I'm Being Rushed!": (Allies Only)
-AI will tribute the player who sent the command some Food, Wood, Gold, and Stone.
-The AI will then attempt to either aid the player or attack the enemy.

Taunt 31 "Attack an Enemy now!": (Allies Only)
-The AI will then attempt to either aid the player or attack the enemy.
-The AI will not attempt an attack without a decent-sized army.

Taunt 36 "Wait for my Signal to Attack!": (Allies Only)
-The AI will cease all current attacks.
-The AI will not cease all current attacks if it has a very large army or is under attack.

Taunt 38 "Give me your Extra Resources!": (Allies Only)
-AI will tribute the player who sent the command some Food, Wood, Gold, and Stone.
-The AI will not tribute the player if the AI is low on all resources.

Taunt 40 "Enemy": (Any Human Player)
-The AI will slightly increase the current difficulty level.
-This is achieved by changing the strategies for the AI to better adapt to a 3v5 setting or just generally be more difficult by building up more before attacking. Slightly increases the chances of all Castle and Imperial Age Strategies.
-Also allows the AI to receive periodic very small amounts of free resources which actually scales *very* carefully to ensure it's never too much and stops entirely when economy is damaged.
-This command works on any difficulty and scales the difficulty accordingly. It would be about a half-notch up.
-I recommend that players use this command if the teams are unfair. For example, in a 5 humans vs 3 AI.
-You can activate this at any time during a game if you think it will be too easy. If you do it at the start then it will have a more noticeable effect. This is a good way to adjust the difficulty during a match.
-You could also use it if Hardest is not challenging enough normally. *Amount is significantly reduced for 1v1s or single player.*
-Note that using Taunt 40 again *does not stack with itself*, but it just turns it off. If you toggle it on, then off, then on again something will probably break. It does stack with Taunt 99 though for Moderate only.

Taunt 42 "What Age are you in?": (Any Human Player)
-This command will allow players to adjust the AI's strategies.
-Once taunt 42 is sent, players can now change the AI strategies by sending it additional taunts.
-Taunts 32, 33, 34, and 37 will now change the AI strategy, regardless of its team.
-Taunt 32 will cause the AI to focus on early attacking.
-Taunt 33 will cause the AI to focus on building up a strong economy.
-Taunt 34 will cause the AI to focus on building a navy. It will still make a smaller land army.
--(Useful if you do want ResBot to make a large navy because of the map.)
-Taunt 35 will cause the AI to focus on building a land army. It will still make a few ships.
--(Useful if you don't want ResBot to make a large navy because of the map.)
-Taunt 37 will cause the AI to focus on building a Wonder.
-The AI will not respond to those taunts if it makes no sense.
-For example, if you tell the AI to build a navy on a land map it will decline.
-If the sent taunt is not possible, the AI will inform you that it was unable to change its strategy.
-Telling the AI to change its strategy more than once might break something.

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Special Taunts (Commands):
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Note:
-All of the 200s commands are toggled "On" by default, except 201 and 205. This means that the first time you send a 200s command it will toggle that function "Off." Send the same 200s command again and it will toggle it back "On." For 201, it will toggle that function on and then sending 201 again will toggle it off.
-You do not need to toggle on with Taunt 42 before these work.

Taunt 200:
-Toggle off/on Dynamic Difficulty.
-Dynamic Difficulty is the function that allows the AI to play slower or faster to match the skill level of the enemy.

Taunt 201: (Any Human Player)
-Toggle off/on the AI's ability to chat advice to its opponents.
-This function is off by default, but the other 200 commands are on by default.

Taunt 202: (Any Human Player)
-Toggle off/on the AI's ability to chat taunts to its opponents.

Taunt 203: (Any Human Player)
-Toggle off/on the AI's ability to resign early if the situation is bleak.

Taunt 204: (Any Human Player)
-Toggle off/on the AI's ability to swap player targets automatically.
-Like Taunt 200, 202, 203, and 204 this behavior is toggled on by default so chatting 204 to the AI will toggle it off.
-The AI will still be able to manually target players with 100-108 regardless.
-Normally ResonanceBot will prioritize helping its allies, then attacking the closest threat, then if possible it will periodically alternate players it attacks. AI targeting behavior is heavily limited by the game engine, but the default behavior should be optimal in most cases.
-I don't recommend turning this off unless you are experiencing issues where the AI is accidentally ganging up on a player unfairly or they are choosing inefficient player targets. In that case I'd recommend trying the 100-108 commands first (more info below).
-Toggling this option off will prevent the AI from alternating player targets and it will instead prioritize only attacking the closest player threat. In some cases this may not be strategically wise.

Taunt 205: (Any Human Player)
-Triggers a brief series of chats that explain the most important ResonanceBot commands.
-Also briefly describes the difficulty features.
-There is an extra chat for allied ResonanceBots.
-Note that only the AIs that chatted the introduction will chat the help dialogue.

Taunt 206: (Any Human Player)
-Toggle off/on the AI's ability to micro/control individual military units efficiently.
-Only works on Moderate/Hard/Hardest because Easiest/Standard use weaker military unit micro.
-I don't recommend turning this off if you are looking for good practice as human opponents will have strong unit control too.
-I would only turn this off if you would like a more casual match and you are hoping for some fun Onager or Scorpion blasts.

*Note for Taunts 101-108: (Any Human Ally)
-The AI will still follow normal attacking priority. So it will first prioritize defending/attacking nearby threats, then it will focus on helping its allies, then it will consider manual player targeting from Taunts 101-108, and lastly it will consider attacking a semi-random enemy player (and it will alternate targets). This means that the AI will not always be able to target your requested player in some situations, but it will still try to. It can also only be asked to manually target enemy players that it has scouted.
-I can only target 1 specific player at a time! <===

Taunt 101: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 1 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 102: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 2 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 103: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 3 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 104: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 4 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 105: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 5 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 106: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 6 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 107: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 7 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 108: (Any Human Ally)
-Any ResonanceBot teammates that receive this command will focus on attacking Player 8 for 8 minutes.
-An easy way to remember how the taunt works is that you take 100 and add the player number to it that you want the AI to focus on.

Taunt 100: (Any Human Player)
-Reset the "Focus Player" setting. The AI will then attack whichever player it deems best.
-10 minutes after the AI receives Taunts 101-108 it will automatically reset the "Focus Player" setting. Taunt 100 is just for manually resetting it sooner than 10 minutes.
*Note: Telling the AI to repeatedly swap targets or target a non-existent player (or itself, or a teammate) will probably break something.

Taunt 115: (Any Human Player)
-Toggle On or Off the AI's ability to build walls. The default setting is off.
-This means that the first time you send this taunt it will toggle the function "On."
-The second time you send this taunt it will toggle the function "Off."
-I really do not recommend using this command on higher population settings or higher difficulties, since the AI's units tend to get stuck due to engine limitations. Use at your own risk! :P
-The AI will also be prevented from deleting its existing walls. You can use this to make sure the AI does not delete its starting walls on maps like Arena and Fortress.

Taunt 125: (Any Human Player)
-Disable ResonanceBot's ability to respond to any special commands or taunts besides the usual generic commands from Allies Only (3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 31, 36, 38).
-This command lasts for the entire game.
-Intended to use in public lobbies if you wish to prevent random players you don't know from using commands.

Taunt 99: (Any Human Player)
-The AI will slightly increase the current difficulty level of Moderate.
-The difficulty will then be somewhere between the default Moderate and the Hard difficulties.
-This is achieved by allowing the AI to receive a few incredibly tiny amounts of free resources.
-Opens up a few additional interesting strategies typically more likely in Hard/Hardest.
-This command works only on the Moderate difficulty and scales the difficulty accordingly.
-I recommend that players use this command if Moderate is too easy for you but Hard is too hard.
-The AI may request permission to toggle this function if human players seem proficient.

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Engine Issues in Patch 4.0 - Patch 5.8 of Aoe2 HD Edition:
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*Note: As of Patch 5.7 Audio Taunts must be enabled in the Options Menu for the AI to function properly!
Since Patch 4.0 there have been a long list of new bugs relating to all Custom AIs and even the default Computer player too. The list below does not contain all of the bugs since I keep finding more. You can safely assume that most bizarre issues with AI are related to the Patch 4.0 bugs that have not been fixed yet. Keep in mind that some issues may be fixed in a future patch, but some may remain. As of Patch 4.2, 5.0, 5.7, many of the problems below still happen. The problems that noticeably affect ResonanceBot the most have a little * next to them. All of these AI Engine issues may not be fixed by the Age of Empires II: HD Edition developers but I have worked around most of them. Note that if you revert back to Patch 3.9 then most of these issues will not appear and the AI will run mostly as intended but that is pre-African Kingdoms. Patch 4.0 was a disaster for HD's stability. ResonanceBot will run fine though!

As of June 25, 2015 (Patch 4.0, 4.2, 5.0, 5.7):
-*As of Patch 5.0 Villagers may not attack enemy Watch Towers or attack anything at all. I ask that you do not use your Starting Scout to harass the AI and that you do not tower rush it until the developers fix this. It is beatable without it.
-*As of Patch 4.0, AI units get stuck inside their Gates. ResonanceBot will avoid this issue! (see section below)
-*As of Patch 5.0 villagers and military units may freeze randomly and go idle for extended periods of time.
-Cannot build Gates sometimes.
-Rarely can fail to build new Farms. (I have mostly worked around this.)
-*Villagers may react incredibly slowly to enemy attacks.
-*Villagers chase or fight enemy units even when they are not supposed to, or they don't fight at all.
-AI's economy can go idle briefly on water maps while its military is still being controlled properly.
-Sometimes the AI can attempt to load files that do not exist.
-Sometimes the AI can create too many Trebuchets because it cannot count ones that are deployed.
-Rules sometimes do not load correctly in Multiplayer (and rarely singleplayer) due to lag and Engine Issues introduced in Patch 4.0. This bug can cause a wide variety of unintended behaviors. If the AI is not in Feudal by 20 minutes, something went wrong.
-Villagers continue to chase enemy military units or fight them for no reason at all. This behavior is buggy and hard-coded.
-*Units get stuck on walls and trees easily. This bug is devastating, the unit pathing is very bad in HD. Black Forest is tough on higher population settings and difficulties.
-*Units periodically stop moving. (I have mostly worked around this.)
-Does not attack reliably, sometimes military units go idle. (I have mostly worked around this.)
-*As of Patch 4.4+, AI can no longer avoid building Lumber Camps and Mining Camps near enemies. (I have mostly worked around this.)
-As of Patch 5.7, Audio Taunts must be enabled in the Options Menu for the AI to function properly.
-As of Patch 4.0, AI cannot reliably attack on Ludakris map-size because the developers did not expand the attack distance maximum for the AI engine. Yep.

Remember that ResonanceBot is built to handle the many engine issues introduced by the developers to Age of Empires II: HD Edition and actually runs extremely well and is very optimized too. I have had years to introduce elaborate work-arounds and fail-safes for these engine bugs. Your experience should be great. :)

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Frequently Asked Questions:
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1. Why did you create your AI?
When I would play Age of Empires II with my friends, we would often have trouble getting a fair and quality match.
Since my friends were of variable skill level it was extremely difficult to fill a lobby with similar opponents.
If we hosted a multiplayer game, players would not want to play against a "stacked team" usually.
They would only bring their own stacked team of "smurfs" (alternate accounts with lower rating).
We did not want to play against the Conqueror's AI either, since it was very basic.
It would also only attack the player with the highest score, which is no fun for anyone.
And so, I decided to start developing my AI over the course of several years.
I wanted to create an AI that could always create a fair and fun match, no matter what.
To meet that goal, my AI will automatically scale the difficulty to meet the average skill of the enemy.
While my AI is not the most advanced AI out there, my focus was on creating the most fun experience instead.

2. Why is that when I attack your AI with my Scout Cavalry, its villagers follow me or run away?
That is hard-coded behavior and unfortunately it cannot be changed at all in the HD Engine.
For a fair match, I recommend not exploiting that behavior.
I assure that the AI is beatable on every difficulty without exploiting any limitations.

3. Why is that when I Tower Rush your AI its villagers have no idea how to respond?
This is also a hard-coded bug with the HD AI Engine. I ask that you do not Tower Rush the AI for a fair game.
But at least on Hard and Hardest it attempts to compensate for being Tower Rushed with additional resources.

3. When you say you can beat the AI without "cheese" most of the time, what do you mean?
When I refer to cheese, I am talking about abusing limitations with the AI engine in HD.
AIs in general suffer from many broad exploits that cannot usually be fixed.
I consider cheese to include:
-Tower Rushing the AI (building forward watch towers in the feudal age)
-Walling off the AI's resources and or killing/stealing their animals.
-Harassing the AI's villagers with your Scout or Militia in the Dark Age.

4. Why does your AI delete its walls on maps like Arena and Fortress?
Walls are often more detrimental to the AI rather than helpful. Units tend to get stuck on them and the AI is unable to build additional gates to compensate. Sometimes if the map generation is unforgiving and the gates are positioned poorly, the AI can end up having a rough game. It is often better for the AI to risk being rushed without walls than the continue playing with the walls in-tact. Gates also block trade carts. It will keep the walls up during the early-mid game.

5. Why doesn't your AI work in the non-HD version of Age of Empires II?
Unfortunately the HD engine and non-HD engine have many differences in how AIs are handled.
There are many different rules for how the script can be structured.
Originally I wrote my AI assuming that there would not be so many inconsistencies between engines.
Since the HD Edition lacks the full Userpatch, I had to improvise on a few things.
Eventually I plan to rewrite much of my AIs code to allow cross-compatibility.
However, that may take me a really long time considering all of the differences between engines.
As of Nov 2019, I am pleased to announce that ResonanceBot is being ported to Aoe2 DE, funded by https://www.Patreon.com/Resonance22.
This will take quite a while as there are a lot of balance changes, engine differences, and more.
I will actually maintain compatibility between Aoe2 HD and Aoe2 DE as I still personally play Aoe2 HD and I know many do as well.