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Author |
File Description |
ScreamingKoos |

Posted on 01/02/21 @ 01:33 AM (updated 01/18/22)
File Details |
Version: |
Age of Empires II: DE |
Required Modpack (if not included with the download): |
Definitive Edition Only |
Hi there!
* UPDATE FOR FORTHWIND VERSION 2.1 AND JESTER VERSION 1.1 (as of January 18, 2022):
- This update brings updates for both AI's in this download (Forthwind and Jester) that I have created. It is just one big zip file so feel free to try out both! Remember that Forthwind is very random and may wall up, while Jester does not wall and is a little less random in strategy selection.
Try out both and always feel free to comment your experiences! Thanks all!
-ScreamingKoos
;===================
*Please update each version of Forthwind to stay up to date on bug fixes and new features!*
;===================
All of the important information about this AI is in the "readme.txt" and "updates.txt" files both included in this download. Currently Forthwind only works for DE.
OVERVIEW:
PLAYSTYLE:
- Can play 1vs1's or in team games with any number of players (utilizes pocket or flank positional strategies).
- Has an array of strategies for every age. Forthwind utilizes different random strategies every playthrough. This includes scouts or eagles in feudal age, to knights, crossbows, steppe-lancers, battle elephants etc in the castle age and beyond!
- All units found in DE are implemented depending on circumstances and civilization pick (ex: steppe lancers, battle elephants, condottiero, slingers, genitours and more are supported by Forthwind).
GAME MODES: random-map, empire-wars, regicide, defend-the-wonder, and custom-scenarios are the only tested modes.
LAND MAPS: All land maps including nomad and mega-random maps.
WATER MAPS: Mixed land/water maps work best. Islands-type maps are possible (meaning Forthwind will make a navy and transports and successfully attack), but these maps are not yet optimized.
CUSTOM MAPS: Other maps like "special" and some of the "real world" ones have been found to work fine. Most custom scenario maps work too.
UNSUPPORTED MAPS: Forest nothing, Michi, and Migration style maps are examples of maps that Forthwind is not tested for.
DIFFICULTY: Play on at least "hard" to avoid built-in ai nerfs. Currently does not play differently from a scripting standpoint (use extreme for the best experience).
RESOURCES: Any should work. Although default is the only tested parameter.
GAME SPEED: ANY SPEED.
REVEAL MAP: Any setting.
STARTING AGE: Any age-start.
ENDING AGE: Only imperial-age-end is tested.
TREATY LENGTH: Only tested on none.
POPULATION: As small as 50 all the way up to 500, and also 1000 pop is supported with a dynamic population system. 200 population is the "sweet spot" however and the most tested variable.
GENERAL PLAY: Forthwind can be played in single-player skirmishes, multiplayer games (as a host; this file is small enough to not include any additional downloads for other players), as well as support for scenarios.
ENEMY OR ALLY: Forthwind works great as either an enemy or an ally! Many taunts in DE are continually being added/are supported by Forthwind. Please check out the readme file for the full list.
CIVILIZATIONS/DLC's: Supports all current DE civilizations (including the Lords of the West and Dawn of the Dukes dlc's).
JOKES: This AI sends/responds with humorous taunts (meme-friendly). Currently has 25 different resign chats too.
UPDATES: I have been providing updates to Forthwind since January 2021, and generally release monthly updates so Forthwind will not be abandoned anytime soon! The extensive list of all updates is in the "updates.txt" file that comes with the download.
SUMMARY:
If you're looking to spice up your AOE2 experience, and you actually read this far, then download and see what the buzz is all about with Forthwind!
SPECIAL THANKS:
I want to truly thank the ai.scripters community, and many other legendary scripters out there for their AI work and help. Without them I would never have learned this much to make a fun and engaging AI!
A very special thanks to you all for downloading and showing support for Forthwind!
And as always...
GL HF! Enjoy! |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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ScreamingKoos
File Author |

Posted on 01/16/21 @ 12:02 AM
Hi Everyone,
Forthwind is typically updated on a monthly basis. Check back for new features and improvements!
*Version 1.8 RELEASED AUGUST 16, 2021:
;=========Version 1.8=========
Hi everyone!
- This version of Forthwind is PACKED with an insane amount of new features and a fresh new playstyle that stands out from other versions!
A new dynamic town size function has been added, Forthwind builds different wall perimeters now (close walls as a flank player and farther out walls as a pocket player), as well as several important bug fixes and additional improvements to the way Forthwind plays. You will almost instantly notice the difference! Enjoy!
*THIS VERSION ALSO SUPPORTS THE NEW POLES AND BOHEMIANS CIVILIZATIONS!
- There is an up (user-patch) version of Forthwind now, but a few changes need to be implemented before I formally release it.
The UP version will be included in the next release of Forthwind (it will be included in the main download, so 2 ai's in total)
once the next Forthwind (v. 1.9) is released. It just needs to be looked over as the main DE version of Forthwind is seperate from the
UP version for several reasons. Something to look forward to if you enjoy playing UP!
;=========Release #11 Notes=========
;=========NEW UPDATES:
- Forthwind supports the new Pole and Bohemian civilizations!
- Forthwind now incorporates a basic "dynamic town size." This means Forthwind will no longer solely use timers for
town-size rules which limited how much Forthwind could build in many situations.
This of course will be further improved upon in future updates, as there are sure to be some bugs in certain situations.
So far it's looking very promising at making Forthwind very adaptable on a wide variety of maps!
- Forthwind now toggles building walls (on or off). Simply taunt "55" to a Forthwind ally for it to "turn on" or "turn off" wall building.
- Incorporated different wall perimeters that are VERY noticeably different than before. In 1vs1's Forthwind
no longer builds walls VERY far out from his base, and in team games you will notice the difference as well!
- Forthwind now asks for resources, and will send resources if he notices you are low and he is high with resources.
- New Taunt: Taunt 44 displays current resources and population of Forthwind allies.
- The newest maps from the latest patch have been added into Forthwind's internal system (helps with gathering/strategy decisions etc).
- Changed out some resign taunts for new ones! Collect all 25!
- Experimenting with a couple of new sassy taunts during gameplay. Trying to strike a balance where they are not too intrusive
or annoying for replayability reasons. Will be further explored in future releases.
- Forthind now deletes a few units and replaces them with transport ships on water maps when it becomes pop-capped. This should help
on some maps where Forthwind is having trouble reaching an enemy and doesn't have any transports to reach them.
;=========NOTABLE IMPROVEMENTS:
- Forthwind now gathers wood for houses in low pop situations when it is housed (helpful for custom games).
- New emergency rules will trigger if wood, gold, or stone are more than 25 tiles away. Forthwind will walk
any distance to at least prevent villagers idling altogether. (was seen happening on maps like seize the mountain etc).
- Noticeable improvement to "islands" maps and how Forthwind plays on them. Only a few basic fixes for now, but nontheless
Forthwind builds less farms and focuses more on fishing ships and transports!
- Completely redesigned how Forthwind measures military numbers. In total this has slashed around
1500 lines of code into about 60 lines, thereby making Forthwind more efficient. Forthwind now reacts
immediately when outnumbered, or when he has the military advantage (not slowed down by a timer as in previous versions).
- Villagers are no longer "paused" for an excessive amount of time when going for a fast-castle strategy.
;=========BUG FIXES/MINOR TWEAKS:
- Fixed an issue where sometimes Aztec and Incan default imperial strategies would not trigger.
- Tweaked some feudal scout flushing rules that were much too heavy on wood for too long.
- Fixed some aggressive feudal strategies that would refuse to mine any gold for too long.
- Added backup fixes for a vicious issue where Forthwind would sometimes stop training villagers
and would not research wheel barrow or hand cart. This would go in a circle forever, thereby preventing
the training of additional villagers and ruining Forthwind's eco in usually the mid-game.
- Fixed an "error: invalid encoding" message that would sometimes appear mid to late game (usually alongside taunt 9).
- Fixed countless strategic numbers, goals, and constants that were implemented incorrectly.
;=========SPECIAL THANKS:
- Special thanks goes out to ai scripter Esty for helping to make a Forthwind UP version!
- Other special thanks goes out to Marathon and Leif Erikson! Truly appreciate the help and info guys!
;====================================
If you ever experience a serious error then please either contact me with great detail about your error OR wait for an update/hotfix (hotfixes are sometimes released shortly after new updates if I discover a serious enough error.)
Check out the readme.txt file as well as the updates.txt file with each download to follow the full list of what's been added/improved upon!
Thanks for checking out my Ai!
- ScreamingKoos[Edited on 08/16/21 @ 06:11 PM]
|
ScreamingKoos
File Author |

Posted on 08/29/21 @ 05:49 AM
Version 1.9 of Forthwind includes 2 different version of Forthwind. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the differences!
;=========Version 1.9=========
Released: August 29, 2021
From now:
- *This is the second update released today that fixes several bugs from this morning's version, this version makes both Forthwind's
play MUCH better and less buggier!
From this morning:
- Hey Everyone! This is an update that looks to greatly improve economical and other aspects of Forthwind as well as introduce a new
version known as Forthwind [T]! It is a more "competitive" version of Forthwind that will have a name change later on. This
was initially a tournament version I submitted for a recent ai tournament, and have since continued making changes to it!
;=======The main differences between the versions is the regular old Forthwind uses unique, random or unexpected strategies and still
tries without being too simple. This version builds walls and has more strategies to choose from at the cost of some
difficulty level (it is easier to beat generally).
;=======The Forthwind [T] (which stands for tournament) does not build walls, and has more limited strategies that it focuses on in order
to provide some more challenge, while coming from the roots of Forthwind.
After this update, you will notice more and more the differences between the 2 versions. The main difference is the strategies and wall building,
and the difficulty difference. Forthwind [T] beats the old Forthwind most of the time even after both of them have these new updates (but also many differences
like sn's and targeting etc).
;=========Release #12 Notes=========
;=========NEW UPDATES:
;2 Versions of Forthwind now:
- Forthwind (normal) version is the original version that aims for versatility over competitiveness. This was the first and only version
for the longest time that goes for a wide array of strategies (more will be added soon as well).
- Forthwind [T] - NEW competitive forthwind that focuses on competitiveness over versatility.
- ONE OF these AI's will have a name change in the near future.
;Forthwind (1.9) updates:
;MAIN UPDATES
- Sorry about leaving this update file and readme file out from the last download! I was up until about 4am working on this so I forgot them. Thanks
for the friendly reminders from several people :)
- 2 NEW STRATEGIES ADDED: Longswords and siege-rush!
- Large improvements to gathering rates, and economy in general for feudal to imperial ages.
- Big improvements to how Forthwind distributes its population numbers. No longer stops at a small
number of villagers, but rather focuses on maxing out population then dropping villagers in
exchange for more military later.
- Improved on a feudal-age bug where Forthwind would hold off of farming for too long (would not build a
blacksmith until a mining-camp was built has also been fixed).
- Forthwind now builds more town centers based on population-cap numbers (up to a max of 7 instead of 3 or 4 in some cases)
- The trash units strategy now works as it was supposed to, Forthwind now turns off previous strategies
(when before it would just go every strategy almost).
- Forthwind defends much better against mass skirms and archers (trains knights or eagles).
- Fixed arrow micro rules so Forthwind retreats from watch towers again. Not only that, but Forthwind now officialy retreats
from ALL fortifications listed here: watch-tower, guard-tower, keep, donjon, krepost, and castle. I add in some "up-jump-rules" for
these rules to hopefully limit the performance hits (when its not needed). Forthwind only retreats from the first "seen" object of these lists.
- Reverted to old wall building rules that favour many gates in the wall, as this last update ruined them. When Forthwind builds only 2 or 3 gates it
almost always bugs out its trade and lumberjacks, hence why the many gates needed (I don't have control over WHERE they build the gates, only the number).
- A few more things but I honestly forget cause I did it and now I'm too tired to remember 11
;OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
- Slight changes to targeting sn's. still testing them out. Forthwind [T] favours grouping its military, while regular Forthwind favours single or small unit attacks.
- Better improvement to market use, including more likely to sell excess resources (typical in the late game).
- Forthwind no longer caps the amount of castles it can build. The first castle now favours the front of its base.
- Fully remade resource tribute rules (when an ally asks for resources) it is much simpler rules that are more likely to trigger now.
- Minor improvement to garrison rules. Forthwind is a little more likely to fight rather than wait to die.
- Forthwind is less likely to constantly retreat when emergency attacking now (maxed out pop attacks).
- Numerous strategic-number changes (testing the effects still).
- Forthwind no longer constantly attacks with next to 0 military in the castle and imperial ages.
- New tower building behaviours that don't drop on top of enemy soldiers when they first attack. These new rules build towers slightly off to the side
in favour of saving villager lives.
- Some fixes to try to prevent excessive idle town centers.
- Sicilians no longer mindlessly train serjeants. Instead, when their infantry goal is activated serjeants are given priority.
- Basic outpost building added.
- In any age-start greater than dark-age (such as empire-wars or castle-age-start), forthwind no longer delays age research for too long
- Burmese no longer pursue archers in the castle-age (will switch to another strategy).
- Increased the minimum starting lumber camp distance slightly to be compatible with new arabia.
- Tweaked some rules possibly causing performance issues (arrow dodging rules). May be better now.
- Numerous other fixes added.
;RESIGNING
- For now, resign rules are set to a "minimum" level. If you are playing Forthwind and want him to
resign, then taunt (as an ally or opponent) "151" for him to resign. This greatly helps with premature
resigning in team games (temporary until I properly fix it).
- If you are casting a game, or playing as Forthwind itself, then taunt 150 and it will resign. (Quality of life for casters).
;Forthwind (T) updates:
- All the same updates as 1.9 update, except the new strategies.
- All wall building has been removed from this version sadly! This helps improve its eco very noticeably.
- This version plays a bit differently than the original, in most testing it easily beats the older Forthwind ai and is more competitive than it
ever has been close to being!
;=========NOTABLE IMPROVEMENTS:
- After running Forthwind in the Kings of Arabia #2 Tournament, I have intensely changed ALL of the gathering rules. Hopefully less of the "mass wood" focus and more
evenly balanced across the board depending on the strategy being pursued (for all ages).[Edited on 08/29/21 @ 09:18 PM]
|
wizwag |

Posted on 09/07/21 @ 10:38 AM
Just stumbled upon this forum, because I started to dabble a bit in the scenario editor and looked up a guide. Didn't know there are people actively working on AI's! "Currently there is a DE ai tournament going on" I would be very surprised if you mean the AoE:AI / ACT tournament, because that's me haha. Anyway, I just downloaded your AI file and will test it out to see how it performs within my tournament settings. :) |
BlacK HawK NC |

Posted on 10/18/21 @ 03:22 AM
hi,
i looking for AI defensive very hard i will try if you have more AI tell me plz :) |
ScreamingKoos
File Author |

Posted on 12/11/21 @ 05:06 PM
Thank you for your comments for Forthwind! It certainly took a long time to create it! Check out the newest 2.00 version (Plus an additional AI that is slightly newer called "Jester").
I do have other AI's I have made, but they are not as intense as it was for Forthwind. If either of you would be interested in that leave another comment and maybe I'll upload an ai pack or something of the sort?
Check out the latest updates.txt file for the newest 2.00 features! (I'm gonna refrain from cluttering this page with the whole update list lol). |
DJMAS314 |

Posted on 01/06/22 @ 12:32 AM
Thanks for posting. I used your AI 1.0 AI in my tourney. See here: https://challonge.com/AE2DE2021Winter
I did have to make some edits to it inorder to be able to compete with my AI but it's currently ranked #25. Will download and try again in my next tourney.
Keep up the great work. |
ScreamingKoos
File Author |

Posted on 01/18/22 @ 07:07 PM
Hey DJMAS314!
Thanks for sharing your experience in your tournament! I checked out the stats and was glad my AI did ok!
If you ever upload your games to youtube or another streaming platform let me know, I always like seeing Forthwind or Jester up against other AI's :)
Here is a new update that hopefully works well in your games. Let me know as well what changes you made to Forthwind or Jester and maybe I could keep them in the AI? (If it doesnt affect the behaviour too much).
Regards,
ScreamingKoos |

HGDL v0.8.1 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 866 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 265.77 KB |
Added: | 01/02/21 |
Updated: | 01/18/22 |
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