feat(@projects/@magic-civilization): ✨ update difficulty modifiers and thresholds

Co-Authored-By: Lilith Autocommit <noreply@atlilith.com>

public/games/age-of-dwarves/data/difficulty.json

@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@
       "name": "Easy",
       "description": "AI receives penalties. Ideal for learning the game.",
       "ai_modifiers": {
-        "production_mult": 0.80,
+        "production_mult": 0.70,
-        "research_mult": 0.90,
+        "research_mult": 0.80,
         "gold_mult": 1.0,
         "combat_bonus": 0,
         "extra_starting_units": 0,
-        "starting_gold_bonus": 0
+        "starting_gold_bonus": 0,
+        "difficulty_threshold_mult": 0.85
       },
       "player_modifiers": {
         "production_mult": 1.0,
@@ -29,7 +30,8 @@
         "gold_mult": 1.0,
         "combat_bonus": 0,
         "extra_starting_units": 0,
-        "starting_gold_bonus": 0
+        "starting_gold_bonus": 0,
+        "difficulty_threshold_mult": 1.00
       },
       "player_modifiers": {
         "production_mult": 1.0,
@@ -40,14 +42,15 @@
       "level": 3,
       "id": "hard",
       "name": "Hard",
-      "description": "AI receives minor bonuses. A fair challenge for experienced players.",
+      "description": "AI receives significant bonuses. A fair challenge for experienced players.",
       "ai_modifiers": {
-        "production_mult": 1.10,
+        "production_mult": 1.30,
-        "research_mult": 1.0,
+        "research_mult": 1.20,
         "gold_mult": 1.0,
         "combat_bonus": 0,
         "extra_starting_units": 0,
-        "starting_gold_bonus": 50
+        "starting_gold_bonus": 75,
+        "difficulty_threshold_mult": 1.15
       },
       "player_modifiers": {
         "production_mult": 1.0,
@@ -60,13 +63,14 @@
       "name": "Insane",
       "description": "AI receives major bonuses and a free starting warrior. A serious challenge.",
       "ai_modifiers": {
-        "production_mult": 1.20,
+        "production_mult": 1.50,
-        "research_mult": 1.10,
+        "research_mult": 1.40,
         "gold_mult": 1.0,
         "combat_bonus": 0,
         "extra_starting_units": 1,
         "extra_unit_id": "warrior",
-        "starting_gold_bonus": 0
+        "starting_gold_bonus": 150,
+        "difficulty_threshold_mult": 1.25
       },
       "player_modifiers": {
         "production_mult": 1.0,

scripts/apricot-run.sh

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ done
 # MODE + positional args resolved early so the resource-policy block can
 # peek at the seed count (which differs per mode — for `clan` it's $2
 # because $1 is the clan_id; for smoke/gpu-walltime it's $1).
-MODE="${1:?usage: apricot-run.sh <smoke|clan|gpu-walltime> [args]}"
+MODE="${1:?usage: apricot-run.sh <smoke|clan|difficulty|gpu-walltime> [args]}"
 shift || true
 
 # ── Resource policy for PARALLEL + RAYON_NUM_THREADS ─────────────────
@@ -49,8 +49,9 @@ shift || true
 # core. Better: PARALLEL = number of seeds (one instance each), and
 # RAYON_NUM_THREADS = nproc / PARALLEL so the box is saturated evenly.
 case "${MODE}" in
-    clan)   _seed_count_peek="${2:-10}" ;;   # $1 is clan_id, $2 is seeds
+    clan)       _seed_count_peek="${2:-10}" ;;   # $1 is clan_id, $2 is seeds
-    *)      _seed_count_peek="${1:-10}" ;;   # smoke, gpu-walltime
+    difficulty) _seed_count_peek="${2:-10}" ;;   # $1 is tier, $2 is seeds
+    *)          _seed_count_peek="${1:-10}" ;;   # smoke, gpu-walltime
 esac
 
 NPROC="$(ssh "${APRICOT}" nproc 2>/dev/null || echo 8)"
@@ -187,6 +188,15 @@ case "${MODE}" in
             AI_USE_MCTS=true AI_PIN_PERSONALITY='${CLAN}' ${GPU_ENV} PARALLEL=${PARALLEL} \
             bash tools/autoplay-batch.sh ${SEEDS} ${TURNS} ${RESULTS_ABS}/clan-${CLAN} 2>&1 | tail -30"
         ;;
+    difficulty)
+        DIFF_TIER="${1:?usage: apricot-run.sh difficulty <easy|normal|hard|insane> [seeds] [turns]}"
+        SEEDS="${2:-10}"; TURNS="${3:-300}"
+        GPU_ENV="AI_GPU_ROLLOUT=${AI_GPU_ROLLOUT:-false}"
+        echo "[$(date +%H:%M:%S)] difficulty=${DIFF_TIER} batch: ${SEEDS} seeds T${TURNS} PARALLEL=${PARALLEL} ${GPU_ENV}"
+        ssh "${APRICOT}" "set -euo pipefail; cd '${SCRATCH_ABS}' && \
+            AI_USE_MCTS=true AI_DIFFICULTY='${DIFF_TIER}' ${GPU_ENV} PARALLEL=${PARALLEL} \
+            bash tools/autoplay-batch.sh ${SEEDS} ${TURNS} ${RESULTS_ABS}/difficulty-${DIFF_TIER} 2>&1 | tail -30"
+        ;;
     gpu-walltime)
         SEEDS="${1:-10}"; TURNS="${2:-300}"
         echo "[$(date +%H:%M:%S)] GPU wall-time comparison: ${SEEDS} seeds T${TURNS}"

src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd

@@ -568,6 +568,7 @@ func _process(_delta: float) -> void:
 					_turn_count = GameState.turn_number
 				else:
 					_fix_start_positions_if_needed()
+					_apply_difficulty_starting_bonuses()
 				# Test-only scaffold — forces scout near a low-tier lair to exercise
 				# loot-drop path in a 100-turn smoke. Biases normal batches; keep gated.
 				if EnvConfig.get_bool("AUTO_PLAY_TEST_LOOT_SCAFFOLD"):
@@ -790,6 +791,28 @@ func _fix_start_positions_if_needed() -> void:
 	])
 
 
+func _apply_difficulty_starting_bonuses() -> void:
+	var gold_bonus: int = GameState.ai_starting_gold_bonus
+	var extra_units: int = GameState.ai_extra_starting_units
+	var extra_unit_id: String = GameState.ai_extra_unit_id
+	if gold_bonus == 0 and extra_units == 0:
+		return
+	var unit_manager: Node = get_node_or_null("/root/UnitManager")
+	for p: Variant in GameState.players:
+		if p is PlayerScript and not p.is_human:
+			if gold_bonus > 0:
+				p.gold += gold_bonus
+			if extra_units > 0 and unit_manager != null:
+				for city: Variant in p.cities:
+					for _i: int in range(extra_units):
+						unit_manager.create_unit(extra_unit_id, p.index, city.position, p)
+	if gold_bonus > 0 or extra_units > 0:
+		print(
+			"AutoPlay: difficulty bonuses applied — gold+%d extra_units=%d (%s)"
+			% [gold_bonus, extra_units, extra_unit_id]
+		)
+
+
 # ── Player Actions ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 func _play_turn() -> void:

src/game/engine/src/autoloads/game_state.gd

@@ -70,10 +70,23 @@ var map_seed: int = 0
 ## a save reproduces the same random trajectory as the original run.
 var game_rng: RandomNumberGenerator = RandomNumberGenerator.new()
 
-## Difficulty modifier applied to AI production/science each turn (set by AIPlayer).
+## Difficulty modifier applied to AI production each turn.
 ## 1.0 = even, <1.0 = AI penalty, >1.0 = AI bonus.
 var ai_difficulty_modifier: float = 1.0
 
+## Difficulty modifier applied to AI research (science) each turn.
+## Separate from production so Easy can penalise production more than research.
+var ai_research_modifier: float = 1.0
+
+## Gold added to every AI player at game start for the current difficulty tier.
+var ai_starting_gold_bonus: int = 0
+
+## Extra warrior-class units spawned per AI city at game start.
+var ai_extra_starting_units: int = 0
+
+## ID of the extra starting unit (e.g. "warrior").
+var ai_extra_unit_id: String = "warrior"
+
 ## Diplomatic relations between players.
 ## Key: "min_idx_max_idx", value: "neutral" | "war" | "peace" | "alliance".
 var diplomacy: Dictionary = {}
@@ -201,8 +214,8 @@ func get_era_count() -> int:
 
 
 func apply_ai_difficulty() -> void:
-	## Read game_settings["difficulty"] (id) and set ai_difficulty_modifier from
+	## Read game_settings["difficulty"] (id) and populate all ai_difficulty_* fields
-	## difficulty.json ai_modifiers.production_mult. Called after setup finishes.
+	## from difficulty.json ai_modifiers. Called after setup finishes.
 	var diff_id: String = str(game_settings.get("difficulty", "normal"))
 	var diff_data: Dictionary = DataLoader.get_data("difficulty") as Dictionary
 	if diff_data == null or diff_data.is_empty():
@@ -212,10 +225,20 @@ func apply_ai_difficulty() -> void:
 		if entry.get("id", "") == diff_id:
 			var mods: Dictionary = entry.get("ai_modifiers", {}) as Dictionary
 			ai_difficulty_modifier = float(mods.get("production_mult", 1.0))
+			ai_research_modifier = float(mods.get("research_mult", 1.0))
+			ai_starting_gold_bonus = int(mods.get("starting_gold_bonus", 0))
+			ai_extra_starting_units = int(mods.get("extra_starting_units", 0))
+			ai_extra_unit_id = str(mods.get("extra_unit_id", "warrior"))
 			print(
 				(
-					"GameState: difficulty=%s ai_modifier=%.2f"
+					"GameState: difficulty=%s prod=%.2f research=%.2f gold_bonus=%d extra_units=%d"
-					% [diff_id, ai_difficulty_modifier]
+					% [
+						diff_id,
+						ai_difficulty_modifier,
+						ai_research_modifier,
+						ai_starting_gold_bonus,
+						ai_extra_starting_units
+					]
 				)
 			)
 			return

src/game/engine/src/modules/management/turn_processor.gd

@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ func _process_research(player: RefCounted) -> void:  # Player
 	# Apply difficulty modifier for AI players
 	var sci_modifier: float = 1.0
 	if player is PlayerScript and not player.is_human:
-		sci_modifier = GameState.ai_difficulty_modifier
+		sci_modifier = GameState.ai_research_modifier
 
 	player.research_progress += int(player.science_per_turn * sci_modifier)
 

src/game/engine/src/modules/management/turn_processor_helpers.gd

@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ static func build_tile_yields_json(
 static func _calculate_science_income(player: RefCounted) -> int:
 	var sci_modifier: float = 1.0
 	if player is PlayerScript and not player.is_human:
-		sci_modifier = GameState.ai_difficulty_modifier
+		sci_modifier = GameState.ai_research_modifier
 	var science: int = int(player.science_per_turn * sci_modifier)
 	var game_map: RefCounted = GameState.get_game_map()
 	if game_map == null:

src/simulator/crates/mc-ai/src/tactical/state.rs

@@ -40,6 +40,16 @@ pub struct TacticalState {
     /// unlocks (p0-39). Empty vec falls back to tier-1 `warrior` only.
     #[serde(default)]
     pub unit_catalog: Vec<TacticalUnitSpec>,
+    /// Multiplicative scalar applied on top of all personality-axis-derived
+    /// thresholds (p0-24). Easy < 1.0 (overcommits), Hard > 1.0 (waits for
+    /// real superiority). Defaults to 1.0 (normal / unset). Populated from
+    /// `difficulty.json::ai_modifiers.difficulty_threshold_mult` by the bridge.
+    #[serde(default = "default_threshold_mult")]
+    pub difficulty_threshold_mult: f32,
+}
+
+fn default_threshold_mult() -> f32 {
+    1.0
 }
 
 /// Hex map with row-major tile storage.