Dear FE Modders, Brad and Derek.

I know that the Elemental XML allow quite a few nifty things. I still hope to see an API someday (because there's quite a few things that can't be done with XML), but with a little bit of imagination and ingenuity, there's already quite a few things that can be changed in the game.

But there's one thing that has been holding me back all this time. Because Fallen Enchantress is single-player only (a decision that I approve), the game is only really moddable if the AI can use the changes the mods introduce. And this is where the great unknown quantity is. How much can the AI adapt to changes in gameplay rules?

If I introduce, for instance, an upkeep or unrest penalty for large empires, will the AI understand it? If I change the weapons and give special abilities to all of them, will it understand which one to use? If I make a spell that changes the shard type, will the AI use it wisely (when it needs it and can afford it?)

I know there's a couple "AI" tags in the XML, but these are usually basic and inflexible or have limited impact. I would be pleasantly surprised if the AI drew its own good conclusions on how to play the game and use its elements well after non-trivial XML/rule changes, but in the case it can't (which seems the most realistic case to me), can we expect an extension of AI tags to affect more of the game's content?

-AI tags that determine the conditions in which to build (or not to build) a city, outpost.

-AI tags that determine the conditions in which to build such or such units.

-AI tags that determine the conditions in which to choose such or such trait for hero leveling (one thing, I'm sorry to say, the AI is really bad at).

-More detailed AI tags for buildings.

etc...

Because if all but the most basic modding breaks the AI, then there isn't that much modding that can be done in FE.

Thank you for reading.