Peek Inside the AI's Brain & Fine-Tune Its Smarts!

Hey Go Strategists!

We've just rolled out a cool new visual in the "Game Status" panel that gives you a little window into how hard our AI is working when it's its turn (or when you ask for a hint!). We want you to understand not just what the AI decided, but a bit about how it got there.

What's New? The "AI Eval" Iteration Status!

When the AI is thinking, or after it makes a move (or gives a hint), you'll see its evaluation in the Game Status panel. It looks something like this:

AI Eval (B): 0.650 (OK 8500/10000 iters)
or maybe:
AI Eval (W): 0.320 (Low 4500/10000 iters)

The important new part is the "(OK ...)" or "(Low ...)" bit.

What does this mean for you?

• "OK" (Often shown in Green) - The AI is feeling confident!
  When you see this, it means the AI had enough time to run through most of the "thinking steps" (or simulated game scenarios) it planned for the move it chose. Generally, it completed over 80% of its target. This suggests a more thorough search, and the AI is pretty happy with its decision based on its current settings.
• "Low" (Often shown in Red) - The AI was a bit rushed!
  This tells you the AI didn't quite finish all the "thinking steps" it wanted to for that particular move. It likely means its "thinking time limit" for that batch of analysis was hit before it could complete all the planned steps. It still makes a move, of course, but it might not have been explored as deeply as an "OK" one.

Why is this useful? Tailor Your AI Opponent! 

This little indicator is your key to understanding and tweaking the AI's performance, linking directly to the "AI Configuration" settings you can find in the main Settings menu:

• MCTS Iterations (Total): Think of this as the total number of thinking steps the AI wants to perform for its turn. Higher means potentially smarter, but needs more time.
• Time Limit per Evaluation Batch (ms): This is the maximum real-world time the AI gets for each chunk of its thinking process.

If you're often seeing "Low":
It usually means the AI is hitting its Time Limit before it can complete all the Iterations you've set for it.

• What can you do?
  • Want a Smarter (but slower) AI? Try increasing the "Time Limit per Evaluation Batch". This gives the AI more real time to complete its target "Iterations", potentially leading to more "OK" evaluations and stronger play.
  • Want Faster AI Turns? Try decreasing the "MCTS Iterations (Total)". This means the AI has fewer steps to aim for, making it more likely to finish within the "Time Limit" and respond quicker (though its decisions might be less deeply analyzed).

It's all about giving you more transparency and control! You can now better balance how "smart" you want the AI to be versus how quickly you want it to play.

Check out this new indicator in your next game against the AI! Experiment with the AI settings and see how it affects the "OK" / "Low" status and the AI's play. We'd love to hear your feedback!

Happy Pondering!