You know how we all wanted Advanced AI?

[D-Scythe]

Although I can't speak for everyone, I get the general impression that the majority of people here would much rather see the implementation of an advanced AI system as one of the 'top,' most desired features of a LOMAC V1.1+.

 

And hey, maybe this next add-on may also be released in the West, as Ubisoft did permit one add-on to be published by ED in North America. And let's face it, even though we 'serious' simmers would like better AI, putting something like '...now with smarter AI that will kill you twice as fast as before...' on the box just won't sell as well as say an F/A-18 add-on. So, if more time and money is spent on a new flyable, there would be less time for adding other stuff that are important to us.

 

So this brings me to the next point. We know that LOMAC isn't moddable to the extent that we can change AI behavior (at least not yet), and we also know that without more funds and stuff ED won't be spending a lot of time changing the AI, especially when there are so many other things they could do that actually would help sell their product. So I was thinking, what if we could solve one of these problems? Moddability is something we could do little about, but money? We could do that, in the form of donations.

 

Now, I understand that this is not something that everyone here is willing to do, and agreeing with this idea certainly does not mean one has to donate a particularly large sum of cash. But think about it...there are almost 1500 members on the Lockon.Ru boards, and thousands more at SimHq, Biohazard, Frugals and Ubisoft's Lock On forums (not all of which would donate, I'm sure), and if everyone chips in even $10, wouldn't it be enough to encourage the devs to look at just a single aspect of the game...like asking them to implement some sort of Advanced AI? And I don't mean your run-of-the-mill, average AI (ala Janes F/A-18, which was good, but not great).

 

I mean, awesome, shut the Falcon 4 boys up AI :wink: But in reality, it could be anything we want: better physical modelling, dynamic campaign, etc.

 

And think about it...if something like AI was improved, there would be *very* few sims that could even compare to LOMAC. For once, SP would be just as much, if not more fun, than MP, as not only do you have smart guys watching your back (as well as trying to kill you), you'll have smart guys on the ground and sea trying to kill you too.

 

I don't want to start a flame war, but just use Falcon 4's system as an example. Just imagine for a BVR duel: fighters that will engage each other according to weapons, strengths and weaknesses. We could have F-15s trying to bracket or drag enemy MiGs into carefully laid out traps to offset the superior range of the Russian AAMs, or MiG-31s that will just launch AA-9s from long-range and leave, instead of pressing blindly forward for a knife-fight that they *cannot* possibly win. Then there are SAMs, and they could do things like ambush, where the SAM sites hold their fire until targets are well within range, and light up all of a sudden, or execute blinking/buddy launch tactics.

 

In real life, A/A combat is one of the most complicated elements of airpower. No encounter should ever turn out exactly the same, and as much as I love LOMAC, I have to say that the sim does a poor job in representing that (except in MP). Even with this new randomization feature in V1.1, it doesn't change the fact that enemy fighters will *always* break left and low if engaged by an enemy missile, etc. - their tactics never change, and worse still, they usually only have *one* move to execute in any particular situation.

 

It's just something to think about. Those of you who play MP, you understand why LOMAC is simply so fun: great graphics and excellent flight modelling is combined with a randomness in tactics and skill that other sims just can't match. Anyway, it's just a thought. I figured that there's no point leaving something that could be so much better as it is if we could do something about it.

[VapoR]

While your idea has merit (and I would certainly donate money for the cause), I think that the path they are currently taking will work. For us non-CIS customers, we will probably pay $50-80 to download 1.1. Not a drop of this will go to Ubi, so ED could in theory make more than they did in initial Lomac sales. This will translate into more add-ons as well as new future product.

 

I think ED already has a very clear idea of not only what their CIS customers want, but us westerners as well. I believe that a new product by ED will bring many of the improvements we are all begging for--dynamic campaign, better AI, dedicated server, improved russian avionics, and hopefully a NATO multi-role fighter!! :wink:

[BuzzU]

I'd pay $10 just to get a finer movement of the TDC.