What is the enemy AI capable of doing when under threat?

[Reticuli]

Other than shooting back, are they programmed to be able to maneuver, head for low ground, or get behind a building and find cover? They all just seem to stay put or continue on their way (if going somewhere to begin with) and seem robotic...like I'm shooting at Disney anamatronic things with guns at It's a Small World After All, though clearly less disturbing than that would be...heh heh. Do advanced missions and campaigns have them doing something other than their preassigned mission when engaged or under threat?

 

So that's about ground vehicals; what about helos? If I'm shooting at an Apache, they seem to just fly away strait even when I'm right behind them. No turning to use their gun. No one comes to their rescue. They don't even fly back into their friendly SAM area to get help that way. Nada.

 

Enemy Engaged certainly has issues with vehicals congregating at intersections or helos apparently not seeing you even though you're close, but if they do see you, they seem to take evasive action in a definite way other than just pointing and shooting. Puff smoke. Drive perpendicular to me, etc. Is it really that hard to code AI to do some basic things? Can I offer some ideas? How about in addition to the things I've already mentioned, a berzerker mode where their morale goes out the window and they just head off at high speed in any direction or back to base. Coward mode, or something. Or helos that really attempt to aerobatically get behind you and dogfight to set up a gun kill if you're trying to do the same to them.

[uhoh7]

good question

[EtherealN]

While I can't really comment on the capabilities of the enemy AI when in combat (mostly because I haven't run into many hostile helos), this here:

 

a berzerker mode where their morale goes out the window and they just head off at high speed in any direction or back to base.

 

...is not quite what a berzerker was and what the term is usually used to describe. :P A berzerker (from old germanic forms naturally, but the modern swedish Bärsärk breaks up into the archaic "Bär" for "bear" and "särk" for "dress") is a fighter dressed in fur that charges in a sufficiently crazed and singleminded fasion as to make a Kamikaze pilot seem timid. Often it was induced by the enjoyment of certain mushrooms before battle to diminish or remove all fear impulses.

 

AI pilots simulating the effects of 'shrooms won't be very challenging opponents. :D

[Flanker15]

Ground AI is limited to the mission designer's scripting and simply shooting at enemies. ED said (somewhere) they will overhaul the AI for the ground units in the future.

[Reticuli]

Heh heh. I was trying to think what that term was they used in X-Com when your squadies pooed themselves when the aliens started shooting at them and took off running. Now THAT's AI. X-Com was fantastic. I got through many a sick days playing that on my playstation. One of the few things on that console I miss...that and Armored Core's pin-up paint jobs I did. And Wipeout 2. And Grand Turismo. And...well, now I'm just gonna get sad.

 

Oh well, they gotta have something to fix in the patch, right? It'll be a nice way to up the difficulty later on and keep the replay value going.

 

I did just down a Hind with a manual gunshot a couple minutes ago. For what it's worth, he did seem to try and out turn me, but that might have been him just running in to kill my tank columns. He took a while spinning out of control before hitting the ocean with no tail boom.

Edited January 21, 2009 by Reticuli

[uhoh7]

I think if their skill is set to excellent and you become primary---watch out.

 

Tonite I hit an apache with a Vikhr, well pretty close. Smoke came out for a sec and then he slowly limped back to base and landed. Before that he was pretty agressive.

 

MI-24 has some intertesting AI behavior.

 

They sure go down alot.

[CE_Mikemonster]

On the Gauntlet mission my Wingie shot down one of a pair of UH-60's from their 8o'clock, and the other just carried on straight (following a road).

 

I did a sort of unintentional-but-it-actually-looked-quite-skillfull high pass on him at a 90deg angle, and with the HMS slewing the gun shot him down with a Veeeeeeery lucky shot.

 

From this angle I should have been engaged by the door gunner though, surely?! (I thought he just didn't make an evasive manouver because that mission is more arcade, to test your skill - UH-60 = Pigeon to shoot)

[EtherealN]

Depends, really, I think. You said it was a high angle, which I assume to mean that you shot him sort-a from above. I think the UH-60 door gunnery is mainly set up to engage ground threats, so it might be possible that your high aspect put you in a blind spot in a sort of reverse to what you would have engaging an IL-2 on it's six o'clock low in the game with the same name - the gun is aimed your way but your position is such that the gunner cannot make visual on you OR does not have enough gun travel to engage. (Your description gives me flashbacks to the more arcade-y Battlefield 2 where I would often shout maneuver commands to the UH-60 pilot when I was gunner to allow my gun travel to engage hostile air threats. Mmmm... Same game where I managed to engage and kill an enemy attack helo with a TOW while upside down as my cocky pilot had decided to do a loop. That was also more luck than skill but DAMN I don't think the poor other guy saw that coming. :D )

 

From this angle I should have been engaged by the door gunner though, surely?!

Edited January 22, 2009 by EtherealN

[TX-Kingsnake]

The AI are pretty dumb and that is all we have for now. If this sim is going to focus on AI then it needs something more in the AI skill set. The best AI are in Mbot's missions Flank Guard and Red Snow. Setting the skill level to the highest level only appears to make them fire at longer range.

[CE_Mikemonster]

Mmmm... Same game where I managed to engage and kill an enemy attack helo with a TOW while upside down as my cocky pilot had decided to do a loop. That was also more luck than skill but DAMN I don't think the poor other guy saw that coming. :D )

 

You know what mate, I really doubt he did lol