Silly Tactical AI Behaviour

[Jubala]

I just saw an AI fleet of about 6 ships just sit still in combat and be pounded to scrap from out it's effective weapons envelope by an inferior fleet of seekerthrowers. Why? Because the leader of the fleet was so damaged it couldn't move and therefor none of the ships moved! Had to laugh at that one. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Talenn]

Yes, IMO, the AI should NOT use formations. They are good for human players to ease the micromanagement, but they should be abandoned immediately in favor of the individual ship AIs strats.

This is another simple fix that might really help strenghten the AI.

Talenn

[Daynarr]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Talenn:
Yes, IMO, the AI should NOT use formations. They are good for human players to ease the micromanagement, but they should be abandoned immediately in favor of the individual ship AIs strats.

This is another simple fix that might really help strenghten the AI.

Talenn<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree with this completly. Beta testers could push this idea to MM (since their 'mail box' is jammed).

[Puke]

easy to fix if you edit the default stratagies to allow any ship type to break formation. The AI does not really take advantage of ship placement in formations anyway.

this does sound like a bug worthy of fixing though, you might try reporting it (but it will most likely end up as a back burner one).

[Emperor Zodd]

Has anyone made a mod that abandons formations for AI races and tested it???

[This message has been edited by Emperor Zodd (edited 08 January 2001).]

[Daynarr]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>easy to fix if you edit the default stratagies to allow any ship type to break formation. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't see any line in Default_AI_Strategies.txt file that allow me to do that (I would really loved to do that and post it as a mod).

[Emperor Zodd]

What about not entering a formation at all for the A.I.?

[Puke]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daynarr:
I don't see any line in Default_AI_Strategies.txt file that allow me to do that (I would really loved to do that and post it as a mod).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

no, what you need to edit is the DefaultStrategies.txt and change all the 'break formation' lines to TRUE. argueably, this decreases the effectiveness of the strategy for a human, so your player race will have to retweak it after game start (and save it to his race file if wanted)

[Emperor Zodd]

Great Puke, have you tried it?

[Daynarr]

Thanks Puke, I was looking at the wrong place all along. This helps a lot. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Emperor Zodd]

So whats the verdict? What works better for the AI?

In tactical battle I use a wall formation up until almost weapons range then break formations and attempt to incircle and converge simultanously all my ships on the target with a overwhelming first volley.

Can we get an AI to do this???

[This message has been edited by Emperor Zodd (edited 08 January 2001).]

[Puke]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Emperor Zodd:
Can we get an AI to do this???
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

no.

[Puke]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Emperor Zodd:
Great Puke, have you tried it?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have tried it on my own fleets in strategic combat, which SHOULD be the same. basically they all fly around in a big swarm and get caught running into each other when they have to move through multiple planet sectors or asteroid sectors. but they dont stop when the leader stops, thats for sure.