4.11 - AI debugging

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by FC99

AI don't know what is your idea about their behavior, you have to tell them what you want. Things you might find logical might not be logical or desired for someone else. I guarantee you that for every stupid thing AI do in game I can find you equivalent stupidity done by humans in WWII.

Yes but I would be happy if my wingman/flight just attacked the plane chasing me when I ask for cover or I ask for help from anyone.... I will have one plane in front of me and 3 trying to nail me while the rest of my flight is just flying in formation with me and I ask for help and more often than not the other 3 planes in my flight will either keep flying around or attack the plane in front of me leaving the one(s) attacking me alone to do their business. I know I have beating this horse but it is always more frustrating when it is fresher in my mind.. and I just finished a QM. Even if the plane that warned me attacked the plane it was warning me about it would be a good thing. It drives me nuts because I know pretty much that shortly after I hear "Roger I got you covered.." I'm a goner. I can tell them to attack.. ask for help.. Yet with the enemy AI when I attack one plane the whole flight goes after me. I don't want miracles. I just want them to do something and the frustrating thing is that sometimes they do quite well but they are not as frequent as I would like to see.

I just thought of something.. would it be possible to add a check 6/check MY 6 command in the "views" menu? Sometimes when I try to use the padlock so that I can tell the AI "attack my target" which works more often than not they will do it .. but far too often the target I padlock is the one in front of me, probably because he is closer instead of the one behind me. Perhaps if we had a specific "Padlock Enemy 6" command that was also server side settable like some of the other views that would enable us to padlock the enemy behind us first and then tell the AI "attack my target" and they would.. that might work. As it is now telling either my wingman or my flight "cover me" or "anyone help me" is 8 times out of 10 a waste of time because they still more often than not just fly right by the bandits and that is just so so frustrating. The enemy AI is great... but the friendly AI makes offline flying almost no fun at all...

I know that eventually you guys will sort this out.. I have higher hopes for IL2 than any oter sim that I fly and it is primarily because of TD .. but the wait is a bummer.

[Bearcat]

This prompted me to wonder.. When we get that warning as the leader does it come from our wingman? If so can a routine be written to have him attack the plane he sees? Because of the nature of the friendly AI I usually set them all t Ace for all the good it does. One thing I have noticed is that when I try to protect my flight it seems I get better help but it's spotty.

[Jumpy]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

This prompted me to wonder.. When we get that warning as the leader does it come from our wingman? If so can a routine be written to have him attack the plane he sees? Because of the nature of the friendly AI I usually set them all t Ace for all the good it does. One thing I have noticed is that when I try to protect my flight it seems I get better help but it's spotty.

I think you are risking making the game too easy. Sometimes I laugh at the wingman. "who's side is he on?!" Personally, if the AI always attacked and removed threats to my 6o'clock, I might become bored and leave the game. I don't see the point. I just like trying to outfly my attacker. What I suggest is that we are able to jump to another plane if we are shot down. That would be fun, or perhaps even jump to the wingman's aircraft while our original aircraft becomes AI controlled. Then you could personally attack or chase off the attacker, and then resume control of your original aircraft. A bit like co-op play, I guess. Comments?

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Jumpy

I think you are risking making the game too easy. Sometimes I laugh at the wingman. "who's side is he on?!" Personally, if the AI always attacked and removed threats to my 6o'clock, I might become bored and leave the game. I don't see the point. I just like trying to outfly my attacker. What I suggest is that we are able to jump to another plane if we are shot down. That would be fun, or perhaps even jump to the wingman's aircraft while our original aircraft becomes AI controlled. Then you could personally attack or chase off the attacker, and then resume control of your original aircraft. A bit like co-op play, I guess. Comments?

I totally disagree.. How would having your wingman attack one of the 1,2,3 or sometimes 4 planes attacking you at once make it easier? You still have to down the bandit you are chasing because if you don't .. he will turn the tables on you and go on the offensive .. even inmost cases if he is damaged so I don't see that making things easier at all and you will still have another plane on you... I cannot tell you how many times I get caught in a 3 or 4 way crossfire while the other members of my flight are literally just flying around.. Sometimes as it has been said by others the plane shooting me will be between my wingman and me.. which just should not be period. Often the wingman will not respond until I am down or am going down with a blown off wing.. then he goes on the offensive. That should not be if the bandit is between he and I. As I said .. there have been times when the friendlies have been spot on.. but more often than not hat is not the case. But enough of that.. I am sure TD knows what the deal is (as far as the problem.. the solution may be more elusive) so I am getting off this soapbox for now.. Hopefully in the next patch .. which also hopefully will not be too much longer, or shortly thereafter some of this will be addressed.

[Aviar]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Sometimes when I try to use the padlock so that I can tell the AI "attack my target" which works more often than not they will do it .. but far too often the target I padlock is the one in front of me, probably because he is closer instead of the one behind me.

If you are talking about internal Padlock, be aware that the target nearest the center of your view will be padlocked first. The proximity of targets in relationship to your plane (in terms of distance) has no factor. So, if you wish to padlock a plane on your 6, the best way is to look over your shoulder and then use the Padlock command.

Also, don't forget that you have two powerful commands for occasions when there are multiple targets in your view ---> 'Padlock Next' & 'Padlock Previous'. These will scroll through viable targets within your pilot's view.

If you are lucky enough to have enough buttons (I have a CH HOTAS), these two commands are a must, along with your main Padlock commands.

*In reference to the first part of my post, I actually have macro commands (so I only need to press one button) that will have my pilot look back over his left/right shoulder and automatically padlock an enemy plane within view. If there are no enemy planes in view behind me, the pilot's view will automatically return to the forward position. Little 'tricks' like this are invaluable to players like me who don't use TrackIR but still want a dynamic range of view options.

Aviar