4.11 - AI debugging

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

This is a 16 vs 16 fight with all my guys set as Aces and the enemy a mix of rooks & average.. Notice I have 5 out of 16 planes converging on me and not a friendly in range to do much

Rereading this post, while it's wrong for an Ace level wingman to be nowhere to be seen (unless he got shot down), I think that it's appropriate for Average or Rookie pilots to "pile on" to a single target and get sucked into a tail chase.

Saburo Sakai describes a situation where there was briefly a situation where a Hellcat was chasing a Zero, with a Zero chasing the Hellcat, with a Hellcat chasing that Zero, and a Zero on the tail of that Hellcat - and every plane shot down the plane ahead of it, leaving behind just one Zero.

That sort of deadly target fixation was a very common problem. Even Veteran or Ace pilots could fall victim to it, setting themselves up for defeat when they lost Situational Awareness.

But, like I said, unless your wingie has run into problems, if he's Ace level AI, he SHOULD be clearing your tail. Preferably with a high side attack against the bandit closest to you.