4.13 development update discussion and feedback

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by IceFire

I believe if you turn on the Arcade=1 mode in the config.ini file it will show you graphically what the AI is doing and what degree of error they have in firing at you from all angles.

Not exactly. Arcade mode just shows you where the enemy's bullets are hitting, and approximately what angle they were fired from. It doesn't give you info about hit percentages. If there's a game feature which allows you to see what the enemy's hit percentages are after each shot, I'd love to see it!

Originally Posted by IceFire

They are better at deflection shooting now but they are more limited in the opportunities they can employ it without some degree of guessing.

AI - or at least certain types of AI - will also sometimes hesitate a moment before firing, which simulates "target acquisition" and aiming time.

Originally Posted by IceFire

I think maybe adjusting expectations? The Ace should be a top tier opponent... something you run into rarely or never.

One of the long-standing problems with AI in the game is that the capabilities of the various AI levels are never spelled out and many different elements of combat flying are combined into one generic rating. A new problem is that, as AI programming has been improved, older missions and campaigns have to be reworked.

Currently, Ace AI represents exactly what Icefire is talking about, a hypothetical pilot with top 1% eyesight, aggression, situational awareness, reaction times, object tracking, air combat maneuvering, gunnery, bombing, rocketry, navigation and G-tolerance. (Realistically, no WW2-era ace, even the top aces, possessed all those traits.)

Before the 4.12 patch, however, Ace AI represented "tough but beatable by a good player."

These days, lesser aces (i.e., 5-10 kills) are better represented by Veteran or even Average AI.

In some ways, Rookie AI now best represents "average" pilots of most air forces who lacked the aggressiveness and skills to even shoot down one enemy aircraft (approximately 90% of U.S. fighter pilots, even in combat zones. Probably similar for other air forces).

Certainly, Rookie AI is necessary for bomber intercept missions because gunners are still too good at ranging target distance and speed, too good at acquiring and tracking targets, and aren't hindered by plane vibration, turbulence or slipstream effects.

IL2 also doesn't model AI inferior to Rookie AI, at the "cannon fodder/ student/ unqualified" level, despite the fact that depending on the year and the air force, novice combat pilots might have had as little as 40 hours of total flight instruction, VFR only instrument rating, no gunnery practice, no meteorology or ground school training, limited target recognition skills and no flight time at all "in type".