Enemy Skill

[EbolaBoy]

Idealy what's the best default for enemy AI? Should they always be put to the highest level or should it be lower? Or is it a mission by mission kinda thing that should be adjusted depending on the type of mission it is? Should it be varied no matter the mission?

I ask this because firefights with low level AI enemy skill tend to be more "cinematic" while high level enemy AI skill tends to be more realistic in that firefights are short, quick, and unforgiving.

I'm curious how most of you feel about AI skill when doing your own missions.

[oyman]

y dont ya just put the skill level in the middle so they wont be bad and wont be good at the same time  

[EbolaBoy]

The problem with that is that if you have a mission with mixed units (regular and elite units) it's kind of odd to all have them be the same skill level.

I've played missions where this skill is put to the fullest and it makes some guns almost like sniper rifles...just looking for some tips to make the behaviour of the enemy AI more robust.

I do SP missions mainly so it's kinda important.

[Blitzer]

Giday EbolaBoy,
                         Well I have Ai on the highest level(I think I need to lower it though). I find this has good and bad points, like when you are at a distance fighting they kill you quick which is pretty unrealistic. But when you are fighting in close quarters like in a city or jungle they kill you just as quick(witch is now forgivable because of the low range) but you see what they are up to. so you can react. I'm not sure weather they would move just as smart with the AI down or if they are just more inaccurate, so with AI on you get good situation fighting, more intense action in close I feel. I try and build the mission around the AI I suppose(heaps of playtesting to pick the right amount of enemy and enviroment), to let their brains be in their head and not their asses. So inclose missions maybe full blown AI and distance fighting missions a little less AI.
Hope that helps.

[EbolaBoy]

Helps a lot actually. Thanks for the reply.

[macguba]

The crucial thing is not to put it much below half skill, unless you want that particular loon to be particularly stupid for some reason.    The AI are thick enough already without making it worse.    And Warsmith is right, with enemy on max skill you get killed a lot.

I find that in general about 3/4 is right for a a default level.   You need to do a lot of playtesting though - changing a  group of seven or eight loons from say 3/4 to 5/8 has a significant effect on their effectiveness.   For example, do you want eight loons on 5/8 or seven on 3/4?  

I often make group leaders a little higher and machine gunners and snipers a little lower, otherwise they can be a bit vicious at long range.

If you want to do an amusing little test, create a test mission with just you and an enemy soldier facing each other at say 20m.    Try it out with various skill levels ... at 0 skill see if he can shoot you at all ... at max skill see if you can shoot him.  ;D

[cliff]

AFAIK, enemy skill only affects accuracy, and possibly reactionspeed, but not movementbehaviour or when to engage/disengage.

I could be wrong though, since itÂ's hard to measure these things in the editor.
Anyone know for sure?

[Mr.BoDean]

   Yeah, I hate it when a machine gunner can peg me on a hilltop from 400M away!  
   I guess you're asking this for purposes of spawning units with createunit or just copying and pasting for a whole group maybe?  I just usually set the skill level for each individual unit and randomize it for realism....between 50-90%.  Not every soldier is a marksman. And not every sniper can fly a chopper.
    Since I play mostly MP and like a good long mission with respawn, I like having a couple of expert snipers set on combat to watch the perimeter. I also suggest putting any AI that are driving or flying vehicles on 90 - 100% .  

[General Barron]

AFAIK, enemy skill only affects accuracy, and possibly reactionspeed, but not movementbehaviour or when to engage/disengage.

I believe cliff is correct here.

        From what I know and have seen, skill only influence how accurately the enemy can shoot. It has no affect on how "smart" the ai is! In my opinion, the default weapons are WAY WAY WAY too accurate. That or the ai is WAY WAY WAY too accurate. Basically, with 100% skill, the AI will be able to put a bullet in your chest from like 400 meters away with near-perfect accuracy.
        This is NOT realistic at all, and makes for firefights that are unrealisitically short. I think that you should almost always put the enemies on 0 skill. That's right, ZERO skill. This makes them a little bit closer to realistic when it comes to shooting in a combat environment. Note the word combat, which implies that the man is carrying a heavy load, is very tired, is likely scared, and is pumped up on adrenaline. This is not like firing a weapon out on the range, where you can lie there comfortably and only have to watch one piece of paper that isn't firing back.
           I do make some exceptions, though:

         I give snipers close to full (100%) skill, since they are usually in a position that is more like the firing range described above than the combat zone described above.
         Leaders get a little more skill (up to the first notch), because they should be better warriors than their men.
        Elite units will get a notch or two more skill than other units.

     You should usually give the player's squad at least above 50% skill, because in most missions the enemies FAR outnumber the good guys (which is exactly the opposite of how it is supposed to work in real life). This way they have a fighting chance. But if they get too much skill, they will kill the enemies way to easily, and the result is that you have to put down even more enemies if you want the mission to be a challenge.

[Unnamed]

The player has a massive advantage over the AI, as we can see them comming from 1000m+.

The AI is pretty bad at spotting a squad moving across the open until it's close to 500m, and even worse at spotting exposed, stationary units.

Upping there skill level helps them identify enemy units over others like civilians.

If your not going to set there skill to max, it might help to reduce the visiblity?

Might even be an improvment if all the enemy AI are given your exact location in some cases, so they at least have a chance to react.

[General Barron]

I have heard that upping their skill makes 'em spot you better, but I never tested it out myself. One good way to keep the player from spotting the AI from 1000m away is to put a little bit of fog or a little bit of rain on the map. Just a tiny amount of fog will reduce the player's visibility (assuming he has it set very high) by a noticable amount. The weather does affect the AI too, but not as much as it will affect the player.

Might even be an improvment if all the enemy AI are given your exact location in some cases, so they at least have a chance to react.

I have this in a mission I'm working on. It is (another) beach assault mission. There is a trigger that covers the whole beach, and then by using a script that basically loops "X reveal Y", I make it so that all the defenders know about all the attackers.

The problem is that this method wouldn't work well in missions where you are trying to sneak up on the enemy.

[Unnamed]

I have heard that upping their skill makes 'em spot you better, but I never tested it out myself.

It's all lumped in with the knowsabout level so it's hard to say for sure, but I think it helps with the speed they will report Unknown\Man->Soldier->Enemy Soldier->Sniper e.t.c

One good way to keep the player from spotting the AI from 1000m away is to put a little bit of fog or a little bit of rain on the map.

Yeah, weather would be a better way of doing it, at leasts it's more subtle. Anything that stops you spotting those little black dots. Setting the action or locating the AI in heavy terrain, while keeping the player out in the open could be another? Being on a barren terrain like a beach as opposed to grass, does make a difference to spotting.

The problem is that this method wouldn't work well in missions where you are trying to sneak up on the enemy.

But linked with situations where the enemy are on alert. Say when he falls on his face, after you have tied his shoelaces together Although saying that, I have never been able to get the Reveal command to work as I expected?

And then there is infoage, I thought this was something to do with how long the AI were aware of you after the event? But again I could not see how it was applied to the game itself?

Hope this thread isnt heading to far off topic  :-X