An AI question raised on another forum..

[Bearcat]

I know that since 4.11 the AL can ...
no longer see through clouds
no longer see through their own plane
black out
panic
have blind spots....

.. but can they be blinded by the sun?

[KG26_Alpha]

The AI have strange behaviour depending on the map and thier mission parameters.

All your above AI references I have seen not work in v4.11 and then again work to a degree but certainly not written in stone.

[Aviar]

From the 4.11 User Guide:

AI is blind against attack from sun and planes show up better as silhouette against moon.


Aviar

[KG26_Alpha]

For your future AI questions.

AI routines in 4.11 have been modified extensively in order to introduce several limitations
that human pilot would experience. Below is a list of things player can expect to see in 4.11:
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Various new AI manoeuvres have been added. Number of manoeuvres is increased by 25%.
AI planes will no longer detect enemy planes automatically inside certain radius. Position and
size of enemy plane is the main factor here. Bigger plane will obviously produce a bigger and
more visible "dot" and it will be more visible to AI.
AI skill will generally determine how well AI can spot targets. Also every gunner on board will
contribute to enemy spotting by covering their own sectors.
Generally pilots will keep looking more forwards than backwards. Occasionally fighters execute
fishtail manoeuvre to get better view behind. Planes will be less visible against dark background
like land, but more visible against brighter background like sky and clouds.
Clouds & land mass blocks AI's ability to see other planes behind them. For example it is
possible to evade attacking AI plane by hiding in clouds. AI planes will also try to hide in clouds
in certain conditions.
AI's own plane will block their line of sight. This is calculated from the plane's collision model.
For example basically all planes cannot see directly below them, unless the plane has
ventral/bottom gunner that can cover the underside. For example plane like Blenheim has
blind spot rear & behind since it has no tail/bottom gunner. Plane like B-17 with bottom/rear
gunners cannot be surprised from rear & behind like Blenheim (during daylight).
Occasionally fighters will execute roll manoeuvres to get a look directly below them.
When fighter is pulling positive G's to get a lead shot and target goes invisible under nose, AI
will not see the target. Instead of aiming at the actual target, AI is shooting at estimated
target which position is extrapolated based on the last real observations. Much like human
brain would do.
AI pilot's ground collision detection is improved and now they will detect ground obstacles in
front of them better. Previously AI always crashed into certain kind of hill/mountain which has
too steep slope.
Environment factors such as darkness affects how well planes can be seen. AI is blind against
attack from sun and planes show up better as silhouette against moon. Planes are spotted
more easier if they emit smoke, fire, condensation trail or have lights on or are illuminated by
searchlight.
Also ships & ground AAA and aircraft gunners have the same clouds/ground/environment
restrictions as AI pilots.
AI gunners check before shooting that there is no friendly planes in front/behind their enemy
target.
AI gunners don't keep shooting while the gun is turning towards target and the target is
nowhere near when the bullets would go. So gunners will no longer waste ammo for stupid
shots.
Gunners will be less accurate shooting targets that move fast. In other words target that
forces the gunners to turn guns fast is less likely to get hit.
Gunners that experience too much positive or negative G's cannot fire at all.
AI plane's engine will overheat forcing AI to reduce throttle and open radiators.
AI planes respect diving limits of their planes.
Changes have been made in AI deflection shooting. AI calculate deflection better but it is still
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not perfect. AI's ability to chose correct deflection and to hold steady aim vary with the skill. AI
Aces shooting ability is now at human aces level and if they get into your close six you will be
in trouble.
AI flights doesn't go into attack as soon as they spot the enemy anymore. Depending on the
situation AI might try to avoid fight or try to improve their position before commencing the
attack.
AI skills are now divided internally into sub-skills and thus provide finer distribution of skill.
Aces are still better than Veterans and Averages are better than Rookies but not all AI pilots
with the same skill are the same. Some fly better, some shoot better. Some are braver and
some see better. This makes their behaviour less predictable.
In addition to the manoeuvres, AI fighter defence is completely reworked, no more constant
rolls. AI will perform diverse manoeuvres and provide bigger challenge to the player.
AI will make mistake too. They will stall and spin occasionally, panic and “freeze” and
sometimes they will even bail out before you fire a single bullet at them.
Note
If AI planes in player’s own flight have not noticed the enemy planes, player has possibility to
“point out” the enemy presence to the friendly AI planes by padlocking enemy plane so that it
is visible at roughly centre of the screen (15 deg. cone). This works even if the padlock is not
enabled. Also the commands attack all/bombers/fighters has the same function built in as the
padlock key. So issuing “attack fighters” command to your wingman would fail if your wingman
has not seen the enemy and you give the command while you don’t see the enemy. Giving the
command when you see the enemy at the centre of your screen (in cockpit) gives your
wingman the direction of the enemy and wingman can attack it. This prevents abusing the
attack commands like a radar.
The AI development is a continuous process we plan to refine further for 4.12. We would like
to ask you to report any odd AI behaviour we may have not noticed during our beta testing. It
was not possible for us to test all AI situations / routines.
Checks concerning clouds are not working on dedicated server. DS doesn't know anything
about clouds and was never designed to have AI planes, but we will try to change this later.

[Treetop64]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I know that since 4.11 the AL can ...
no longer see through clouds
no longer see through their own plane
black out
panic
have blind spots....

.. but can they be blinded by the sun?

I've noticed that if it's either early morning or late in the afternoon and the sun is directly behind you, and you're in a fighter directly behind enemy bombers, the gunners don't fire at you. In most other circumstances where I'm chasing enemy bombers the gunners will usually take shots at me.

[Kittle]

That was my biggest 'holy crap' moment after 4.11 was released, coming out of the sun to execute a bounce and having the AI not do anything until tracers started going by the plane. Hiding in clouds was my second moment, this patch is vital to offline play.