4.11 - AI debugging

[Dash 8]

I like the new AI much better. It seems there is a chance that they panic and freeze at the controls. I was killing a lot of AI average level in the QMB, but some were puting up a good fight. So, I switched them to Veteran and the first one I fought froze up after the initial pass and I shredded him. He never moved from straight and level when I was on his 6. So I tried the same senario again. This time he was very difficult to bring down. Even hit me a few times too. I like the chance that they can panic and freeze up. That, and they don't see you coming in from 6 o'clock low too.

[Fall_Pink?]

AI problem - overheating related:

Taking off in Ta183 with 4 missiles is very hard for AI. At the end of the runway the engine is already overheated and AI throttles back a bit (20 or 30% power), but loses too much altitude and crashes. Others barely escape and fly only a few meter above ground.

Rgs,
FP

[bwp2bwp]

Hi

First thanks again to DT for all their hard work!!

I have not played a lot so I am not sure if this is new or not but the AI is having a hard time keeping He-111 planes in the air.

pilot carrer -> He-111 -> Stalingrad -> first mission

If start in air the AI crashes at least He-111 at beginning and the players plane crashes if set to AI. If take off from ground the AI makes the planes hug the earth and is having trouble clawing to higher altitudes and is nearly crashing for most of the early part of the flight.

Prob not a big issue but perhaps a clue to an underlying problem with ai flight or engine management or aircraft performance.

Thanks again for all your hard work in making this a greater sim.

Barry

[dpeters95]

Hello,
First of all thanks again to DT for all their hard work and quick response with the hotfix!!!

This problem actually has to do with the autopilot, which is sort of temporary AI This has occured in every mission I have tried so far. When you have a long distance between waypoints and you activate the autopilot I have noticed that about every 20-30 seconds the plane will full rudder right and sometimes turn 90 degrees then quickly back to level and climb to regain the altitude that it just lost. At first I thought it was actually trying to avoid flying through clouds but it still does it in a clear blue sky even when it is right on the line for the next waypoint. You can really see the regularity if you speed up to 8X. It occurs about every 4 seconds.

It's certainly not a game stopper but it looks really odd.

[Fall_Pink?]

AI 'bug':

Me163 sometimes switches targets and engages enemy fighters instead of bomber stream (tested with pre-set single mission with me163). Me163 should be mainly a bomber attacker and not engage any fighters. Maybe some defensive manouvres when it encounters fighters, but its focus should be bombers.

It's also prone to miscalculate attacks, likely due the large speed difference with bombers.

Furthermore, it does not disengage itself quickly from the fight to glide back home. Maybe it should disengage, fly back to home base and distance itself as much as it can when only 10% rocket fuel is left.

Rgs,
FP

[MicroWave]

Originally Posted by dpeters95

Hello,
First of all thanks again to DT for all their hard work and quick response with the hotfix!!!

This problem actually has to do with the autopilot, which is sort of temporary AI This has occured in every mission I have tried so far. When you have a long distance between waypoints and you activate the autopilot I have noticed that about every 20-30 seconds the plane will full rudder right and sometimes turn 90 degrees then quickly back to level and climb to regain the altitude that it just lost. At first I thought it was actually trying to avoid flying through clouds but it still does it in a clear blue sky even when it is right on the line for the next waypoint. You can really see the regularity if you speed up to 8X. It occurs about every 4 seconds.

It's certainly not a game stopper but it looks really odd.

This is possibly a 'fishtail' maneuver. That's how AI checks if there is a threat on his six. I guess it applies to autopilot, too.

[dpeters95]

Originally Posted by MicroWave

This is possibly a 'fishtail' maneuver. That's how AI checks if there is a threat on his six. I guess it applies to autopilot, too.

If you want to see it, a good example is in IJN/A6M2-21/Pearl Harbor Attack Wave 2. As soon as it starts press the autopilot key (mine is "A") and then speed up the game to 8X. You can see what I mean. You may be correct about the fishtail move but it sure got my attention.

[Fall_Pink?]

Originally Posted by daidalos.team

@moderator: please make it a sticky

We will continue to develop and release further AI improvements in future patches. Please help us to identify any 4.11 AI related issues and post them here with detailed description, screenshots, videos, etc. Thank you.

Daidalos Team

Not so much a bug as such, but more a request for 4.11.1 or 4.12. Is it possible to add a command like ´disengage´? I now usually use something like get ´rejoin´ or ´cover me´, but that does not seem to work in case of a ground attack in progress. I´d like my wingmen to rejoin immediately.

Secondly, when the command `back to base´ is given, all wingmen follow a route that takes them back to base except the leader which seems to follow the normal waypoints.

Rgs,
FP

By the way. Saw a very nice feature of the new AI with some escorts. My escorts at first prepared themselves to engage enemy fighters, but then backed down and rejoined when they saw the enemy turned away from them followed by other friendlies

At other occasions some enemy fighters simply passed overhead and failed to notice my flight. AI indeed no longer has the all-seeing 360 degrees view of the world. Very nice

Ps. I also see all of my real cpu cores are now involved some how. Is this one of the effects of moving AI code to the DT.dll?

[Fall_Pink?]

Bug: single missions, Hungary, dogfight P51's with Me109G14:

4th wingman of each flight of P51's crashes into the lake because they're too low to the ground. Stacking order of a flight that flies "Reihe" (sorry, only know the German word for it right now...), causes problems for the 3rd and 4th wingman. I'd suggest to use a formation with less vertical spacing when lead plane flies at very low altitude. It would lead to fewer crashes of these wingmen.

Regards,
FP

[Treetop64]

Really diggin' the new patch, but one persistent problem with the AI continues:

I'm still getting hammered by the AA fire over my own airfield when defending it.

EDIT - Sorry, one more thing later observed. AI formation keeping is much worse now than in previous versions:

Flying Amagi's "Disaster on the Frontiers", Sturmovik campaign, first couple of days in the L'vov map at the beginning of Barbarossa, in the I-153 as a Mladshiy Leitenant. In a 9-ship formation I'm the tail guy in the third fight. In previous versions of the game it was not difficult at all to keep a good formation with the AI. There was only a little bit of "formation wobble" and I only had to occasionally modulate the throttle in small amounts to maintain position.

In v4.11 however, every minute or so the AI (in the third flight, don't know about the first two...) seems to suddenly cut way back on the throttle, drop back for a moment or two, then suddenly apply full power for another few seconds, forcing me to make similarly drastic changes in throttle just to keep up. Also, every few minutes the whole formation will suddenly descend a few tens of meters, then come back up to the assigned cruise altitude again.

As a result, at least as a tail-end junior pilot, it has now become very difficult - in fact, nearly impossible - to keep any kind of good formation with the AI. They're all over the place now.

As a qualifier, I have flown formations as a junior pilot with the AI over several campaigns, and can humbly and reliably state that I have gotten quite good at it.

Thanks!