Is Everybody's AI This Bad?

[White Owl]

No need to assume, Luthier has posted the AI is being reworked.

At least it isn't all the AI planes pulling this stuff, though. I did a lot of experimenting in the FMB with all the different AI skill sliders and determined the crazy roll rates are unrelated to any skill setting. In any given mission, most AI planes will maneuver in a believable fashion but exactly the same few planes will be ninja rollers. If you change nothing at all in a mission but save it under a different name, then a different few airplanes become ninja rollers. So I suppose in theory you could keep trying to save under different names until you're lucky enough to hit the combination with the least ninja rollers... ugh.

So yes, it happens to everybody, and is one of the most annoying bugs we currently deal with. Hopefully some brilliant person can figure out an effective workaround while we wait for the official fix.

[planespotter]

My workaround is to fly bombers. You dont have to worry about the poor dogfight ai!

[Blackdog_kt]

The kind of mission you fly and how you swap the planes seems to play a role, at least according to findings posted by others.

Example:

You select a mission in the QMB (or the single missions section if you set it to allow you to customize the mission) and swap a flight for Spitfires for a flight of Blenheims.
The Blenheims still keep the Spitfire AI and they try to fight with you.

On the other hand, changing a flight of bombers into fighters results in passive fighters (good for target practice this one ).

I haven't really tested this myself but it was reported by a few different posters on these forums a bit after the EU release.

[Rattlehead]

To me the biggest difference between the various AI settings is the gunnery skill. A rookie will expend all it's ammo very quickly, whereas an ace will be much more patient and use snap shots when it's in a good position.
There is also a difference in the awareness between say, rookies and aces, but it's not at all consistent at this point.
I've tested the AI quite extensively, and many of the sliders at this point don't seem to make any real difference between the skill levels. It may be very subtle, may be something I'm just not seeing, but nevertheless, the skill diference between a rookie and an ace should be immediately noticeable.

But yeah, at this point this is the single biggest thing that for me, really reduces the enjoyment of the game. Hopefully in time the AI will be significantly improved.