4.13 development update discussion and feedback

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by CzechTexan

OK, maybe I was jumping the gun by condemning the A/I. Maybe the situation in my mission put the Veterans in a bad position to counter effectively.

I'm not questioning your experience. I think there are situations where Ace or Veteran AI isn't as "smart" as it should be, and where Rookies are too good. But, initial conditions and altitude might make a big difference.

In the "furball" missions I generated, I noticed a tendency for the Ace Bf-109 to follow Rookie I-16 pilots down to near ground level (albeit later in the fight when odds were massively in favor of the Germans), rather than maintaining their altitude. Early in the fight, the Bf-109 weren't as aggressive about getting and maintaining an altitude advantage as they could be.

In all cases, Ace wingmen weren't as good as they could be about covering the lead plane's rear. The one Bf-109 shootdown I saw could have easily been prevented had the lead plane's #2 maintained proper position, or if the AI was trained to do a proper "drag and bag" or "Thatch weave" team attack.

While it's realistic, there were also a few cases where I observed "shoulder shooting" by AI planes - especially late in the fight when there were lots of Germans and few Soviets. But, Aces should have better situational awareness and fire discipline, both to stay out of the way of a friendly plane's line of fire, and to stop shooting when a friendly plane pops up between them and the target.