AI vs AI Kill ratio

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by taly001

I think the problem with AI in ALL computer games is that they can track the player once spotted with 3D X-ray vision. In real life when sight is lost the player needs to re-find the enemy each time, and then to re-analyse the maneouver the enemy is making. The AI doesn't seem to need this and can track and follow your moves all the time.

For Ace or Veteran AI it's not unreasonable to have them be able to keep track of several opposing aircraft even if they briefly lose sight of them. That's call "situational awareness" or "spatial memory" and it's a vital skill for good combat pilots.

But, for Average and Rookie AI, ability to maintain a "lock" on a target is perhaps too generous.

One thing that I've never seen for AI for any airplane sim is the possibility of "sensory overload," where if you try to track multiple targets simultaneously you lose track of almost all of them, allowing one or more to get onto your 6.

Originally Posted by taly001

Forcing AI to reacquire the target after loosing sight would require CPU cycles, drawing predicted target flight path from time sight lost and have AI look there first, then scan around to find before been allowed to manoeuver to attack.

I'm not sure that it would require that many CPU cycles to determine if AI maintains SA with respect to a particular opponent. I think that the real demand on CPU cycles would be constantly drawing lines of sight between various crew stations and other planes to determine if a particular crewman has LoS.

A simplifying factor, which is realistic, is to treat distant formations of aircraft as a single group, and have AI check for line of sight to that group at less frequent intervals, or not at all.

Another way to reduce CPU cycles is to limit the maximum number of aircraft a given crewman can track by skill level (For example, 1 for Rookie, 2 for Average, 4 for Veteran, 16 for Ace). AI will focus on attacking enemy aircraft first, wingman second, other nearby enemy aircraft third, other flights (treated as a single unit) fourth, distant enemy aircraft fifth, and distant friendly aircraft sixth. If there's a risk of collision with the ground, barrage balloons, or similar, attacking enemy comes first, terrain comes second, then wingman, etc.

Finally, you could make the chance of losing a "lock" on an airplane you can't see a function of time that aircraft has spent outside of line of sight - assuming it isn't flying straight and level. Check more frequently for loss of line of sight for less skilled pilots.