Zer0Degre3Z Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 First off, I wanna say that I love the addition of local forces and civilians on almost any mission. But, I've also noticed that the armed civilians/local soldiers/local cops don't seem to actively search out aliens; is that intended? I mean, it would make sense if they didn't and I mostly see them just running around a building or the area where they spawned. (I think I've only ever seen two instances of local forces kill/shoot at an alien) Anyway, I guess I'm asking if they're AI is supposed to make them play defensively rather than aggressively hunt down aliens with me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 (edited) They don't search, but if they see an alien they'll fire and/or try to get close to engage. Their actions are somewhat random. Some of the non-Xenos are pretty deadly specially if armed with shotguns or assault rifles. I've had one of them kill two aliens from time to time. Even saved one of my troops on occasion. Edited June 6, 2014 by StellarRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zer0Degre3Z Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Ah thanks for the clarification! I was worried they were bugged for me or something. I guess I was expecting too much from civilians lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Yes, don't expect too much from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 I should mention even though they don't really search in an organized manner they do wander around the map a bit and that might lead them to finding a target. What's much more common is the aliens seek out and attack them and non-Xenos will counter-fire if the aliens don't kill them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Sadly there are times where I watch the civvies more to spot where the aliens are than looking to protect them from danger. Actually, that's possibly most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishguy117 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I've had some really badass moments from local forces on occasion. Once I had a cop start blasting away with his pistol behind me and when I turned around there was a dead reaper almost inside my perimeter. Most of the time however they exist to eat plasma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacebug Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 They are great for scouting. If there's a local force/civ, chances are high no alien is close. Also, aliens tend to shoot them before your xenonauts, because most often they are the easier target. Having a civ between the alien and you is like getting a free riot shield you don't have to carry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpelectric Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 For all the above reasons, and just to make ground combat more animated and dynamic, I used to greatly increase the number of civvies on the maps. It was all fun and games until that mission with the reapers..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semore_Pagne Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 This seems like a good place to inquire this: Can civilians and armed locals be mind controlled by the similar to, yet legally distinguishable from sectoids with psionics? I'm just getting to the point where they're using basic mind attacks, and I'd hate to have to take my UFO Defense Cryssalid strategy of executing all the local arms myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishguy117 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I've never seen it happen, so I assume its impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills6693 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 One mission was very strange, I think local forces killed ALL aliens but one. I killed one guy on turn 2 and won the UFO crash site. Odd. I've had local forces kill (and seen it happen) aliens before too. As said, shotguns can be deadly in their hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max_Caine Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 It's better that the local AI can actually do something, rather than "standard" bystander AI which is "look pretty and be completely useless". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills6693 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I wish civilian AI was slightly different. I want them to run towards soldiers (locals or xenonaut), and back to the helicopter. They're not terrible (they do hide) but they seem to be indifferent to the soldiers helping them out, if they fled to me I could protect them much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I wish civilian AI was slightly different. I want them to run towards soldiers (locals or xenonaut), and back to the helicopter. They're not terrible (they do hide) but they seem to be indifferent to the soldiers helping them out, if they fled to me I could protect them much better.Yeah, but the balance would be thrown off if they were too smart. The civilians at least are smart enough to try to hide under cover when they see aliens. That actually saves a lot of them in terror maps. They used to just stand there and get gunned down in the streets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gijs-Jan Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 To change the behavior of the civilian / local forces AI is trivial as there are not restrictions on how it operates as compared to the alien AI. The only change required is to alter the incentive set in aiprops.xml; changing those values will be more than enough. If you guys ever reach a consensus on this I'll look into it myself. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 (edited) To change the behavior of the civilian / local forces AI is trivial as there are not restrictions on how it operates as compared to the alien AI. The only change required is to alter the incentive set in aiprops.xml; changing those values will be more than enough.If you guys ever reach a consensus on this I'll look into it myself. :-) Well, if you're asking for opinions on how the civilians should operate I'll go with the logical. Unarmed civilian always run away as far as possible from aliens and seek cover. Armed civilians i.e. police, soldiers and farmers use the medium aggression setting like the Caesans i.e. they fight back from cover. Edited June 11, 2014 by StellarRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishguy117 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I thought civillians did that already. On terror missions I can usually find five or six hiding in the dropship after I clear the landing zone. And You's be surprised how many people flunk the "Run Away From Gunfire" logic class the first time it happens to them. Most people just freeze, scream, wait for someone to save them or try to attack. Its only once a crowd gets moving that people run away en mass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.