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What do you think of the new AI (v16)?


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I don't want to spoil too much for you guys; because I know how peeking behind the curtain can spoil the experience.

While there should be some new behaviour for the new A.I. in V16 (shooting from beyond unit LOS, but in squad LOS; better running away; cover usage; psionics; etc) the "real" A.I. hasn't been added yet.

To explain, I've been primarily working on adding knowledge to the A.I.: things like recognizing dangerous situations, good targets, etc.

The A.I. now "knows" about these things, but has no real way yet to think on actions or formulate a plan. This planning part will be the final real system to finish.

To overview: the knowledge comes first, followed by the ability to plan actions given a situation, and finishing finally with the ability to simulate the consequences of actions.

That being said; I still like to hear everything you find so far and like (or not), so I can steer the design! :-)

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That being said; I still like to hear everything you find so far and like (or not), so I can steer the design! :-)
Thanks for the information. I haven't had much luck getting very far along in the game because of the crashes. I'll probably have a lot more comments when I've actually gotten some sustained playing time in. That being said, I'm not sure how useful they'll be since the AI is basically unable to act on what it knows right now.

Is target prioritization finished? Will the AI fire on the "best" target now? Or is that the next phase?

What is your time line for the AI being able to act on what it knows?

Edited by StellarRat
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I need to correct on what I said earlier: there is a simple decision layer for some of the knowledge. But it is just that, simple.

There is target prioritization and things like avoidance; the only thing is that the A.I. is not yet able to formulate plans, or foresee the consequences of actions it chooses.

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I have noticed some things about the new AI:

Aliens take cover and use their turns to get to it instead of shooting (even if their chance of hitting and killing my soldier is quite good). They will leave the cover if they are outnumbered, which makes them a easier target (not really an advancement).

Aliens still run directly into my troops, when leaving a spacecraft, for instance. Although that makes perfect living subjects for my scientists (which are useless, as far as i can see it) , its also rather dumb.

Iam of course not talking about androns here, they do what they are supposed to do: Shelling my team with hot burning plasma and not caring about ANYTHING. Perfect aliens in my opinion.

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Just played a 16.1.2 vs. a landed (not shot down) UFO. The briefing said it would be full strength crew - It was a desert map, the two aliens were pretty much out in the open and never took a shot at me. Maybe it was my Rainbow Six shock and awe tactics, but it seems like they'd at least take a shot at me or use the best cover available, which in this case, would seem to have been their intact UFO.

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I engaged a small hoover drone and a Ceasan on a terror mission with three troops up front. Both tucked tail and ran. They had cover just behind them. What i think would have been nice in that kind of situation is if the drone would have opened fire in full force against my troops, suppressing them. The Ceasan could have made for the cover and returned fire from there.

Now both were gunned down in the open.

I guess this is a tall request, making such a consequent decision.

But the drone is after all a robotic support unit for maintaining a shitload of fire on my troops- he could have suppressed them all, and sacrificed itself for the benefit of the non robotic unit.

And i have also noticed that the AI prefer to either shot or move, a combination of both would perhaps have been fitting in this very engagement.

But i have not tested so much, maybe others have other experiences contradicting this one?

(That the drone runs from armor feels anyhow correct, since its value is reduced alot.)

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I don't want to spoil too much for you guys; because I know how peeking behind the curtain can spoil the experience.

While there should be some new behaviour for the new A.I. in V16 (shooting from beyond unit LOS, but in squad LOS; better running away; cover usage; psionics; etc) the "real" A.I. hasn't been added yet.

To explain, I've been primarily working on adding knowledge to the A.I.: things like recognizing dangerous situations, good targets, etc.

The A.I. now "knows" about these things, but has no real way yet to think on actions or formulate a plan. This planning part will be the final real system to finish.

To overview: the knowledge comes first, followed by the ability to plan actions given a situation, and finishing finally with the ability to simulate the consequences of actions.

That being said; I still like to hear everything you find so far and like (or not), so I can steer the design! :-)

Sounds like quite a plan to me, GJ :-) Godspeed to you and looking forward to that dev blog update!

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I guess this is a tall request, making such a consequent decision.

But the drone is after all a robotic support unit for maintaining a shitload of fire on my troops- he could have suppressed them all, and sacrificed itself for the benefit of the non robotic unit.

Reading Gijs-Jan's previous blog entries I don't think it is such a tall request at all. There can be a behavior for each alien type and based on its possible/configured states it will act accordingly. So a drone may not have any kind of self-preservation value set.

Just my interpretation though ...

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