[18.3 HF2 Ground Combat] Large ship alien LOS

[zolobolo]

This may be related to AI or a per-programmed trigger, but the aliens on the large ship type with the three doors opening from the same small field always wait inside ship until soldiers get into LOS of aliens inside.

soldiers do not see the aliens inside since there is not enough TU to get close to the door and open it, but as soon as a soldier or tank gets close to one of the 3 doors, the aliens storm out in the next round. If this is due to their LOS, it needs to be fixed so that they do not see through their UFO door.

Only noticed this alien behavior for the large Alien ship type missions.

[Sathra]

The first Large ship? The Cruiser? They seem to trigger to rush out when the whole door comes into visual range of a trooper. Even if the trooper pulls back out of LoS before the end of turn.

[zolobolo]

Correct. If this is a trigger, then its ok, I guess it will be removed once the AI is improved. I did notice that a lot of aliens are trying to shoot through closed doors and wall of the UFO while others rush out, os I though it may be a line of sight topic.

[Sathra]

Nah, just the AI being stupid. If 1 alien can see a soldier, they all can (much like the player). The AI just doesn't check if there's anything in the way much of the time so fires into the walls of the ship.

Though I think the bums rush is meant to be fixed at a later date instead of all the aliens spawning in the ship.

Edited May 5, 2013 by Sathra

[zolobolo]

If the aliens would spawn also outside the cruiser, that would probably resolve the issue. I do not have anything against squad sights since that is something my soldiers should also have and makes sense in futuristic combat. It would probably only take some minor change to AI to not fire when probability of hit is below 5% but do something else - they would certainly not shoot the indestructible wall if the projectile calculator is working properly.

This behavior would not even be noticed if cruiser ships would not be in abundance in the second half of the game. As it stands now I am facing such ships 6-8 times a month and the routine is always the same: move troops with rockets out directly in front of cruiser, and shoot anything coming out in the first 2 turns, then mup up the rest inside. Only teleporting aliens mix up thing a little, but they often seem to retreat instead of making advantage out of encircling my troops.

[Sathra]

Pretty much. Squad sight may change too, to requiring the spotter to stay within vision range since the fog will update during the turn.

[zolobolo]

This new concept of Squad Sight would be truly appreciated. I think I can recall this being in the original this way as well.