AI mod that makes enemies synchronize?

[6800f195bca62notanavatar]

So part of the problem of this game is that you have a mix of melee and ranged units. the melee units are supposed to be like shock troops and the ranged units are supposed to be in the back attacking you but because there is a lack of coordination and different movement speeds I feel like there are some really cheesey areas of the game where they slowly walk in 1 by 1 getting whacked.

I just had this happen with a spider and a cyborg... I kind of wish both units would map out movement paths to stay 'coupled' in motion near each other so what should have happened is

spider arcs around corner to get in my face with both the commando and the spider appearing in my field of vision at the same time (at different distances), possibly necessitating one of the units to move slower or to take a slightly inefficient path, but the idea would be they pop up at the same time, then I need to decide between close and far enemy .. sometimes the game feels like a conveyor belt instead of facing a mass attack. In my example if I decided to shoot the spider the assassin would already hit me and if I decided to shoot the assassin the spider would poison me because they are showing up at the same time but far enough apart so I can't shoot both easily. Instead I can use the slowest weapons because it feels like delayed time.

Secmod kind of does this nice with the turret encounter with a group of zombies running together very well, granted synchronization and seperation (spread out to avoid AOE damage) would be better then deathballs.. and both of those need to be resistant to turning corners when they decide to move like that.

[6800f195bcb97notanavatar]

I actually imagine things starting to turn corners like cars 'drifting' in parallel being fun to play against

[6800f195bcd6avoodoo47]

this is random afaik, so no.

[6800f195bd1acZylonBane]

this game

WHAT GAME?

[6800f195bd350notanavatar]

it seems to happen around areas that are more wide, like the rickenbacker. I even tried increasing the enemy count, it never felt like you are up against a coordinated force. You might think assault bots might be programmed to.. mount a coordinated assault. I think I first noticed it with midwives, the first fast long ranged units. You would think if there were two they would decide to walk out at the same time, like every action movie ever, where they shoot together at the same time during a firefight. Anything robotic seems like it would be smart enough to have some group coordination, especially with radios... and it allows for interesting game mechanics like possibly being able to jam communications between enemies in a tactical sense to make them act dumber (something related to the EMP rifle I would guess).

In secmod, it would make the auto-fire modification more useful if you actually run into alot of enemies

[6800f195bd469notanavatar]

I think it should happen when the AI thinks you are 'luring it', but not when it thinks you are running from it (in that case, when you are injured, having shots land faster rather then more of them is preferential). But if you were to start spamming grenades they might want to change their tactics too...

[6800f195bd720JDoran]

A few years back, I read a 'making of' article somewhere on the 'net, about a first person shooter, I can't remember which one (it might have been the first F.E.A.R game), and in it the developers said that they have really pushed the enemy A. I., so that it planned and flanked and did everything very well, but then they had to really reduce the A. I. again, because the testers found it much too difficult and not at all fun to play.

Gamers often voice a wish for better A. I. in games, but what they (including me, no doubt) really want is the illusion of intelligence, but with the A. I. still very much erring on the side of player enjoyment. When an enemy is in cover, for example, good A. I. would keep the enemy hidden for a couple of minutes at least, probably with random shots fired blindly in the player's direction, in the hope that the player himself would grow tired of waiting and come out of cover and approach the enemy's hiding place.

Bad A. I. would keep the enemy in cover for about six seconds, then the enemy would stick his head up above the cover then he'd raise himself up further and bring his gun over the top and look for the player. Thereby giving the player a few seconds to take aim and head-shot the enemy before the enemy can lock on and shoot. Bad A. I., but fun game-play.

I'm not saying that better, more organised A. I. is necessarily bad (especially since some gamers would prefer more realistic combat situations, including half-hour standoffs, not me though) but that it's not enough just to have good A. I., it also has to be balanced with gameplay, and I'm not sure I'd like SS2 to have really skilled enemy synchronisation.

It's an interesting idea, though, and of course if anyone with the necessary skill did implement this then it would be an optional mod, so we wouldn't be forced to use it, and I would probably try it our, from curiosity.

[6800f195bd911notaavatar]

Well, I tried to make the AI more 'assault' like, so they want to kill you instead of defend a position, in most cases, but I am sure in some parts of the game a standoff would make sense and be fun, the enviroment in the stations is friendly to bouncing grenades and such though, so most of the time you can blow up campers, especially with SECMOD hand grenades, but I think the 'fun' part would be to focus on 'hordes' forming properly.

Ok, when I was in BOTM, it started to remind me of 'in the mouth of madness' , the gulf of the unknown scene, thats the vibe I got from the place, particularly with the membranes on the entry points that you need to tear open..
youtube.com/watch?v=agWPEWophEU

So when you argo enough enemies its like a legion that's following you, so you cannot easily thin them out by trying to make them individually cross corners. It would give meaning to AOE, rapid inaccurate fire, etc. I feel like with how this game is you can pin point shoot your way through alot because of the 'trickle'.

There is something to be said about the melee too, but I won't even try to comment on that because I really don't know much about primitive fighting. For some reason with melee and cyborgs, jason and the argonauts come to mind, as old as it is, with the skeletons.

[6800f195bda14notaavatar]

and you know I would not mind seeing enemies get real smart, like hiding behind a rumbler that is acting as a shield to bring the weak enemies closer to you.