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Post by Space Borders on Jul 3, 2015 14:03:30 GMT -5
So I've been thinking about ways to improve the AI. For starters, alien ships don't "auto-heal" at all, nor do they have a repair ship of any kind, so that's a huge disadvantage. Also, they target an object, they go for it and they kill or get killed (most of the time get killed). We need them to stand down and regroup so they can heal, which would also make it harder for the player to hide inside that main formation all the time. Just to refresh the points I've mentioned before together with the new ones:a) step up the two destroyers to use the next heavier turrets. b) increase the range of the alien turrets slightly. Most of the time more than 50% of their health is drained, before they can even get into firing range. c) increase the durability of the drones from drone carriers. d) allow masterminds to spawn more than just a single unit at the same time. e) use advanced formations, e.g. use the drone carriers and heavy battlecruisers as the main attack units, while protecting the carrier with heavy destroyers and light battlecruisers. f) add advanced tactics, allowing the aliens to do multidirectional simultaneous attacking. g) auto-heal for alien capital ships. h) retreat when taking heavy damage. Problems:Honestly after playing a little on maximum difficulty, I can safely say that points a) to d) are not really necessary. On the other hand d) might be required for e) to work. The biggest problem with h) is that alien ships attempting to retreat will probably be destroyed anyways and make less damage in total. All of this is highly debatable and I'm looking forward to your input. Thanks.
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Post by three3pryme on Jul 3, 2015 14:24:10 GMT -5
i would add F G and H
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Post by Space Borders on Jul 3, 2015 14:29:00 GMT -5
OK, good choices, but why not "e"? Also what about the problem I've mentioned regarding H?
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Post by three3pryme on Jul 3, 2015 15:19:06 GMT -5
well, E anf F to me sound too similar and H you can have it retreat at like 50 percent or even higher anyway so it has a chance
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Post by Clinkzbone on Jul 4, 2015 10:05:35 GMT -5
E, F, G, H. Maybe for H make it so that only smaller ships (fighters, corvettes) try to run away? They have the speed to attempt an escape, and if they fail they were hardly doing any damage anyway.
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Post by three3pryme on Jul 4, 2015 10:16:05 GMT -5
actually i disban my vote for H, theres really no point if the aliens cant repair. and besides if they can, there can be too many of them and the can overload the EDF too easilly..
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Post by Space Borders on Jul 5, 2015 6:28:22 GMT -5
well, E anf F to me sound too similar and H you can have it retreat at like 50 percent or even higher anyway so it has a chance But E and F are very different. Yes, they can try to retreat earlier, but at 50% it would probably be too late. E, F, G, H. Maybe for H make it so that only smaller ships (fighters, corvettes) try to run away? They have the speed to attempt an escape, and if they fail they were hardly doing any damage anyway. Yes, that might work, at least they have the speed to get away. We could also make them join larger ships and try again, kind of like calling the big brother for help.
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Post by three3pryme on Jul 5, 2015 9:00:00 GMT -5
yeah earlier i guess, and i meant like 50 percent or higher but its your decision.
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Post by Space Borders on Jul 5, 2015 11:48:22 GMT -5
Take a look at the attached graph. The equations are just there for reference, but not important for this discussion. What really matters is CM, Ravg and Rmax and how we are going to place masterminds regarding these three variables. To understand what each of them is, read the short description on the left side. Also, check out the two questions below a) and b). a) refers to the instance at which a mastermind is spawned, or when a mastermind is shot at and then returns to the battle zone. This usually depends on the mission. In DSM they are spawned right at the beginning. The problem with b) is probably very obvious. As long as masterminds keep their distance to the fleet, it will be very hard to spot them. You will probably need to use a lot of probes, the radar scan, or a stealth Gladiator to discover them. Attachments:
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Post by three3pryme on Jul 5, 2015 13:00:56 GMT -5
Its too bad i'm only 14 and cant understand Equasions much. but i can see what your saying.
But we dont want another starport one incident again right?
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Post by Clinkzbone on Jul 5, 2015 21:54:41 GMT -5
For (a), I think the Masterminds should be in between min and max.
For (b), constantly updating makes logical sense but boring gameplay, unfortunately, so I think not updating unless attacked is the best bet.
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Post by Space Borders on Jul 6, 2015 5:22:16 GMT -5
For (a), I think the Masterminds should be in between min and max. For (b), constantly updating makes logical sense but boring gameplay, unfortunately, so I think not updating unless attacked is the best bet. Ok, so not even on higher difficulty levels?
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Post by Clinkzbone on Jul 6, 2015 9:14:15 GMT -5
There's a difference between being difficult and being tedious. Increased difficulty is good (up to a point, naturally. Being impossible is not a usually a good selling point), but increased tedium is bad as it reduces player interest.
Having then run away constantly does not really increase difficulty, in the sense that enemies are still spawned at the same rate. However, it does increase tedium by forcing the player to spend more time looking for the masterminds.
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Post by three3pryme on Jul 6, 2015 10:25:54 GMT -5
Clinkzbone I Concurr! but what if they run away and are somehow able to repair? that could be a little topped!
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Post by three3pryme on Jul 6, 2015 10:28:53 GMT -5
So it woudnt really make a difference no matter the difficulty level?
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