[aRaven]

Hi there,

I have modified the ai_profiles.tbl (mainly insane section) to my liking only to discover the ai to behave very oddly.
My intention was to have the insane action going on the insane difficulty without the AI being super accurate.

Sadly the action is greatly reduced when I select the custom ai profile "test" in the mission editor for the mission I want to fly in to watch for the changes. The enemy AI often disengages and flies straight away from the battlefield without entering the battle anymore and very little to no evasion is going on for them when being fired at. This problem even persists when no changes are made to the default ai_profiles (that one from the wiki).

Does anybody here have an idea why that is and how can this be fixed?

I've attached my modified table for you to check.

[attachment deleted by evil Tolwyn]

[chief1983]

19 for turn time scale?  Doesn't that seem a bit high to you?  The easy setting has only 3.  Your shields will also recharge so fast you'll likely never die.  I'm surprised you didn't tweak the weapon recharge scale to go along with the lack of a fire penalty, you'll drain your banks fairly quickly.  It's an interesting little idea though, but you might want to rethink a couple of values.  Turn Time scale probably doesn't need to be changed.  Player Damage Factor is something else you might want to drop, it would really help survivability.

As far as why they're leaving, my only guess is that inflated turn time scale value.

[aRaven]

19 for turn time scale? 

whoa i must have mistaken something. the shield recharge rate is 19, because I wanted to check if it actually does something. Normally I would have everything on 1 to give the  AI the same chances as myself. Such as weapon recharge (1). It always bugs me why my weapons can recharge faster than the AI ones...

Thanks for pointing out that mistake...I will revert the setting.


EDIT: Thanks chief! That was the problem...I was tired that night I think ^^

[chief1983]

They shouldn't recharge faster on insane.  The whole point is that since it's a game, most people are going to need a bit of a boost to oversome the insurmountable odds they're faced with in order to win, but some people are sick bastards and can win on a level playing field.

[aRaven]

I hope FOTG and all other TCs have a difficulty setting based on insane, but with survivable odds without the use of apparent cheats(shield recharge rate, weapon recharge rate). That's what I'm aiming for with default FS2... I might have to edit missions too.

[General Battuta]

I'm pretty sure you're wrong. The Insane AI doesn't cheat. Rather, on every lower difficulty, the game cheats in your favor (gives you damage resistance.) On Insane, it's closer to fair play.

That's why you're getting your arse kicked - you don't have special bonuses protecting you any more.

If the game was realistic you'd die nearly every mission, given the odds against you. Insane just establishes something close to that realism.

Then again, I could be wrong.

[aRaven]

Rather, on every lower difficulty, the game cheats in your favor (gives you damage resistance.) On Insane, it's closer to fair play.

that is what i meant. i aim for higher realism.

apart from the accuracy. when every shot is a hit, regardless what evasive maneuver the evading fighter does, it isn't realistic.

A high $Predict Position Delay: doesn't do what it says for me. The AI is still able predict your position very quickly.

[General Battuta]

Rather, on every lower difficulty, the game cheats in your favor (gives you damage resistance.) On Insane, it's closer to fair play.

that is what i meant. i aim for higher realism.

apart from the accuracy. when every shot is a hit, regardless what evasive maneuver the evading fighter does, it isn't realistic.

A high $Predict Position Delay: doesn't do what it says for me. The AI is still able predict your position very quickly.

Doesn't that seem fairly realistic for trained fighter pilots...?

[chief1983]

I'm pretty sure that FotG will be fairly impossible on insane, as it's a universe where the odds are even more against you.  Ships in Star Wars are way more fragile than those in FreeSpace, especially TIEs.  So playing as a TIE on insane, you pretty much have to fly a perfect mission.  I'm sure there's some crazy bastards out there who could do it but they'll be few and far between, and the game will not be intended to be beatable at that skill level.  It will probably be more of a survivor mode for each mission, you can brag about how long you managed to stay alive, or how many dozens of times you tried a mission before fate smiled on you and you managed to accomplish all your goals intact.

[aRaven]

Rather, on every lower difficulty, the game cheats in your favor (gives you damage resistance.) On Insane, it's closer to fair play.

that is what i meant. i aim for higher realism.

apart from the accuracy. when every shot is a hit, regardless what evasive maneuver the evading fighter does, it isn't realistic.

A high $Predict Position Delay: doesn't do what it says for me. The AI is still able predict your position very quickly.

Doesn't that seem fairly realistic for trained fighter pilots...?

i could upload all my table modifications along with the ai_profiles.tbl ...faster ship speeds, modified weapon values...then try some mission (currently im at SOC) and you will see how fast the battles are over.

what i like about insane are the evasive maneuvers of the AI...you can hardly hit them if they don't want to be hit. i'd like to see some variation in AI skill to. Not everybody is an ace in a battle.