I have been playing around and testing different ways to make AI squadrons and groups act more team like. For example, using different attack patterns and maneuvers. I have listed what I have been playing around with, but I mainly wanted to ask if any other FREDDers wanted to share or brainstorm ideas. I have currently been playing around with the following:
Dynamic battle updates:
My goal is to make the AI more aware of the battle conditions, and act accordingly. So for example, if the enemy determines it is out numbered the fighters will try and retreat and not just wait until they get picked off one by one. To accomplish this I have been using variables and any-of SEXPs to count the number of ships for each side every 20 seconds or so, and then if the Index gets to a certain threshold it tells the AI to do something. So for example, one SEXP counts the number of enemy fighters for each side in a variable (battle update index), while another SEXP keeps track of ships getting destroyed in the same variable. I have also played around with weighting these too, based on the ships present, and absence or presence of larger ships. If the battle update index reaches a certain threshold then it gives the order to the respective team to disengage and retreat. Taking it one step further, I have also been setting the AI types to become more evasive, and chosen a few fighters to cover the retreat of the rest.
Multi-Ship Maneuvers
My goal was top get the AI to pull off more sophisticated attack plans, such as one ship drawing fire while a few more fell in to destroy targets. I have been playing around with choosing one sip and randomly setting way-points for it to follow, while ordering two other ships to guard it if it's health falls below a certain level. Another method I have been using with dynamic way-points is finding the relative center of a squadron and then dynamically placing two way-points on either side with a SEXP and ordering each half of the squadron to follow one, in other words a splitting maneuver.
I have been testing some additional ideas, but I mainly just wanted to list my thought process and keep the post brief. With that being said I would love to hear what the community thinks might be a cool way to SEXP a unique AI behavior or what could be improved with what I mentioned here.
Any and all feedback is very welcome!
