I am personally looking forward to taking out back of the beyond missions, just so I can stomp on in and blow away some jury rigged pierats frankenmech. Not very lucrative but fun and easy
Having had the joy of playing @Amechwarrior modded version of the beta, his changes made a big difference to how the AI played, as he said, especially with reserving. Playing the modded default starter lance/pilots vs the AI with the same held a reasonable amount of challenge. Taking the overall strategic considerations into account it would have been generally verging on pyrrhic victories at times. My presumption is that HBS has taken it even further - so there should be sufficient challenge, and this should in no way be seen as a denegration of Amechwarrior's sterling work - he has given me many hours of refreshed fun with the beta files - thank you good sir!
Indeed. I'm will be fascinating to see how effective it will be and will be and will play a large factor in whether we see strategy gamers who are not deeply invested in the IP as fans.HBS has had two people working full time on the AI for more than a year. The AI build we saw in beta is now 8+ months old.
Why, that's a good idea HAL...Would you like to play a game?
It's worth noting here that at least some of her testing uses AI vs. AI matches to save time.Remember also that Kiva keeps getting pilots killed, and I can't believe that's an incredible string of bad luck. I think it's a sign that they improved the AI a lot.
Why, that's a good idea HAL...
Awesome.I found and activated a "I can't do that dave" sound bite hidden in the beta files...
Yeah, the first time an enemy with 5+ in Gunnery uses multi-shot to target 3 of your mechs... seeing those precious Evasive pips dropping like flies... I’m all like “hey! That’s MY trick! No fair!”
A key question for me during the AI Dev Q&A went something like this, "We know the AI controls each Enemy Mech Independently, but is there a Lance-level AI that helps ensure there is rhyme, reason and supporting maneuver between each Enemy Mech?"
While there had not been such a Lance-level AI at the time, as I recall it HBS acknowledged the potential value of such an AI-construct, though indicated that it might be beyond the scope of BATTLETECH at Launch.
In the fullness of time, @HBS_dlecompte (aka Dave) will hopefully be able to shed more light on many things AI.I cant wait to see what the AI comes up with
Heres to hoping the campaign missions arent just 14 mechs, 10 vehicles, 9 air strikes, 21 turrets, 2 drop ships and 5 turns to kill it all in....
Then again, these guys arent Russian devs...
Yeah, even the Miner mission IIRC included personal testimonial from a member of the Press that he split his forces and managed to trigger the defenders at both sites simultaneously....As we saw in the miner mission, we will have missions with specific objectives we have to do and they will pop up as we complete them.
Multiple waves of enemies are very likely and hidden enemies that pop up when least expected.
So did Kiva overtune the campaign to be a 10% chance to win kind of thing? Like massively underestimating the AI and making them amazing?Yeah, even the Miner mission IIRC included personal testimonial from a member of the Press that he split his forces and managed to trigger the defenders at both sites simultaneously....
...it was a Bad day.
...it was a Kiva-kind of day.