Enemy AI with Light Mechs and finding an easy way to uninstall a clean Battletech

[Torm51]

Hey guys,

Love the game obviously but I wish the AI would do a better job (like in Battle Brothers). Right now if an enemy Locust cant shoot my 7 evasion Pip shadow hawk at close range it decides to melee because it cant hit...bad idea, the answer 9 times out of 10 in a Light is to move as much as possible and limit the amount of mechs that can shoot at it...the next round my Shadow Hawk just punches it and destroys it. With heavier mechs the AI does a better job due to the fact that they have firepower and tonnage so i cant one hit KO it in melee..I might have to move if other enemies are in range. I know there is a great AI mod and I have installed mods before successfully but it seems like most updates invalidate these mods and its a pain in the butt to uninstall and get a clean install on BT. I know there is a video for it on you tube..is that still up to date? What do you guys do??

 

[scJazz]

Use the Better AI, Battletech Mod Loader and ModTek which you can find on Github.

Search for janxious for BTML and ModTek and amechwarrior for Better AI.

And yes the youtube is up to date.

 

[Amechwarrior]

What do you guys do??

I wrote my own AI mod. Better AI

It works just fine in 1.3.2 and it also shouldn't mess with any saves. Heck, I to my A/B testing by going from stock to modded with in-combat saves and I've never had an issue with Better AI screwing with save games. I just edit the existing values the game uses and so far, have not made anything new. This is great for not breaking people's saves.

For example, you brought up the LCT rushing to close on your SHD.

    {
        /* A weight for an influence factor to prefer to get
           inside melee range. Negative values will encourage
           units to get out of melee range. */
            "k" : "Float_PreferInsideMeleeRangeFactorWeight",
            "v" : {
        "type" : "Float",
        "floatVal" : 0.5
            }
    },
    {
        /* A weight for an influence factor to prefer to get
           inside melee range WHEN SPRINTING. Negative values will
           encourage units to get out of melee range. */
            "k" : "Float_SprintPreferInsideMeleeRangeFactorWeight",
            "v" : {
        "type" : "Float",
        "floatVal" : 0.3
            }
    },

Here we can see the stock settings for preferring to get inside melee range. The positive values of 0.5 and 0.3 mean the base AI global.json encourages getting inside melee range, for everything. While a LCT is likely using the "Scout" role, the default role_scout.json does not alter this.

I've changed that to -0.5 and -0.7 respecively for the base role and Scouts get an increased -1.0 for both. Vehicles get an even more extreme -4.0 for both to really push them away from getting smashed. Setting those variables in to negative values will encourage moving out of melee range. There are a lot of variables that will go in to any move, but these two help make easy melee strikes much harder. My AI mod is still being tuned for 1.3.2, I've been working on these values in particular as the AI is still moving in to a HTC's melee range to get some good shots off on a wounded unit it doesn't quite need to enter melee ranges to get the same results.

While I'm still working on a fully 1.3 tuned AI, the current release is much harder than stock and fully compatible and revertible at any time.

 

[unclecid]

when it come to a clean uninstall i use revo uninstaller first.
then delete anything HBS or paradox in appdata
and if necessary delete save files too

 

[Torm51]

I appreciate the replies. You guys rock! I will check out Amechwarriors mod for sure.

 

[Edmon]

If you need any help, hit me up. I created most of the technical guides for Battletech and have gotten even the most green novices enjoying mods .

There is a lot of great content out there in the modding community, don't miss out on it.

 

[SQW]

HBS really need to make the uninstall process cleaner. =(

 

[Eximar]

I can tell you that after @Amechwarrior 's mod, you'll never be able to play against the default AI again.
We change so many settings to try to make it challenging, but this is the #1 building block in the process imho.

 

[Torm51]

Ok I have BTML and Modtek installed properly. I am reading how to properly install a Modtek bud but I am a bit confused. I have Amechwarriors Better AI downloaded but am not quite sure how to install it. I do not see a read me. Do I just place the entire file inside Battletech/mods ??

PS how do i know better AI is installed?

 

[unclecid]

just extract it to mods folder.
btml/modtek do the rest when game starts.

check out

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam Library\steamapps\common\BATTLETECH\Mods\.modtek\ModTek.log

to see the load order

but as soon as you do a mission you will see a difference....

 

[Torm51]

Cool. I did that in .modtek I do not see a Modtek.log,

I played the game and fought a column of enemy armor and they did seem much tougher. I did get a small bug though, when I did the bonusable objectives in the mission the yellow text below it that says what you got the increase for read " contract payment increased by error: resolving ToPercentString on 0.1 could not load type 'language' but I did get the money. This is the only issue im seeing with BTML, Modtek and Better AI installed... I installed this during a current play through.

Update-The Topercentstring error is fixed...I had downloaded out of date BTML and Modtek...good thing i made a backup of the data folder. The mod SEEMS to be working as with the new modtek when i first loaded the game it had a green bar that said it was loading better AI then it did so successfully. Also in the BT Modtek folder there is a notpad file named Modtek that says it loaded better AI.

I had a base defense contract against Liao, and was getting swarmed by locusts a jenner and a panther, they did move more. I still got meleed by a locust! But he got away with it because I had to move instead of meleeing him back because i had 3 other locusts that were going to target me if I didnt build evasion and just meleed.. do not know if that was just a coincidence lol

 

[SQW]

I had a base defense contract against Liao, and was getting swarmed by locusts a jenner and a panther, they did move more. I still got meleed by a locust! But he got away with it because I had to move instead of meleeing him back because i had 3 other locusts that were going to target me if I didnt build evasion and just meleed.. do not know if that was just a coincidence lol

No, BT AI doesn't work as a team. They individually assess the situation at the moment without taking into consideration of what actions the team mates could do later. This is the key reason why a good human player can easily handle 2v1 odds as long as it isn't a straight up brawl on open ground.

Just curious, what mech were you using that was in danger of getting swarmed?

 

[Torm51]

No, BT AI doesn't work as a team. They individually assess the situation at the moment without taking into consideration of what actions the team mates could do later. This is the key reason why a good human player can easily handle 2v1 odds as long as it isn't a straight up brawl on open ground.

Just curious, what mech were you using that was in danger of getting swarmed?

I was not really, its just a term I used for lots of lights coming at me, it was more of a I do not want to sit still and take 1 round of 5 or 6 lights shooting at me with no evasion because I could take an unlucky injury. I was in a custom Shadow Hawk 2d. Up armored with 3 Medium Lasers, a SRM 8 and 2 small lasers. max JJs for mobility.

 

[Amechwarrior]

Cool. I did that in .modtek I do not see a Modtek.log,

I played the game and fought a column of enemy armor and they did seem much tougher. I did get a small bug though, when I did the bonusable objectives in the mission the yellow text below it that says what you got the increase for read " contract payment increased by error: resolving ToPercentString on 0.1 could not load type 'language' but I did get the money. This is the only issue im seeing with BTML, Modtek and Better AI installed... I installed this during a current play through.

Update-The Topercentstring error is fixed...I had downloaded out of date BTML and Modtek...good thing i made a backup of the data folder. The mod SEEMS to be working as with the new modtek when i first loaded the game it had a green bar that said it was loading better AI then it did so successfully. Also in the BT Modtek folder there is a notpad file named Modtek that says it loaded better AI.

I had a base defense contract against Liao, and was getting swarmed by locusts a jenner and a panther, they did move more. I still got meleed by a locust! But he got away with it because I had to move instead of meleeing him back because i had 3 other locusts that were going to target me if I didnt build evasion and just meleed.. do not know if that was just a coincidence lol

No, BT AI doesn't work as a team. They individually assess the situation at the moment without taking into consideration of what actions the team mates could do later. This is the key reason why a good human player can easily handle 2v1 odds as long as it isn't a straight up brawl on open ground.

Just curious, what mech were you using that was in danger of getting swarmed?

Thanks for giving my mod a shot! I love feedback and need as many different players providing data to find what needs improving.

Yes, the AI doesn't really work in a coordinated Lance the way a player does. As for that LTC, I want to stress my AI mod makes it "less dumb" than stock. It will still making stupid moves, but less of them. If you want to see those LCTs flee from melee, check out the 'Daily Test Branch" build on Better AI's github page. Right now I got a number of improvements in but still tuning melee avoidance/acceptance stuff. The current test build has things a little too far and my LCTs are coming in to take one shot, then fleeing at max speed and returning again. This would be great in a light swarm, but when you have one light working in a conventional Lance it's a loss of firepower/sensor lock. Lights and their "Scout" role is the hardest one to tune. Too many "Scouts" in a Lance and they swap to all brawlers forever and then they are acting like a HBK. Worst part of it, the Scout max code isn't part of a json like sniper/brawler max. So Light swarms get really weird and hard to tune.

Also, for the next Better AI update, AI crit chance is being set to 1, from 0.2. So expect to lose more gear as one more shackle is being removed from the AI and their crit rolls will be on par with the player. Been playing a 8 part career with this and it's manageable.