Some design decisions I don't get

[Clovermite]

me pointing out that the AI is complete crap just shows that even putting tons of enemies into a mission won't make up for it being crap. That's something many recently released strategy games have in common, especially those with a multi-player part. Poor design, period!

As someone who's taken a game AI class, I can tell you that AI is an incredibly difficult thing to get right. If you give it too many decisions and priorities to try to make, it can end up running in circles or just sitting around deciding...stuck in a loop of what it should or shouldn't do.

For example, for the final in our AI class, we had to program a BOT for a deathmatch game, and then pit them all against each other in a FFA. Many of us tried to make it "smart" - shoot at the closest guy, unless there is someone who is about to die then shoot at him. Go get health if you are low and there is a med pack, otherwise try to kill the lowest health guy near you. The result is that they would stutter - walk in one direction for two steps, then turn around and walk two steps in the other direction, rinse and repeat.

There was ONE, however, that looked like a complete genius compared to all the others, and almost looked like a real person playing. Afterward we asked him what the secret was. He said he only gave it two commands:

1. Always shoot at the guy with the lowest health.
2. If a healthpack appears, go get it. If there is no health pack, walk towards the guy with the lowest health.

It sounds obvious in hindsight, but only one person out of 20 in the class figured it out. While the AI in the game is certainly no genius, I'd say it's at least decent. With all of the other complicated aspects of the game they had to create and polish in time, it makes sense to de-prioritize making a super smart AI and just get a working one in place.

 

[SQW]

Would you mind please putting the relevant 6 lines of code into your post and which files to update? I would like to try those tweaks, even though I'm not a hardcore gamer. However with a Steiner Recon Lance I'm holding my own through superior firepower.

A bit more than few lines but they are all in two files:

CombatGameConstants for accuracy tweaks.

View distance
"BaseSpotterDistance": 600.0,

Base accuracy decrease
"ToHitAssault": 1,
"ToHitHeavy": 2,
"ToHitMedium": 3,
"ToHitLight": 5,
"ToHitVehicleAssault": 0,
"ToHitVehicleHeavy": 1,
"ToHitVehicleMedium": 2,
"ToHitVehicleLight": 3,

Less accuracy if you moved (1 is 5% so adjust if you want)
"ToHitSelfWalkLight": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkMedium": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkHeavy": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkAssault": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkVehicle": 1,

Morale action cost
- Precision Strike
"OffensivePushCost": 30,
"OffensivePushLowMoraleCost": 40,
"OffensivePushHighMoraleCost": 20,

- UI text (fury is MP)

"Name": "PRECISION STRIKE",
"Details": "Take a Called Shot against a single target at -4 Difficulty. The target's next Initiative is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1).\n"
},
"MoraleCostAttackDescription":
{
"Name": "PRECISION STRIKE COST",
"Details": "Cost: 30 Morale"
},
"MoraleCostAttackDescriptionFury":
{
"Name": "PRECISION STRIKE COST FURY",
"Details": "Cost: 100 Fury"
},
"MoraleCostAttackDescriptionLow":
{
"Name": "PRECISION STRIKE COST LOW",
"Details": "Cost: <color=#F04228FF>40 Morale (this MechWarrior has Low Spirits)</color>"
},
"MoraleCostAttackDescriptionHigh":
{
"Name": "PRECISION STRIKE COST HIGH",
"Details": "Cost: <color=#85DBF6FF>20 Morale (this MechWarrior has High Spirits)</color>"
}

- Vigilance
"DefensivePushCost": 30,
"DefensivePushLowMoraleCost": 40,
"DefensivePushHighMoraleCost": 20,

- UI text
"Name": "VIGILANCE",
"Details": "Gain GUARDED and ENTRENCHED and remove all stability damage. Your next Initiative is increased by 1 (to a maximum of 5).\n"
},
"MoraleCostDefendDescription":
{
"Name": "VIGILANCE COST",
"Details": "Cost: 30 Morale"
},
"MoraleCostDefendDescriptionLow":
{
"Name": "VIGILANCE COST LOW",
"Details": "Cost: <color=#F04228FF>40 Morale (this MechWarrior has Low Spirits)</color>"
},
"MoraleCostDefendDescriptionHigh":
{
"Name": "VIGILANCE COST HIGH",
"Details": "Cost: <color=#85DBF6FF>20 Morale (this MechWarrior has High Spirits)</color>"
},



SimGameConstants for parts and morale tweaks.

"DefaultMechPartMax" : 5,
"DestroyedMechRecoveryChance" : 0.5, (or 0 if you want any of your CTed mechs to be gone)

 

[SQW]

Also you can try setting spotting to 700. You will end up fighting multiple lances at the same time. The AI also seems to preform better and will focus on you better. It also gives a reason for long range weapons to exist.

Sensor is at double the visual range atm. Did you adjust the senor multiplier? Otherwise you can tag the entire map.

 

[esotericist]

Less accuracy if you moved (1 is 5% so adjust if you want)
"ToHitSelfWalkLight": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkMedium": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkHeavy": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkAssault": 1,
"ToHitSelfWalkVehicle": 1,

This is pretty neat, thanks for this (and the other bits)

I'm surprised and disappointed that if they bothered to include those, there isn't a separate modifier for jumping. There REALLY should be a higher accuracy penalty for that. Maybe when they get around to those difficulty toggles that'll get included?

 

[SQW]

This is pretty neat, thanks for this (and the other bits)

I'm surprised and disappointed that if they bothered to include those, there isn't a separate modifier for jumping. There REALLY should be a higher accuracy penalty for that. Maybe when they get around to those difficulty toggles that'll get included?

Hmm, I don't know if jump and move are considered the same category since sprinting is the only movement that limit shooting. I never thought to check. =P

Edit: jumping counts as moved.

HBS held back because the vast majority of the player will not be able to handle equal footing with the current AI. The game needs to be fun first and challenging second. I suppose a difficulty setting would've helped on day but they are already 5 months behind schedule - at least it's so easy to tweak things.

The AI isn't bad. It's just we have so many tools it doesn't that the player can stream rolled them easily.

 

[Hasler]

Sensor is at double the visual range atm. Did you adjust the senor multiplier? Otherwise you can tag the entire map.

Sensor distance was its own separate code line. I set it equal to spot for now .

 

[esotericist]

Hmm, I don't know if jump and move are considered the same category since sprinting is the only movement that limit shooting. I never thought to check. =P HBS held back because the vast majority of the player will not be able to handle equal footing with the current AI. The game needs to be fun first and challenging second. I suppose a difficulty setting would've helped on day but they are already 5 months behind schedule - at least it's so easy to tweak things.

The AI isn't bad. It's just we have so many tools it doesn't that the player can stream rolled them easily.

To clarify regarding difficulty: we have multiple dev statements to the effect of they don't have any intention of implementing 'difficulty modes' (in the 'normal, easy, hard' sense), but do want to offer a set of toggles to let people 'dial-in' how much (or how little) they want to deal with in regards to things that can make the game harder or more true to lore. I think we can expect these to turn up sometime in the future (when the more important stuff is sorted out).

 

[SQW]

Sensor distance was its own separate code line. I set it equal to spot for now .

"ExtendedSensorDistanceMultiplier": 1.0,

This one?

 

[SQW]

To clarify regarding difficulty: we have multiple dev statements to the effect of they don't have any intention of implementing 'difficulty modes' (in the 'normal, easy, hard' sense), but do want to offer a set of toggles to let people 'dial-in' how much (or how little) they want to deal with in regards to things that can make the game harder or more true to lore. I think we can expect these to turn up sometime in the future (when the more important stuff is sorted out).

There's actually a easy, medium and hard setting file actually. At a glance they are mostly the same but in those setting, parts needed was 8. While Kiva's approach is not wrong, it is still a one size fits all for the middle of the bell curve approach. I fall on the right side of that curve so I HAVE to tweak it.

 

[esotericist]

There's actually a easy, medium and hard setting file actually. At a glance they are mostly the same but in those setting, parts needed was 8. While Kiva's approach is not wrong, it is still a one size fits all for the middle of the bell curve approach. I fall on the right side of that curve so I HAVE to tweak it.

Right, they abandoned the difficulty settings approach in development, near as I can tell we just have some artifacts left over in the data files. But what I'm getting at is at least some of those tweaks will almost certainly be available in-game in a fine-grained knob approach, and I think that's better for everyone, most especially the people who aren't in the middle of the bell curve, but have wildly differing notions of what's easy and what's hard. (Or more importantly, what's engaging, and what's anti-fun)

 

[General Lee High]

@SQW Thank you!!

 

[Rumrunner711]

Definitely agree with number 3. All I want to be able to do is drag a mech to another slot....

Agreed!

Though I could see the Commander telling Yang, "Okay, I want this mech in this bay, and this mech in THIS bay" and Yang having a thought-bubble about pushing the Commander out an airlock.

 

[SQW]

@SQW Thank you!!

I just lost two mechs with the Orion not recovered so don't thank me yet. lol The drop in accuracy really gives the AI a fighting chance when it out numbers you.

Also, 600 sight range is a bit too much. Recommend 450 - 500.

 

[Hasler]

"ExtendedSensorDistanceMultiplier": 1.0,

This one?

There is two lines :
"ExtendedSensorDistanceMultiplier"
"BaseSensorDistance"

The only command that isn't obvious in the code stack is "AsymmetricalSensors" I don't know what the actual effect of setting that to false would be.

 

[ElleShaped]

Agreed!

Though I could see the Commander telling Yang, "Okay, I want this mech in this bay, and this mech in THIS bay" and Yang having a thought-bubble about pushing the Commander out an airlock.

"NO! This one goes HERE, THAT one goes THERE!" </HanSolo>

 

[Ryltar]

As you rank skills up, they have major effects.

You mention a desire for colorblind settings, so maybe you cannot see the red markers around the spots where the dropship is going to land. I see them quite clearly, but I could see it being a problem if you are red/green because most of the ground colors are shades of either red or green.

There is also a tooltip when you are looking at those dots which indicates that a dropship is about to land there and that it will do very bad things to mech on that location when the dropship lands.

In short, there are at least two indicators in the game.

That's not what I ment with skills don't have an impact. It's quite obvious that a pilot with higher levels is better in battle. What I ment is that I miss some influence on actions taken: Like jumping around and landing on difficult terrain without having to do a check for falling over. Things like that.

And i will check for those spots you mentioned the next time i have a capture mission but the easies solution for that might be, that the dropship doesn't land immediately after the last enemy gets killed. There are mechanics in the game that would be much clearer to recognize - like the one for artillery strikes - that could be used instead and it would kill nobody if it would take the dropship to arrive 1-2 rounds after the mission objectives were fulfilled.