AI: Targeting

[Kamamura]

The AI is very solid, but two areas strike me with room for improvement; namely:

- choice of spawnpoints should take into account the objective proximity and choose those that have greater chance to hinder the marine progress
- AI targeting sometimes behaves strangely, I have seen an alien that run successfully through overwatch fire (bolter jam), got into melee range (!) with another marine, but didn't attack, chosing to chase the shooter instead. He run out of AP and was shot the next round - that is odd.

Another example - last alien was surrounded by two marines - with claw and sword, the swordsman did not have overwatch. One would expect the alien to attack the swordsman, because claws are much stronger - but no, he attacked the claw marine and died, because he was adjacent (rather to turn and run for the other).

[Niklas]

- choice of spawnpoints should take into account the objective proximity and choose those that have greater chance to hinder the marine progressAs I've said before, this can be done by level designer to enabling and disabling entrypoints. I will be pretty hard to know exactly what route the player will take and which entrypoint is better or worse.

Also having enemies spawning in random all over the map will make you feel like they know you are there and they try to take you out...but they do not know why you are there.

But I'll put this thread in future.

[mr curtis]

It's a little easier when specific objectives (eg. escape, secure, operate, etc.) are involved.

Generally the rule is to spawn between the marines and their objective.
You'd still need some randomness, so that some still attack from the sides and rear - we just need to make sure that they spawn at suitably close areas and not all the way across the map where they have little chance of catching up with the marines.

[Niklas]

Curtis: Well, that could be done with just changing how the entrypoints are picked...today.

int spawn_behavior = rand()%8; // 0-4> closest, 5-6> random, 7> far away (chicken)

Give me any values and we can go with those.

[Kamamura]

To the point of targetting - there is really a problem and it becomes more pronounced the more I play. I will try to send repros.

Basically, it boils down to aliens failing to retarget. They sometimes pass my marines altogether, heading for some distant target (though they could kill them easily). It's more pronounced on the first mission of Into the Wild.