AI boosting still seems like flipping a coin

[LameFox]

If they are lucky, they boost away their shields and stop somewhere without hostiles, giving them time to recharge. This is still sometimes ruined by the pilot being more eager to return to combat than their shields are eager to regenerate.

If they're unlucky, they boost away their shields but end up still near enemies, who promptly engage and tear through the hull, with any possibility of escape now removed.



The AI doesn't seem to know the difference. They boost away from where they are now, not considering if they are flying out of the frying pan and into a swarm of Xenon fighters. I know there's probably not much that can be done to fix it, but nonetheless it's frustrating to run into things like this where the gameplay as designed relies on the AI being smarter than it is. I end up watching my ships make a dumb decision and die for no reason. I hope that in future games there will be consideration of the limits of the AI that have been displayed in this one, when designing features like boosting.

[dtpsprt]

Well said but there is a "mitigating factor" have your ships "Escape" in the General Options menu instead of the default "Use Judgement" when attacked and, of course, without notification so they'll not wait for you to agree loosing precious time.

This will have them head for the nearest friendly station or for the nearest system.

Since in most games played civilian ships are the majority it's best to put this in the general options menu and make the exception of "Use Judgement" (if you want) in your warships. Of course if your play is "aggressive" you do it the other way around...

P.S. What kind of judgement is for a civilian to go against a destroyer or an I is in the mind of Egosoft's devs...

[LameFox]

I set all my civilian ships to flee, this is more about the behaviour of S and M ships in combat (although as I noted in an earlier thread, fleeing doesn't seem as useful now as it was ). I can have ships that are very well equipped to deal with the threat they are facing end up dying because they chose a poor direction to fly while depleting their shields, and there's nothing I can do but throw more ships at the problem so they're less likely to be singled out.

[dtpsprt]

I set all my civilian ships to flee, this is more about the behaviour of S and M ships in combat (although as I noted in an earlier thread, fleeing doesn't seem as useful now as it was ). I can have ships that are very well equipped to deal with the threat they are facing end up dying because they chose a poor direction to fly while depleting their shields, and there's nothing I can do but throw more ships at the problem so they're less likely to be singled out.

Well... during combat everything is flipping a coin.

To begin with, how deep inside the "sphere of combat" (known as "the furball" by fighter pilots) is the ship and can it's remaining shields take it away?
Then of course, if they have to turn, what is their speed? Can they turn in time? (let's not forget granpa Newton)
Last but not least let's not forget granpa Murphy: How many stray shots both enemy and friendly are in their direction of movement?

[LameFox]

I mean I know there is bound to be some element of chance in it. Even for a player some of that applies. But we are able to think ahead and know if where we are stopping will get us killed, and they are not. From what I've observed they don't turn a lot while boosting, just floor it and hope for the best. This can lead them into passing groups of enemies, or further down the line of enemies trickling into the system.

It's not that I want my ships to never die, I just want them to quit dying in ways that make me embarrassed for them and frustrated that I let them fly a ship.

[dtpsprt]

I was actually talking about their speed before boosting if they have to make a turn.

As for being ashamed you hired them you shouldn't be. This part is for Egosoft that, unfortunately, in X4 has all the focus in the economy and how to stall the player's economic progress (to make the game last longer) and about 0 focus on battle.

[flywlyx]

I think that is intentioned, at least partially.
Just like capital ships never perfectly reach their destination and none of the ships could use their travel drive properly.
These should be the very basic movement and Ego's physic engine is not even close to anything complex.
The only explanation is these behaviors are all intentional.
What I think is best for all of us is removing these intentioned imperfections, so it is easier to figure out what could be improved.

[A5PECT]

Part of the issue is that boosting is tied to shields, and the AI boosts until they hit about 50% of their maximum shield capacity. This means that depending on the ship's engine and shield generator combination, they will boost in ways that don't actually help them in combat:

a) If their boost efficiency is very low, they'll perform boosts that don't displace them enough from the fight and drain shielding that would've helped them survive longer than if they hadn't boosted
b) If their boost efficiency is very high, they'll perform boosts that displace them too much, completely removing them from combat so they can't contribute their damage to the fight until they fly back at cruising speed

Tying boosting to shielding wasn't a good decision, imo. I'd much prefer if each ship had a separate boost capacity stat that boosting drew from instead of shields: the AI wouldn't be able to shoot itself in the foot as easily, and it would be a new angle to create ship diversity and balance.

[Axeface]

and the AI boosts until they hit about 50% of their maximum shield capacity.

Is this for s and M ships? Capitals boost until they are completely dry in multiple scenarios, and as soon as they regen about 1% they do it again and again until whatever thing they want to do gets done.
And yes, boost shield drain should go imo. Egosoft said before the game even released that they were considering it. Its just another feature thats got lost to time and other priorities.
Quick fix could be to stop capitals from boosting at all, its not like it makes them move much anyway.

[A5PECT]

Is this for s and M ships? Capitals boost until they are completely dry in multiple scenarios, and as soon as they regen about 1% they do it again and again until whatever thing they want to do gets done.

Do they? I've never seen an AI-controlled capital ship boost unless ordered to flee.

[LameFox]

I've also seen M ships totally drain their shields boosting. In fact the ones that inspired this thread were doing so.

I agree that shields and boost simply shouldn't be related this way. At worst, I could accept it draining shield regeneration, but even that seems unnecessary. At the end of the day the AI really cannot make the kind of considerations needed to trade protection for speed, and I cannot see that changing during this game.

[Matthew94]

They probably just choose a random vector angle and boost. "Job done" said the developer, "now that's AI".