AI sillyness

[jsalbano 0]

So, I have been playing this game for a few weeks now, and have filled several cemeteries with the corpses of my pilots and victims (probably more pilots than victims). Through the course of this adventure, I have noticed that while the AI are savage killers, and are very well programmed, they do do a few silly things consistently.

The first and perhaps most ridiculous is that most of the time I go out on balloon busting missions the enemy AA will more often than not promptly shoot it down themselves, depriving me of credit for the kill, and leaving me rather confused at the whole situation.

 

Another thing that is really annoying is that your wingmen will shoot through you to get at the enemy plane you are after, with little regard to your safety (many times I have seen tracers wizz by only to look back and see a friendly plane is shooting at me!!). Of course since your wingman is trying his best to show you his care for you, they almost always nail that pesky aileron control cable. It should be noted that this almost never happens in Il2 (I have only been shot at a handful of times by my wingmen, mostly due to flying into their fire AFTER they have started, never due to them shooting through me when i was already there).

 

My favorite by far, however, is the incessant kill poaching which I had thought I had left behind in Red Baron 3D. It should be noted (thank goodness) that it is not even a quarter as bad as in Red Baron 3d. However, On more than a few occasions, I have delivered a good burst into the enemy, causing them to go into a death spiral/catch on fire/lose parts only to see that moments later one of those s I am flying with zips in and fires a good burst into it. By that time it is almost always too late to shoot at the enemy plane again to reclaim your kill. This also does not happen in IL2, the AI almost never fire on aircraft in a spin, and never, ever ever fire on an aircraft that is on fire. That is not to say that kill poaching is not present, but it only happens once in a blue moon.

 

also, is it just me, or do we all hate how the AI have a knack for sniping the crap out of your aileron cables?

 

that said, this is a darn good game, and I love playing it. In fact, I believe it is time to get into my Nieuport 11 again and hope I have enough ammunition to shoot down one of those german mother fokkers from across the way (185 rounds sucks, but I am now consistently bagging an enemy aircraft with each encounter).

 

Also, Is it possible to kill an enemy pilot in their plane? I have hit the pilot of an enemy aircraft many times (love how you can hear the scream over the motors and wind, but not nearly as ridiculous sounding as the one in Red Baron 3d.) but I have never seen the enemy aircraft go out of control, or dive or really be effected before.

Edited April 20, 2010 by jsalbano

[Duce Lewis 3]

So, I have been playing this game for a few weeks now, and have filled several cemeteries with the corpses of my pilots and victims (probably more pilots than victims). Through the course of this adventure, I have noticed that while the AI are savage killers, and are very well programmed, they do do a few silly things consistently.

The first and perhaps most ridiculous is that most of the time I go out on balloon busting missions the enemy AA will more often than not promptly shoot it down themselves, depriving me of credit for the kill, and leaving me rather confused at the whole situation.

 

Another thing that is really annoying is that your wingmen will shoot through you to get at the enemy plane you are after, with little regard to your safety (many times I have seen tracers wizz by only to look back and see a friendly plane is shooting at me!!). Of course since your wingman is trying his best to show you his care for you, they almost always nail that pesky aileron control cable. It should be noted that this almost never happens in Il2 (I have only been shot at a handful of times by my wingmen, mostly due to flying into their fire AFTER they have started, never due to them shooting through me when i was already there).

 

My favorite by far, however, is the incessant kill poaching which I had thought I had left behind in Red Baron 3D. It should be noted (thank goodness) that it is not even a quarter as bad as in Red Baron 3d. However, On more than a few occasions, I have

 

Also, Is it possible to kill an enemy pilot in their plane? I have hit the pilot of an enemy aircraft many times (love how you can hear the scream over the motors and wind, but not nearly as ridiculous sounding as the one in Red Baron 3d.) but I have never seen the enemy aircraft go out of control, or dive or really be effected before.

Hi jsalbano,

Welcome to OFF

Sttandard Rule: New guy buys the beer!

 

AI is a cfs3 thing

But Rex Hannover cracked the cfs3 code for P3 and there are big improvements over P2

He's still at it, so P4 should be even better

 

I occasionally see balloons get hit mysteriously by unknown means but not too common

Keep at it, maybe a run of bad luck

 

Yep, Wingies will shoot through you, crash into you to get the victory ...ravenous wolves!

You must keep an eye ourt for them at all times

Do you have TrackIR?

 

Aileron Cable damage is coded into the DM

Herr Prop Wasche has created an alternate DM where it takes more hits to damage your aileron cables

 

Kill Poaching usually depends on the Squad you're in

If you join an Elite Squad, they'll poach your victories left and right ...but they'll also save your butt alot too

Join a Poor Squad and you won't have that problem ...they'll all get shot down, and you'll end up alone and surrounded

I usually join either an Average or Good Squad, it's the best compromise

But if you're surrounded by friendlies it's usually best to pull off and let them have him anyways ...your pilots will live longer and that's the goal

 

Yep, you can knock out the pilot or tailgunner

I think it usually takes more than 1 hit though

 

HTH,

[Morris 2]

good points Duce Lewis.

 

m

 

 

[NS13Jarhead 6]

Yep, you can knock out the pilot or tailgunner

 

At least the Dev Team didn't model having your own tailgunner shoot holes in your own plane, which I understand happened from time to time in real life. That would really suck - shot at by your wingmen and your own crewman!

[Creaghorn 10]

At least the Dev Team didn't model having your own tailgunner shoot holes in your own plane, which I understand happened from time to time in real life. That would really suck - shot at by your wingmen and your own crewman!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh-cVHdhTp4

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jsalbano 0]

Son, I'm sorry, they got us.

 

As for wingman collisions, it has happened to me most in SPADs, your trying to shoot a guy, making another pass and then WHAM, nailed in the face by a kill poaching wingman, almost all of my SPAD pilot deaths happened this way.

 

I always do fly as flight leader, and sometimes I can get my men to abandon their poach attempts by frantically pressing commands, most of the time they ignore it though.

 

I do not have track IR, and since your interior views have fixed directions to look in (you can't use the mouse or hat to look all around like in IL2) I use exterior views sometimes to make up for this. (also because I like to look at the outside of my plane sometimes). I also use warp, but the rest is to DiD standards.

Edited April 21, 2010 by jsalbano

[77Scout 3]

(you can't use the mouse or hat to look all around like in IL2)

 

Actually you can use the hat to look around in a panning mode...hit scroll-lock to toggle. With practice you can get very good at looking around in this mode. I did well with it for many years but then sprang for Trackir, which is really the only way to go.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

You can also adjust the panning speed to your tastes, which helps a lot!

[Duce Lewis 3]

I do not have track IR

TrackIR will solve many of your wingman issues

It's always best to scan all about

Especially in a WWI crate with all the wings, struts, exhaust pipes to look around

Olham posted this excellent vid a while back

Shows off all TIR capabilities ...OFF/cfs3 does not have the Roll Function though

[jsalbano 0]

You can also adjust the panning speed to your tastes, which helps a lot!

 

how do you adjust the panning speed?

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Very simple, really. In XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\[userName]\Application Data\Microsoft\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields and open the ViewUI.xml file with any text editor. About three lines from the top, look for "RotationRate." Values over 1.0 speeds up the rotation, while numbers below 1.0 slow down the panning speed. Save and exit. Voila!

[NS13Jarhead 6]

Very simple, really. In XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\[userName]\Application Data\Microsoft\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields and open the ViewUI.xml file with any text editor. About three lines from the top, look for "RotationRate." Values over 1.0 speeds up the rotation, while numbers below 1.0 slow down the panning speed. Save and exit. Voila!

After creating a backup of the original file, of course...

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

Kill Poaching:

 

this hasn't bothered me in years, to be honest. it bugged me during the first 1000 sorties or so of Red Baron 3d, but after that I figured it was nice to have the AI actually shooting down enemy machines. it's not like I ever run out of targets! and it helps me save ammo for unpleasant surprises from the enemy.

 

 

I've only been killed by friendly poachers once in OFF. that first time was enough. I check my six even if no other enemy machines are around. however, I have had my engine shot out three or four times and been forced to land. usually if I see one of my guys moving into a kill position I'll do one of several things.

 

1. drop down several hundred feet and then launch a zoom-attack into the belly of my intended victim. this gets me out of harm's way (AI wingmen always seem to use pure pursuit when going for the kill) and allows me to keep attacking the enemy. (although half the time, when it comes to dealing with two-seaters, I'm already doing this-- so my wingmen are more likely to get roughed up by the observer)

 

2. I fly off to one side and allow them to attack directly while I go for a deflection shot from one side or the other

 

3. keep attacking and over-shoot the enemy, preferably by going below and in front (if it's a two-seater) or climbing above if it's a scout

 

if I haven't seen my wingman approaching I treat bullets flying past my machine as if they were enemy bullets and get out of there.

 

[before any sort of battle begins I put on the TAC display, and scroll through the entire enemy flight and give the order to attack. I save the highest or lowest enemy machine for myself. this helps negate the friendly kill/damage potential. ]

 

remembering that the AI favors pure pursuit, I try to avoid turning directly with (and in pursuit of) the enemy for more than one or two turns. I'll break out in the opposite direction and try to force things into head-on combat or a deflection shot. high and low yo-yos are another good method because it reduces the time you spend in front of "friendly guns"! this keeps me from getting shot up by my own men. (given that most of my pilot careers have been in Fokker Eindeckers there's ANOTHER reason why I haven't been in a lot of turning battles! :p )

 

 

constantly checking my 6 o'clock to make sure it's "clear" is my best solution for those who play by the Dead is Dead rules.

 

 

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

 

My favorite by far, however, is the incessant kill poaching which I had thought I had left behind in Red Baron 3D. It should be noted (thank goodness) that it is not even a quarter as bad as in Red Baron 3d. However, On more than a few occasions, I have delivered a good burst into the enemy, causing them to go into a death spiral/catch on fire/lose parts only to see that moments later one of those s I am flying with zips in and fires a good burst into it. By that time it is almost always too late to shoot at the enemy plane again to reclaim your kill. This also does not happen in IL2, the AI almost never fire on aircraft in a spin, and never, ever ever fire on an aircraft that is on fire. That is not to say that kill poaching is not present, but it only happens once in a blue moon.

 

that said, this is a darn good game, and I love playing it. In fact, I believe it is time to get into my Nieuport 11 again and hope I have enough ammunition to shoot down one of those german mother fokkers from across the way (185 rounds sucks, but I am now consistently bagging an enemy aircraft with each encounter).

 

Also, Is it possible to kill an enemy pilot in their plane? I have hit the pilot of an enemy aircraft many times (love how you can hear the scream over the motors and wind, but not nearly as ridiculous sounding as the one in Red Baron 3d.) but I have never seen the enemy aircraft go out of control, or dive or really be effected before.

 

regarding RB3d, I actually planned my missions around kill-poaching. I would deliberately start attacking an enemy machine, putting only 50 or so rounds into it, and then break away and wait for my men to start the inevitable poaching. it enabled my flights to destroy more enemy machines than if I shot down everything myself. some AI in RB3d weren't very good about taking initiative-- so as soon as you run out of ammo a lot of your wingmen were as good as dead against even mediocre adversaries. but there was a bright-side: I had one wingman score over 50 victories in this kill-poaching manner. but he eventually got better. once, I put him in charge of the flight and he shot down 4 British two-seaters inside of 5 minutes as I stood by and watcched. that's pretty good for AI. I also found myself living longer (always had enough ammo for unexpected guests) and eventually racked up more promotions with fewer kills.

 

to answer your last question. yes, it IS possible to kill an enemy pilot in their machine. it's a bit tricky... but you need to get in very close. I frequently get within 30 feet of the enemy and see pilot kills about 30 percent of the time. it's more likely to happen with single deck-mounted machine gun types like the Eindecker, Nieuport 17, or the Sopwith Triplane. the convergence of two machine guns makes it harder to get pilot kills without a bit of rudder to spray the lead around a bit.