Wayfarer 5 Posted March 17, 2011 I had a surprising encounter on my last mission. Whilst flying through a partly cloudy sky, a tight formation of aircraft emerged from the edge of a cloud ahead of me, heading directly towards us. My conviction that this was a flight of friendly BE2s returning from a mission was quickly overturned by the utter absence of a top plane on any of them! Any warning from friendly AA must have been masked by the cloud. As I was heading in their direction anyway, and always turn into attacking Eindeckers, I sat tight and steeled myself for their next move. To my astonishment they flew past, slightly to starboard, and no more than a couple of hundred feet below - I could have spat on them (with more effect than my shooting) - and kept right on into the distance behind us without the slightest aggressive move. I have never encountered this behaviour before from enemy machines so close, and it made me wonder, what governs AI behaviour in the vicinity of enemy aircraft? Is it, in effect, a random result from a range of possibilities, or is it something more complex? I have absolutely no programming knowledge whatsoever, so I have no idea how these things are worked out - it'd be quite a neat trick if I could pull it off on a regular basis! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted March 17, 2011 I have seen this often - it happens, when the enemy flight has an important mission task. They will follow their flight plan pretty stubbornly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Creaghorn 10 Posted March 17, 2011 might also be that, since you flew partially through a cloud, there are transparent cloud layers sometimes where you can see the enemy, but the enemy can't see you because for their eyes it's not transparent. happens every now and then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast 153 Posted March 17, 2011 Seen it a few times myself and decided on taking some shots at them... picked of 2 of them but lost the rest in the clouds... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TaillyHo 2 Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) Wow. An 'on topic' thread - how rare! Edited March 17, 2011 by TaillyHo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast 153 Posted March 17, 2011 Wow. An 'on topic' thread - how rare! Sssshhhh dont say anything the OT Crowd might not see it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
itifonhom 6 Posted March 17, 2011 What? He actually means an OFF mission? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Von Paulus 8 Posted March 17, 2011 Like in the war, part of the time was spent on the bar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TaillyHo 2 Posted March 17, 2011 I'll drink to that, VP But the forum does look like some longer term OFF-ers have throttled back . . . like maybe just waiting for P4 !?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Von Paulus 8 Posted March 17, 2011 But the forum does look like some longer term OFF-ers have throttled back . . . like maybe just waiting for P4 !?! Those are my thoughts. We are all waiting for P4. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayfarer 5 Posted March 17, 2011 It is true, it was an honest to goodness OFF question. I am a relative newcomer, it being almost exactly one year since I got OFF, flying about a mission a week. Also, I have only flown a narrow set of mission types. So I am still experiencing new things. I expect those people who have enjoyed OFF for a number of years are not so often surprised as myself. I do not doubt, however, there will be a mighty outpouring come P4 - whilst I will still have much of P3 undiscovered! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted March 17, 2011 Don't panic, Wayfarer, I don't believe P4 will be ready before next Christmas. I bet they want to add a lot. I am flying P3 almost every day, and I still haven't been in each and every Jasta yet; not to speak from the British, French and Americans! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellshade 110 Posted March 17, 2011 Most of the questions about OFF:BH&H and HitR have been answered since it came out over a year ago so its not suprising the forum isn't filled with new ones. Especially when a good search through the sticky threads answers most of the on topic questions one might have. As for the AI seemingly 'uninterested', I'd have to say that models real life quite well. If the squadron was on a particular mission and ordered not to deviate, they didn't. Shooting down scouts wasn't as important if there were 2 seater recon flights to go after. The big irony about the air war is it was mostly about protecting the troops on the ground from accurate artillary rounds being directed by 2 seaters. Shooting down a fighter was nice. Shooting down a 2 seater that could direct fire that kills hundreds of your men on the ground was essential. Hellshade Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasse Wind 46 Posted March 17, 2011 I hope to see more of this behaviour in P4. Not every mission needs to turn into a bloody massacre. In P3, having higher cloud settings (at least 3) makes it harder for both human and AI pilots to spot other aircraft. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayfarer 5 Posted March 17, 2011 As for the AI seemingly 'uninterested', I'd have to say that models real life quite well. If the squadron was on a particular mission and ordered not to deviate, they didn't. Shooting down scouts wasn't as important if there were 2 seater recon flights to go after. The big irony about the air war is it was mostly about protecting the troops on the ground from accurate artillary rounds being directed by 2 seaters. Shooting down a fighter was nice. Shooting down a 2 seater that could direct fire that kills hundreds of your men on the ground was essential. Hellshade Ironically, we were just four BE2s out artillery spotting on our own. This mission actually came up with a note at the beginning saying that the intended escort fighters weren't available so we just had to go it alone (another first for me) - so I was quite glad they had higher priorities! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TaillyHo 2 Posted March 17, 2011 It is true, it was an honest to goodness OFF question. I am a relative newcomer, it being almost exactly one year since I got OFF, flying about a mission a week. Also, I have only flown a narrow set of mission types. So I am still experiencing new things. I expect those people who have enjoyed OFF for a number of years are not so often surprised as myself. I do not doubt, however, there will be a mighty outpouring come P4 - whilst I will still have much of P3 undiscovered! Only 4 months of OFF-ing here, still plenty for me to learn and experience in this wonderful sim . . . and then there's still HiTR I could add before I get to P4. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted March 17, 2011 HitR will not only add new aircraft, TaillyHo - it will also offer a second AI choice. So you can have a more defensive, and less aggressive AI - if you want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
