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Damage Modeling for AIs/NPC vs Players?


ParadoxX013X
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Just how are AI carrier and cruisers modeled in the sim when it comes to them taking damage. I noticed that you usually have to bring their armnor levels down to 5% before they reach for the SOS handle and just a little lower before they are disabled. But when compared to my ship things start to get painful when my armor levels drop to just 95%Hey at 65% my ship is listing out of control and I can't get anything back online to save my life which bring me to another question.

If your systems are destroyed at just 65% damage to the armor and you can't communicate with your systems engineers because the logistics computer is down, how do you get them to repair your ship at times like this? I mean the enemy can get down below 5% and still seem to get it's engines back online to try and make an escape but at 65% my ship's crew is lucky if they can have enough crawl space to huddle together. HA HA HA!

Do the AI crews act on their own when communications and access around the ship are disrupted?

Any takers on this one? I'm so into finding out how these AIs think I'm not sure what's more fun, the combat or waiting to see what my guys do next. Anyway can anyone tell me if the player's ship is modeled differently and if so how much? And also how repairs are made for a ship so crippled that it's computers are down.

Nick "Paradox" Parker

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I think it's because NPC vessels don't get damaged to specific systems. While you have dozens of subsystems, the enemy have 4 systems, reactor, engine, weapons and launch bays. And while you can be handicapped with the loss of a critical system, NPC only see their capacities being reduced. it's probably to save CPU power. My sunflash cruiser has 41 systems, and bigger vessels have more. Imagine the processing power that would be needed to process more than 50 ships... so I can understand why. It's about KISS'ing the game

I also noticed that NPC vessel's shields recharge MUCH slower that your shields, and I don't understand why it has been done so... enemies are so easy to destroy...

[ 12-25-2001: Message edited by: Epsilon 5 ]

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Commander Jamont,

I see your point but as the player if your ship is crippled there's really no way for you to get to a starbase especially if your comms are out. So you're just sitting there waiting for eveyone to die from radiation poisoning.

Epsilon 5.

The reason for the slower recharge could be a balancing manuever if what you are saying about AI and ship systems are true. You got to try and even something out I guess. Like okay say you are the player and as such all your systems are modeled but the AIs have a basic set up which says that they don't suffer until the armor drops to 5%. So maybe to even things out the player will have a higher recharge rate for their shields to balance things out. Seems fair right?

Honestly I'd like to see the AIs performnce dropping off at say 75%. Our shields tend to drop pretty quickly when you've got fighters with such high refire rates and power output doggin' ya. I mean we do start seeing damage at an armor level still at 97% and that seems like way off to me. Things start getting scary when you're down to 85-80%.

Before you ask no I don't suck but I wanted to test and see what kind of damage these things could take under really bad circumstances. I think setting the AIs Armor/Damage setting to say 75% would be kewl causing a loss of damage points to their 4 primary systems and slowing them down to model said damage and then having them think about possibly falling back for repairs anywhere from 60-25% instead of the negative numbers after the armor is completely destroyed.

I mean that's the only time they disengage is after the armor's gone and yet for the player we're starting to think about it at 85-75%! I've been dead in space with an armor level of 60% before and what's really funny is then enemy actually disengaged. Little bastards probably laughed and said, "He's out of the fight. Best to just let them all die slow and cold."

Embarassing!

Maybe the old man could create a Mod for that. Doh! I just called him the old man! Geez I need to stop watching those old Patton movies. HA HA HA HA HA! I could see the SC now visiting me in the hospital and one second pinning a medal on my shirt for valor under fire and the next slapping me ultra hard in the head because he heard that someone in his command referred to him as the Old Man! HA HA HA HA HA!

Anyway how about it SC? How about a Mod to really even things up out there? I'd love to leave those AI bastards' wrecked and smoldering hulks floating in the deep black like they did me that time.

VENGENCE WILL BE MINE! Oh yes it will be mine.

Nick "Paradox" Parker

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quote:


Originally posted by Epsilon 5:

I also noticed that NPC vessel's shields recharge MUCH slower that your shields, and I don't understand why it has been done so... enemies are so easy to destroy...


Not true. All ships have their own recharge stats and they are not the same. Just because its charging slowly, doesn't mean a thing. Its just that ship.

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  • 2 weeks later...

quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

Not true. All ships have their own recharge stats and they are not the same. Just because its charging slowly, doesn't mean a thing. Its just that ship.

Hmm so why when I fight another sunflash my shields recharge faster than his? And that's before I upgraded.

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quote:


Originally posted by Epsilon 5:

Hmm so why when I fight another sunflash my shields recharge faster than his? And that's before I upgraded.


Because NPCs use different power management than you do. Thats why they are NPCs. The recharge entries used by ships are the same for all ships (they are actually listed in one of the script files as those familiar with the GBS system may be aware), regardless of who is in control. See those shield, power etc ratings you have on the bridge and in Logistix? They have them too.

I've seen your posts and I know you think you've got the game beat; but you're not impressing anyone but yourself because I know for a fact that the NPCs are way smarter than any human intelligence. Even yours and mine. I should know. I designed, developed and created them.

If you've got the NPCs beat (heh, highly unlikely since I doubt that you have ever completed any ACM scenario to date), I think its time you stopped playing the game, don't you think? I think so. But then again, thats just me.

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Once your chief engineer gets high enough AI he will send your engineers out to fix what is broken. Of course what he thinks needs to be fix is not what you would want fixed first or fixed at all. Beggars can't be choosers.

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quote:


Originally posted by Epsilon 5:

So basically you're telling me that NPC don't put the shield control power level at maximum?


Yes they do. But not all the time or they would ALL do it. The whole concept of AI does not revolve around predictability and super abilities. My NPCs do what the hell the bloody well feel like depending on how they were trained.

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quote:


Originally posted by KreKol:

Once your chief engineer gets high enough AI he will send your engineers out to fix what is broken. Of course what he thinks needs to be fix is not what you would want fixed first or fixed at all. Beggars can't be choosers.


Correct. I added this to the crew appendix data I believe.

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Maybe I should read the Appendix sometime. What gets me is that the Chief Engineer keeps redecorating the Bridge. I would understand if he was a she, unless he is a little on the funny side......

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