Whats the best way of improving your Crews AI?

[Urza]

I thought the manual said on p56 that cks "subsequently increase their AI".

Also, I ran a small calculation. Let's say an average officer starts with an AI of 20. Assuming an average increase rate of one point per two hours of being on-station, that means to reach AI 100, they'd have to be on-station for 160 hours. Yikes! Also, assuming the officer is on-station 90% of the time, he will hit 100 after 171 hours of play. I play BCM an average of 3 hours a day. That equates to 57 days, or roughly 8.14 weeks; a little less than two months.

That's all assuming he doesn't get killed. If that happens, the whole clock starts over.

Anyway, I still don't know what HF is (see above post; sorry if I'm prying) so anyone with a clue please share it with us. You can see it by looking at a crewman in detail on the CVD (should appear on the upper-left corner)

[Supreme Cmdr]

HF = Hunger Factor

[Urza]

Uh oh, I'd better get some nutripacks, since everyone's HF is above 100.

Whoever damaged my cargo bay is going to get it.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Urza:

Uh oh, I'd better get some nutripacks, since everyone's HF is above 100.

Whoever damaged my cargo bay is going to get it.

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Above 100??? That shouldn't happen. Are you sure?

[Guest]

Heh, I bet they're chewing on the radine by now.

[Urza]

Yes, I'm sure. Unfortunately, I've already remedied the situation, so I can't send you a save. But all my officers' HF were indeed above 100. I believe they went as high as 118. The meter was non-existant at that point, and the numerical text was white. While it was this high, the afflicted crewman lost 1HF and gained 1 FF every 5 mins or so.

I suppose you can recreate the effect by getting rid of all your nutripacks and letting it sit for a few hours.

[Urza]

On another AI-related note, how exactly to dogfighting and bombing skills go up? I'm about 10 hours in, and those skills haven't budged, despite being on several missions and having 3+ CKs in several instances.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Urza:

On another AI-related note, how exactly to dogfighting and bombing skills go up? I'm about 10 hours in, and those skills haven't budged, despite being on several missions and having 3+ CKs in several instances.

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Those are AI skills, not yours. Doh!

[Urza]

I was referring to the pilots, not me!

I could be mistaken, but aren't they supposed to be going up?

[Guest]

They go up the longer they stay in space and blow stuff up.

You gotta keep them alive first. The best way i've found is to assign FC2 to escort FC1. Then have FC3 escort the CC. And have FC4 on reserve. Put your CC to escort the FC2.

Result? FC1 is the guy you order to attack stuff. FC2 will fly behind him and cover his butt. When an enemy fighter makes a pass at FC1, the FC2 will engage it. And by doing so, the CC follows the FC2, barraging any enemy near it with PTA fire. If FC2 gets attacked, the CC will chew it to pieces. FC3 will protect the CC..if the enemy fighters get brave and make a run, FC3 will usually lob a missile their way. Since ESCORT means they stay close to their Escort targets, your CC will provide great PTA cover.

Load FC1 with missiles, FC2 no missiles, FC3 missiles. I'm still finding out what's the best missiles to give them, so far im inclined to say the missile with the shortest range is best.. the ECM in BC:M is very effective to spoof missiles...not to mention my fighters kill with them short range missiles much more than with long range missiles.

And of course, the CC still lobs Vagrants at SF Marines.. basterds! That digs into my finances

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

Above 100??? That shouldn't happen. Are you sure?

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The HF value can go up to 480. It is calculated differently from the others since it is based on daily (8 hr) consumption of Nutripaks.

[Urza]

I'll conclude this investigation with a summary of my findings.

For officers and pilots, AI starts between 15 and 25. For other crewmen, it's something like 5 to 20 (not certain). AI will increase at a rate of 1 point per 2 hours of work(not necessarily "on station"; as a general rule, if their FF is going up without getting hurt, he is working), give or take 30 minutes. If a crewman dies, and you buy a replacement, he'll start at the standard crewman rate (5-20). If an officer or pilot dies and they are cloned, their AI will be reset to what it was at the beginning of the game (15-25). Therefore, if an officer had a starting AI of 20, he could never have an AI below that. Pilots' DF and BM skills supposedly increase with CMs and CKs, though I have never noticed any change.

If any of that is inaccurate, tell me, and I'll change it.