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Shuttle damage with AI pilots


Grizzle
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Maybe I just don't remember this happening, but it seems as if the shuttles always take damage when deploying drones with AI pilots. I've tried a few different things and maybe it's just related to low AI, but it seems that they don't follow a sensible trajectory when coming in for a landing to deploy drones. They stay at altitude until almost there then do a nose dive into the ground. I'm sure this is what is causing the damage.

I've tried setting more waypoints, having them LAND first etc... I'm definitely giving them plenty of distance to fly in gracefully but they don't seem to want to.

Normally I wouldn't mind but several times now their engine has been damaged enough that they can't leave the planet.

In the meantime I'm just going to assign a HALT waypoint and see if they float to the surface gracefully enough before having them deploy.

Which brings me to my next comment (damn you SC!). I decided to go and retrieve two stranded shuttles from Moon1 in Polaris2 using my CC (yeah I know shuttle tow would have been better.) Well, the atmosphere is pretty hostile (who knew?) and I ended up taking heavy damage to almost all of my CC's systems. LOL... anyhow here I am wondering why my CC looks like a Tesla experiment gone bad, then I just laughed. This isn't a complaint, just a comment on Derek's sadistic Universe (and the cool effects)

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quote:

Originally posted by Grizzle:

Thanks Wolfheart. I figured as much, I just didn't recall it being so bad before. Anyhow, after a lengthy repair stop I'm all set to go retrieve my drones and make some money to recoup the repair cost!

I could be dreaming, but I think it helps if you make sure the terrain you send them too isn't too hilly.

I've taken a new tact early on (i.e., low marine AI). I send NPC's out to deploy all 4 drones relatively close to each other. When it's time to retrieve them, I go myself in a shuttle, set down once and cycle through all for drones from the drone menu, retrieving, emptying and redeploying them. Of course, if you're not the kind of geek who has fun doing menial tasks in a shuttle, you may want to ignore this.

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Psirat, I even tried having them land on the flats surrounding a city or base. They are just too inexperienced to land without damage at this point.

I've since just used the HALT waypoint and let them drift to the ground. One they touch the surface, I change the waypoint to DEPLOY MDRONE then order them to continue waypoints. They liftoff about five feet the settle back down and deploy. Sure it takes longer, but it's better than replacing and repairing shuttles every time I deploy drones.

I'm sure once the AI increases it will be less of a problem.

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quote:

Originally posted by twobombs:

I think that it has got to do with the depth at which the shuttle-targeter thinks that is the ground level. I often find negative numbers next to the ' target ' area. Maybe the SC can shed some light on this matter; as he coded the routines.

This is the way it's always been, even the manual mentions it, so it's normal.

It's the AI for sure and I actually think it's kinda funny. The first time I tried the HALT technique, I didn't reposition the waypoint close enough to the shuttle so when I ordered them to deploy, one of them shot up a few feet and plowed right into a hill . The cool thing was that he damaged his HUD, just as you would expect from such a boneheaded move.

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quote:


Originally posted by twobombs:

I think that it has got to do with the depth at which the shuttle-targeter thinks that is the ground level. I often find negative numbers next to the ' target ' area. Maybe the SC can shed some light on this matter; as he coded the routines.


Wrong. The crafts ALWAYS know where the ground level is.

Bad pilots - even the onboard AP - are prone to errors. If I made it perfect, then whats the fun in that?

If you want to see how the A/P performs, as opposed to AI pilots, set waypoints as normal, then send your AE to the craft, enable "Resume Waypoints" order and turn on the AP. You can also try it using the CALS system to see how it behaves when selecting a landing position.

Various crafts have various characteristics, as do various crew members based on their AI.

Also, if you do not leave a long enough distance between waypoints, the pilot will not be able to setup a near perfect landing profile. This will result in boneheaded moves like what Grizzle described above. Any time you see your craft go vertical, then dive for a waypoint, that means the landing profile has been screwed up because of the previous waypoint. The lower the AI of the pilot, the more likely he is to make things worse.

I have NO idea why I'm even typing this up, given that not only is it in the manual (and tutorial), but has been discussed MANY times on this board.

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