Have they improved Escort AI at all?

[tater]

Curious about that. Do DC throwers still "fire as they bear" or did they script something more realistic like dropping DCs in a pattern?

This is another thing where substance matters so much more than flash. Real ASW doctrine usually involved dropping a pattern of charges to maximize the chances of a hit. In Sh4, the AI seemed to be based on each DC thrower as a sort of "gun" making it's own best shot. As a result an escort with many throwers tends to make a broadside where all the DCs land very close to each other instead of throwing them to maximize the beaten zone.

[alexradu89]

The AI is MUCH MORE crappy than it was in SH3 and SH4 because of some bugs... at the moment it's VERY EASY to slip past DDs or attack ships near them, and the depth charging fails aswell hopefully the next patch will fix it. I was in Scapa Flow, and from the 4 destroyers that were circling me and attempting a depth charge, 3 ran aground and sank, while the 4th just stopped a few hundred meters behind me and I sank her with 1 torpedo

[Onkel Neal]

I agree, it's pretty inconsistent. Sometimes the AI reacts according to what I think is a fairly realistic fashion, other times... not sure what it's doing.

[wamphyri]

Originally Posted by alexradu89

The AI is MUCH MORE crappy than it was in SH3 and SH4 because of some bugs... at the moment it's VERY EASY to slip past DDs or attack ships near them, and the depth charging fails aswell hopefully the next patch will fix it. I was in Scapa Flow, and from the 4 destroyers that were circling me and attempting a depth charge, 3 ran aground and sank, while the 4th just stopped a few hundred meters behind me and I sank her with 1 torpedo

I was reading the AI scripts and apparently if an escort is under 1000 tons then it's scripted to stay around 300m away from you

from all the reports IMO the whole AI system is broken or "incomplete" and in need of lots of follow up work, my guess is it wasnt a high priority to get it right but just get it finished and fine tune it in patches was the mindset.


im told planes wont ever attack you even if you shoot one down the other flies away like your not there

[Arclight]

Planes only attack if they have external weapons, and ship AI is pretty complex but the implemenation needs some work.

There's all kinds of group behaviours in there, but half is commented out.

[Ablemaster]

The AI is very disappointing and certainly not consistent. Guesing AI took a back seat here, lets hope a patch can improve their behaviour. Without decent AI SH5 sinks like a brick, nice graphics are good but their just nice if the Ai dont play ball.

i see lots of great potential from sh5 AI but the best way i can describe it is santa brought us the new toy but he forgot to put the batteries in the remote control for it

[thruster]

I was reading the AI scripts and apparently if an escort is under 1000 tons then it's scripted to stay around 300m away from you

WTF???

[Arclight]

Originally Posted by thruster

WTF???

It has to do with ramming; ships that are too light won't ram you.

As long as you're submerged, any DD will toss DCs at you. When you surface, lighter ships keep their distance and engage you with their guns while the heavier ones will set a collision course if they're close enough (500m from memory, but could be 300).

[tater]

Smart they won't ram since every SH sub is the Nautilus—HG Wells, not USN

[thruster]

Arclight wrote:

It has to do with ramming; ships that are too light won't ram you.

As long as you're submerged, any DD will toss DCs at you. When you surface, lighter ships keep their distance and engage you with their guns while the heavier ones will set a collision course if they're close enough (500m from memory, but could be 300).

thanks heaps for your reply arclight. thats valid and rational. its nice to get a potential drama explained.

[Arclight]

Originally Posted by tater

Smart they won't ram since every SH sub is the Nautilus—HG Wells, not USN

Not sure they're that tough, but yeah, ramming usually damages the ship as well.

To clarify some more: warships that don't have DCs set a course within 300m of their target. Escorts lighter than 1500 tons will do "lightfollow" (back away to 350m and follow) against sub on surface:

 
# An escort that does light follow will always keep a certain distance from the submarine.
strategy ShipLightFollow(Ship)
{
 precond
 {
  Ship:GetContactDepth() > -5.0 and Ship:GetMyWeight() <= 1500
 }
 action
 {
  Ship:SetGotoDestRelToContact(-350);
  Ship:Goto(1, 0);
 }
}

Escorts over 1000 tons OR escorts with submerged contact will do "heavyfollow" (set intercept course).

 
#This is used if we are heavy enough to perform a ram or if the submarine is under water.
strategy ShipHeavyFollow(Ship)
{
 precond
 {
  Ship:GetContactDepth() < -5 or Ship:GetMyWeight() > 1000
 }
 strategies
 {
  ShipHeavyFollowSlow,
  ShipHeavyFollowFast
 }
}

After that you get code to set the actual course and slam the throttle to max when close, initiating DC run or ram.

i think a key to remember is the sh5 ships have the same indestructable bow bugs with no damage model for the very front bow so any direct bow contact does little to no damage unless the impact damage radius can reach past the bow to the first gun turrent.

this is why DD can constantly ram into the dock but when it rubs past the edge of a dock it often self destructs from the damage it gets.

[tater]

And presumably a periscope coming across a DD from abeam guts her like a fish?