[WIP] IRAI (Intelligent Random AI)

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Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

That is how IRAI used to be. People complained so I changed it. Here's the problem: say said plane attacks another unit and drops it bombs. That unit submerges and hides. Plane continues on waypoints. Plane encounters another enemy unit. If IRAI is setup so that planes don't attack anymore if they have no bombs or torpedoes then said plane continues on with it's waypoints. Here in is where people complained airplanes never attack. What is the plane has no bombs or torpedoes from the start? Then it never attacks anything.

I wasn't suggesting that IRAI settings are wrong; I was rather pointing that they are a forced compromise between contrasting needs. I have a good example, taken from my research on the B-25:

- dorsal and tail turrets an waist guns where obviously meant for self defense rather than as attack armament. Even in game, I doubt that planes will ever get the chance to fire them against a vessel. Therefore, with current IRAI settings bombers will hang around forever, unless they get the chance to fire their remaining bullets against another plane, they get destroyed, or their target(s) is sunk by another unit. This would be a good reason for making them to cease their attack once they fired their last bomb / depth charge / torpedo.

- the same B-25 was issued in a series of strafing versions, that had guns as their main or sole armament. If you make IRAI to ignore gun ammo for deciding if a plane will attack or leave, strafing planes would be totally pointless in game...

so, what is the best solution? I wish AI strategies were more elastic, but unfortunately they are not and, as you noted many times, there insn't much that you can do for it

EDIT: if only you could make the game to read current loadout Type from file, and to adopt different AI strategies depending on it and on UnitType...