Post by wazzledazzle on Aug 18, 2016 9:22:31 GMT
Thought it would be nice to have a thread about the AI in particular.
So far I found it pretty capable and often challenging, but it has a few things that can make "cheese" tactics easy against it.
-Strategic phase : One thing I've noticed is that it tends to always attack the closest target, no matter what it is.
For example, if they send a group of missiles, I can send a group of drones. The missiles initially go for my ships, but after a few turns change their course to intercept the drones instead. Obviously low dV missiles against widely spread out drones rarely works, and ends up with a group of wasted missiles for the AI. I think it needs to prioritize targets, e.g. "Ships over missiles", or "missiles avoid drones".
-Tactical phase : AI ships tend to have a problem with closing velocity and orientation. For example, if a ship is out of range, it will start accelerating at full speed, and only orientate its weapons once it is in range, meaning it wastes fuel and time getting its weapons on target. It's a lot more efficient to boost towards target and, once the closing velocity is high enough, rotate the ship. That way it will fire as soon as it is in range.
Also, it never seems to use "ignore range" on its lasers. Any AI laser ship can be countered by an identical player ship just by toggling that option and destroying its lasers before it is in range. If the AI did that as well, it would add some tactical options : Open fire at range, or orientate so that your own lasers are not destroyed ? etc.
-Aggression : I absolutely love the missions where the AI is aggressive and keeps counter-maneuvering your fleet. Feels very dynamic. Unfortunately it's restricted to missions, and doesn't happen in sandbox mode. It would be nice if there was an "AI difficulty" option in the sandbox mode.
So far I found it pretty capable and often challenging, but it has a few things that can make "cheese" tactics easy against it.
-Strategic phase : One thing I've noticed is that it tends to always attack the closest target, no matter what it is.
For example, if they send a group of missiles, I can send a group of drones. The missiles initially go for my ships, but after a few turns change their course to intercept the drones instead. Obviously low dV missiles against widely spread out drones rarely works, and ends up with a group of wasted missiles for the AI. I think it needs to prioritize targets, e.g. "Ships over missiles", or "missiles avoid drones".
-Tactical phase : AI ships tend to have a problem with closing velocity and orientation. For example, if a ship is out of range, it will start accelerating at full speed, and only orientate its weapons once it is in range, meaning it wastes fuel and time getting its weapons on target. It's a lot more efficient to boost towards target and, once the closing velocity is high enough, rotate the ship. That way it will fire as soon as it is in range.
Also, it never seems to use "ignore range" on its lasers. Any AI laser ship can be countered by an identical player ship just by toggling that option and destroying its lasers before it is in range. If the AI did that as well, it would add some tactical options : Open fire at range, or orientate so that your own lasers are not destroyed ? etc.
-Aggression : I absolutely love the missions where the AI is aggressive and keeps counter-maneuvering your fleet. Feels very dynamic. Unfortunately it's restricted to missions, and doesn't happen in sandbox mode. It would be nice if there was an "AI difficulty" option in the sandbox mode.
