No I am not kidding you.....but your attitude astounds me, such lack of empathy is a sad indictment of modern society. Stop being so selfish.
Challenge is DIFFERENT for DIFFERENT people, hence most games have ADJUSTABLE skill settings....sheesh.
Sarah, it may be time to tone it down a bit.
- Thread starter CMDR Hagglebeard
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No I am not kidding you.....but your attitude astounds me, such lack of empathy is a sad indictment of modern society. Stop being so selfish.
Challenge is DIFFERENT for DIFFERENT people, hence most games have ADJUSTABLE skill settings....sheesh.
Nice idea, I like that!
Although I must agree with the OP, the AI in conflict zones is poor - allies just off leaving you to deal with a 'conda on your own, and the enemy turns all ships at you.
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If someone want to play the game to "blow" away the Ai then I say so what? Why are so many people INSISTANT on how games should be for everyone else?
I'm sorry, but compared to what I'm currently working on, the current combat AI is real easy.I'm working on loads of upgrades for the higher ranks, have been testing various ships against an Elite Anaconda on my build. Well, I can't beat him.
elite noun [C, + sing/pl verb] uk
The richest, most powerful, best-educated, or best-trained group in a society.
dangerous adjective uk
A dangerous person, animal, thing, or activity could harm you: "The men are armed and dangerous."
I bought into a concept called Elite Dangerous. The galaxy ought to cater for all. Cmdrs will have to learn the hard way that some systems may (finally!) be off limits very shortly if you don't fall into either definition above...
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"Lack of empathy" omg... "The evil npc killed me and it was so unfair!" Dude... The problem is not with the npcs, the problem is with players that can't handle even a small amount of difficulty and in turn wish to nerf the game rather than bettering their skills... The truth of it is that npcs are easy and very predictable, stop looking for handouts and get better please...
More time needs to be spent on the unrealistic stuff like the system authority all turning on you while they are already engaged (for stupid stuff like firing on their target without scanning first - suddenly that makes you the main perpetrator?) - or every pirate within range scanning you one after another then all attacking same time while there are plenty of other targets around. That's not AI, that's just bringing unrealistic numbers against you because you happen to not be an AI...
If you can't take the heat, get outta the galaxy. Seriously, upgrade your junk
Adjustable skill setting comes in the form of varying Combat Rating for the different NPC's.
You simply have to find the NPC that is within your own capabilities, whether that is an Elite, Novice, Competent or otherwise.
Only the very, very best players should be able to win against an Elite NPC (provided they are in similar ships, e.g. not Sidewinder vs Anaconda).
And by saying that I know full well that I will be excluding myself from having much hope against Elite rated NPC's since I am an average pilot. But this is (supposedly) Elite DANGEROUS. If there is no danger and I can simply half-sleep my way through killing an Elite Anaconda (which, for the record, I have done with the old skill-less NPC's) then the game is boring.
Fear factor should be part of the game, and using your wits should be a minimum requirement (ergo, maybe you shouldn't zap that Elite Anaconda with your Eagle is something everyone should be capable of logically deducing, or at least figuring out, themselves).
As for the Elite NPC being on-par with the best human dogfighter. I am aware that you can't simply find the best, since there is effectively no best, or at the very least as rightfully pointed out, this would be a dynamic value.
My point, however, is that only a very low percentage of the total playerbase will have the necessary skills to cope with Elite NPC's. It's not a title achieved lightly, nor should it be.
If you scale the very best NPC's to be "manageable" by rookie players then there is no excitement, no intense dogfights, no hair raising escapes... all you are left with is routine killing... and that is just plain boring and not very engaging...
And it is the exact reason why I got bored with Elite and quit playing it for months. The fighting was boring and it would be more challenging to have a boxing match with aquarium fishes.
Thanks for pumping up the NPCs. It is needed and I hope some of them will be so tough that there is a real fear factor in play if you happen to encounter them.
Well. You COULD argue that MMOs do have "skill settings" in that enemies there tend to have far more rigidly enforced levels and abilities. It's usually clearly indicated when a given NPC will give you a REALLY BAD DAY(tm) while Elite doesn't have that. Okay, we have the combat ranking but given how often I shred supposedly deadly NPCs I wouldn't put too much faith in that.
In ED you jump into conflict zones, RES', etc, completely blind without knowing what might be waiting for you. Okay, we have the "intense" and "strong" to give you a general indication of what might be waiting for you, but with Elite it's far more wooly about the type of challenge you might be about to walk into.
Anyway. Just for the record, I don't think anything here needs changing. Just had to toss in my two bits.
When I had my python it wasn't until I A-classed a good 90% of it that I felt comfortable enough taking on CZ's for prolonged periods, all CZ ships seem to be way better equipped and armoured than your average Res NPC etc. and the fact you can get tag-teamed makes it a really fun challenge. I don't think toning them down based on one bad experience in a CZ with what is basically a trading python is quite legitimate really. There are things you can do to dramatically increase your survivability in terms of outfitting for CZ's and also never be afraid to Sir Robin in them, even if you are getting ganked by a several NPCs at once, if you fly them directly through a busy stretch of the combat area there is a very high probability they will get engaged by more NPCs from your side and you can break off out for a few KM's to recoup and recharge while they are distracted (or getting killed).
I don't know who is working on non-combat AI such as "watching your six" as you describe in normal space or in Supercruise. SJA hasn't commented on it here, maybe she will move onto it once she's got the combat end where she wants it to be. There are any number of improvements that could be made, but they probably build upon developments in combat AI, such as the fire-arc avoidance added in 1.3.
Since NPC ships are randomly generated when you enter a scenario and erased again when you leave it, and are not stored anywhere in between, this wouldn't currently be possible. Their rank is a value derived from their imaginary "survival time". If we had NPC Persistence, of course, you could do great things like keeping a roster of various AI pilots, along with a log of who (NPC and CMDR) they have boiled over the course of their careers, that the scenario manager draws from when instantiating a scenario.
meh. i did fine all weekend in a high intensity combat zone, alone, in my vulture. 1 time all weekend i got focused by ai and had to bail, but that's it.
have been testing various ships against an Elite Anaconda on my build. Well, I can't beat him.
Not everyone here is just saying make NPC's easier. Quite a few people are bringing constructive points to the surface, and pointing out what could happen when SJA's upgrades land. There will always be cases on both sides, but just read those with a smile, and focus on the constructive ones (and add your own *constructive* views).
Personally i do think there should be NPC ships i can't beat unless i seriously outgun them (i'm probably around the "average" skill level).
I do have a concern about being thrown against a constant barrage of wings or very high skilled NPC's who can't be escaped even in high sec systems.
I do think it's a valid point that content needs to exist for solo players as well as wing players (high intensity vs Low intensity?), but maybe with the improvements on selecting the skill levels.
On that point, I don't know what other's feel, but the combat rank of NPC's who attack me seems completely random. With the improvements can we expect to see elites more likely in High intensity / anarchy, and lower ranks in other places? Not exclusively, obviously, but skewed chances.
Does your own combat rank effect the rank of NPC encounters?
Match making and hiring NPC wingmates would bring an interesting angle to the encounters too. I do appreciate that a 4 man wing would crunch through most encounters with ease.
IMO EVERYTHING that is wrong with Elite is all the MMO crap.
Oh boy am I excited for these new elite condas! May actually need a wing mate to help now!
More.....
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We need to be scared.....
I'm sorry, but compared to what I'm currently working on, the current combat AI is real easy.
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We need to be scared.....
I disagree that the game should have a fear factor, that is complete nonsense. It's a GAME...ENTERTAINMENT. Now I know some like their games hard.....akin to SM I suppose, but gamers like that are WAY in the minority (but sadly VERY vocal on forums).
What the game should do is allow AS MANY player skill types to be as happy as possible. I have faith that Sarah is well aware of this balancing act and will take appropriate steps.
I am totally happy that the upper Ai skills are being increased, all I say is that the game should give the option of how many higher level Ai you come across. Personally I cannot see ANY time I would want to come across a high level Ai. But if someone else does all power to them, I'm not saying nerf the ai. We just need to the OPTION.
Sarah, I don't think you should pity us too much, as it does seem varied, and every now and then it is nice to have to back out of a fight with Npc's and lie to your wing-persons that you didn't, but a young friend of mine started playing recently and I have notice he's being torn to shreds by the npc's in his sidewinder, to the extent it's hard for him to get going. Although how you'd make battle easier for young sideys and keep it hard for experienced players, I have no idea.
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Except you don't need a 100mill + ship to do so, you just need to think/fly smarter. You are entering a battlefield, the space based equivalent of a WW1 dogfight. If you barge into the middle expecting to own the AI you deserve to lose your ship or be forced to run with your tail between your legs.
Yes, this do much this.