Discuss the AI here!

[Patrick_68000]

I'm not a betting man myself, but let's try to guess how many more threads the mod team will have to lock or move before people notice this AI megathread to be

Perhaps, to put the title in capital letters and the red color and blinkings ?

 

[Euphrat]

This is hardcore...?

My 50 year old father can do this. He even has a full-time job.

Get good, carebears.

U should behave a bit my friend. We re just having a discussion about gameplay. Nothing to be mad about ^^ I can't hardly consider myself a "carebear" as I ve been playing since 1984, probably like ur father did.. ;p but U have to try to understand things on everyone's perpective instead of pointing em and laugh ( child behavior? , I hope not). this way's the best to find a solution that suits everyone ( or almost everyone ) ^^

 

[hunvagy]

That is sad, but understandable. U re doing exactly what I feared. Don't missunderstand me, this is not a bad opinion on ur post, it's just u made my point.
A game needs players.

You mean insulting everyone who doesn't think the AI is going overboard then doing exactly what he says we do, not behave like an adult, throw a tantrum and leave? There are a few reasonable posts about the feelings of the AI being too hard, and this is not one of them.

 

[CMDR Admiral Perses]

I would think that I would have lost power before the power plant went nuclear. This was hull damage.

 

[CMDR M Kozak]

Maybe when my combat skills are refined somewhat and I can take on higher ranked NPCs with impunity then I will take the plunge.

Awesome idea. You will find that open is not more dangerous than Solo. People are scattered and are easily avoided. Many of them will outright ignore you (which is kinda sad but... better than all in agro all the time).

 

[Kazacy]

I would think that I would have lost power before the power plant went nuclear. This was hull damage.

Nope there is i think, 50% chance to power plant to explode or power lost. Happened to me in FAS against two commanders in pythons.

 

[the darkwalker]

This is hardcore...?

My 50 year old father can do this. He even has a full-time job.

Get good, carebears.

have fun with your father, i hope he is not the one who taught you to insult anyone who thinks differently than you, otherwise he would be one more reason to not stick around here.
have a nice day

 

[CMDR GTR2014]

Taking other threads and my own experience into account, I can still say that AI feels a bit too hard for Dangerous+ NPCs. The fact that the game doesn't really have a dedicated "low-level" place (LowRES is the closest thing you can get) doesn't help, like its desire to spam interdictions by high-level NPCs.
'
What really should be done is not AI nerfing, but NPC spawn nerfing.
- Make Dangerous NPC rare, Deadly even more rare, and Elite super-rare. They should be seen as "legendary" enemies that CAN and WILL kill you if you don't have enough experience and gear to deal with them. They may worth a HUGE amount of money (how about 500K or even 1M bounty for an Elite Anaconda?), but you have to find them. They are perfect target for assassination missions.
- Absolutely NO high-level NPCs in combat zones. Or maybe make them very rare spawn, like capital ships. The main fighting force of any army are regular soldiers, not special forces. Currently, it's basically a "suicide by CG".
- Absolutely NO high-level NPCs in LowRES and probably Nav Beacons.
- Moderate chance to meet Dangerous NPC and small chance to meet Deadly NPC in HiRES.
- Most NPCs in HazRES are Dangerous, moderate chance to meet Deadly, small chance to meet Elite.
- Interdictions are based on your combat rank. You shouldn't be ganked by Elite when you're Harmless. (Also, kindly stop the "crazy pirate" nonsense! I can't drop my cargo if I haven't any. Especially if I haven't any cargo racks!)
- Powerplay NPCs should be mostly mid- and high-level, starting with Master. Greenhorns doesn't get accepted into President's personal guard. This way, PP can even get an influx of participants, since this is a place where you can get some hard fights.
- Police should stay high-level (just like now), especially in high security systems.

1- ok , but not much, we still need elite Npcs to get to Elite rank!
2 - agreed , not every battlefield is formed on colonels , they are mostly soldiers and recruits
3 - one or 2 , make it rare.
4- no, HAZ and HIGH are DANGEROUS zones.
5 -yes, but crazy pirate? no this is natural, if a pirate don't know if you have cargo(or don't have a scaner) they will take the more interesting (AND EASIER) target to roll with , call it and if you don't give it to him(or don't have) it will open fire.. it's natural pirate behaviour.
6- yes, i hate to see mostly harmeless supply ships
7- i love the new Police, and it fits even better with the new USS...

Also the new AI is great, just people that are to confort with the old one that have to get on shape for this...
cmon you're not GOD, you CANT take 4-5 ships even with a Corvette... it's tatics...

 

[Euphrat]

You mean insulting everyone who doesn't think the AI is going overboard then doing exactly what he says we do, not behave like an adult, throw a tantrum and leave? There are a few reasonable posts about the feelings of the AI being too hard, and this is not one of them.

I m not saying this is a good way to behave. I m just saying that this behavior may be reprentative of the way new players will feel about tha game. ^^

 

[Rudolphus]

I don't think AI need to be nerved but a bit balanced,

I myself deadly, get only attacked by elite NPC with it seems class 5 modification mods,

 

[Drachenklaue]

You mean insulting everyone who doesn't think the AI is going overboard then doing exactly what he says we do, not behave like an adult, throw a tantrum and leave? There are a few reasonable posts about the feelings of the AI being too hard, and this is not one of them.

have fun with your father, i hope he is not the one who taught you to insult anyone who thinks differently than you, otherwise he would be one more reason to not stick around here.
have a nice day

You're the one being ruffled about being called a carebear. Nice smartass comment you felt you had to make.

 

[Tiparium]

Please don't let this community become the new Dark Souls smug guys. If we want high difficulty, fine. But lay off insulting people who don't want it that way. I love this game, but the people around it are starting to get really obnoxious. Yes the new AI is hard. Maybe you're good, maybe you're not. I think there should just be significantly higher payoff for difficult enemies.

 

[Euphrat]

I don't think AI need to be nerved but a bit balanced,

I myself deadly, get only attacked by elite NPC with it seems class 5 modification mods,

If players have hard times trying to get their stuff modified and NPC are supposed to be able to get those mods too, it would be fair that NPC would have hard times too to get em...so they probably(mods) should be rarer on NPC ships. ^^

 

[Ghosty]

Yes, mommy... ahem, auntie...

Moved from a closed thread:

First of all, I was quite suspicious of the danger posed by the new AI and unparked my Clipper with a bit of concern. Equipped (and needed!) point defense and large multi cannons. Went to a Navigation Beacon to test and especially hoping to find some material. I was in Wolf 47 and encountered quite a mix of NPCs, from Mostly Harmless to Deadly (I am "Dangerous").

First off, I was somewhat handicapped by not having my usual X-52 Pro setup available (broken again, replaced under warranty, but parcel will take another 5 days to arrive), so I am playing with an older Saitek Cyborg Evo joystick - unfamiliar to me and no good throttle. But still, I did not find the AI too hard, if somewhat challenging. Would have been quite a bit easier for me with my HOTAS. Only real hairy moment was against a dangerous FGS with no assistance by Security, that cost me two SCBs.

I flew out with a ton of materials, a million in bounty vouchers and 100% hull. I would not consider myself a particularly good combat pilot, but I have a lot of experience with the game and know how to manage my pips and throttle.

However, I can see that a casual player with mediocre skills would be quite put off by the challenge they now face. This would include the (relative) newbies that just farmed credits and rank with easy AI kills and Robigo runs. While I assume that the first reaction of the hardcore community would be a shrug and "git gud" message, I ask you to think again. ED already has not the greatest reputation for being accessible to newbies and casuals - and that reputation is probably going to take another hit. As a consequence, sales to new players and season pass sales to casuals may suffer. This, in turn, might greatly hurt FDev's bottom line and in consequence endanger the long term viability of the game.

Thus, FDev (and we) should listen to the complaints about the UI. Maybe a NPC difficulty slider would be appropriate, with harder settings giving better combat-related rewards (military rank, combat rating, credits, materials etc) and possibly a trade bonus. This might reconcile the casuals without taking the fun away from the "hardcore" players.

TL;DR: new AI is nice, but maybe too much for casuals and less skilled players. This might hurt sales and thus future development. A difficulty slider adjusting AI challenge and rewards might help to reconcile this.

This I can completely agree with.
Just got a friend of mine into this game and I was hoping to show him how to get about. It'll be slightly more tricky now. But since the combat rank of the AI actualy reflects its capabilities a lot more, I'm sure that if he sticks to attacking lower ranked AI's for a while he'll get the hang of it.

So that's something people will have to keep in mind: if you can't beat the ''deadly'' AI's, try your hand at the lower ranked ones. I certainly will have to. I got deadly couriers and vipers running rings around my Corvette. [knocked out] We end up in an endless circle where he can't do enough damage to me and I cant point my weapons at him long enough. A friend of mine was looking at us "dancing" and couldn't help but giggle.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Please don't let this community become the new Dark Souls smug guys. If we want high difficulty, fine. But lay off insulting people who don't want it that way. I love this game, but the people around it are starting to get really obnoxious. Yes the new AI is hard. Maybe you're good, maybe you're not. I think there should just be significantly higher payoff for difficult enemies.

Repped for being a decent chap.

 

[Euphrat]

Please don't let this community become the new Dark Souls smug guys. If we want high difficulty, fine. But lay off insulting people who don't want it that way. I love this game, but the people around it are starting to get really obnoxious. Yes the new AI is hard. Maybe you're good, maybe you're not. I think there should just be significantly higher payoff for difficult enemies.

Just what I think, and said ^^ all opinions are good to listen, there's always something to learn. ^^

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Please discuss the topic, not each other.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

I do not feel qualified to vote yet as only played release for 2 hrs.

But I would say I think I seeing too many dangerous and deadly ships when out and about. I thought "we" dangerous and above were a rare breed!.

Dangerous and above are meant to be scary however

 

[hunvagy]

I m not saying this is a good way to behave. I m just saying that this behavior may be reprentative of the way new players will feel about tha game. ^^

It depends how often the new player really gets jumped by elite rank enemies. Also might have to do something with the mission board, really. If I recall, missions are not rank locked anymore, so anyone can pick a juicy mission, that might or might not spawn overwhelming enemies. If that is the case, the culprit might actually not be your everyday flight, but taking missions that might not be meant for you.

Same thing with bounty hunting and combat zones. The high ranking enemies should be hard and menacing, because honestly I think that döner spin FDL that flies into asteroids yet it somehow made deadly was just silly. If there's only them though, then that is silly too.

So what must be gauged is how often these ace pilots show up to rain on your parade. If the number is too high, then tweak their numbers, not their difficulty. An Elite is an Elite, whether player or not.

 

[Patrick_68000]

have fun with your father, i hope he is not the one who taught you to insult anyone who thinks differently than you, otherwise he would be one more reason to not stick around here.
have a nice day

Drachenklaue is made like that