News NPC AI update

[moonbucket]

As Will Smith said in ID4: "No, you did NOT shoot that green      at me!".

It's still happening - souped up purple missiles that home in accompanied by some weird-ass sound effects. Insta-shield drop, and then near instant kills. Such fun.

Just to compound today's shenanigans, I also got insta-scanned leaving a dock with some naughty cargo.

Bah.

 

[Nervi]

I have two accounts - one where I am rated Master in combat and one where I am Novice.
On the Novice account I can hold my own against Dangerous Anacondas yet on my Master account I can get wiped out by a Novice Sidewinder in under 10 seconds.
Have Frontier screwed up and got the AI taking their skill level from the player rather than the NPC's stated skill level?

this is interesting.


That mean the difficulty is completely artificial if the NPC are scaled like this and not from the current rank.

however my rang is actually Deadly, but i am not a really good fighter, just got this rank by farming the old "dumb" IA.
Actually most of combat are doable, i even killed FDL and Anaconda elite.

But it seem NPC have some boost on damage or resistance that i can't understand sometime. today i had to flee against a python elite.(i got a python too). i got A6 prismtic 3 booster A shield, and the AI destroyed my shield 3 more time faster than me...
I am wondering if they have really removed the mod for AI.

In my opinion, i am ok with the actual skill of the AI but they should make the elite one less frequent

 

[80Malibu]

Still think that the casual player will want the npc,s toning down a tad.

Yes that would be nice for us old farts that liked them the way they were. I can't earn enough to upgrade let alone having to re-buy my ship again and again. It might be time to find a new game (I am sad to say)

 

[idahosurge]

Does anyone besides me have problems when you are under attack by a NPC that after 2.1 release it takes way to long for the FSD to charge and jump away?

I have been almost killed more than three times because of how long it took to charge and jump away. In the past at worse my shields would almost be gone, now my hull is down to 30% and lower by the time I can finally jump.

Once in my T9 I was under attack so I know it had nothing to do with mass disruption because I was under attach by an ASP. I lost the T9, between the cargo and T9 replacement cost I was out 12M CR's.

This is only when under attack and I am not mass locked and I have no message about the FSD being cut by 1:14 due to mass disruption or whatever the message says because another ship is to close.

When not under attack the FSD charges normally.

 

[IronDuke]

I don't think the Engineer weapons have been removed correctly. I just got my python killed by weird purple missiles from a pair of Diamondbacks. My shields dropped in one second, I hit the boost button, but before the boost could fire, my hull was gone.
Wow.

--IronDuke

 

[Arkman07]

Does anyone besides me have problems when you are under attack by a NPC that after 2.1 release it takes way to long for the FSD to charge and jump away?

I have been almost killed more than three times because of how long it took to charge and jump away. In the past at worse my shields would almost be gone, now my hull is down to 30% and lower by the time I can finally jump.

Once in my T9 I was under attack so I know it had nothing to do with mass disruption because I was under attach by an ASP. I lost the T9, between the cargo and T9 replacement cost I was out 12M CR's.

This is only when under attack and I am not mass locked and I have no message about the FSD being cut by 1:14 due to mass disruption or whatever the message says because another ship is to close.

When not under attack the FSD charges normally.

Your not alone I'm in an a rated fer de lance with 5A thrusters not much should be keeping up with me to keep me mass locked. And no chance of getting away. Got chased down by a asp scout yesterday. It was so depressing I haven't left the station I'm docked at since.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I've been interdicted about half a dozen times in the last two weeks, & have never faced a single Over-powered AI opponent with "insta-kill" abilities. Makes me wonder how many of these claims are legit, especially given the lack of evidence provided!

 

[Marc_Hicks]

This poll suggests that the majority of players now think the AI is either just right, or maybe even just a bit easy. This thread seems to have attracted the "vocal minority".

 

[Cybermykl]

Yes that would be nice for us old farts that liked them the way they were. I can't earn enough to upgrade let alone having to re-buy my ship again and again. It might be time to find a new game (I am sad to say)

No, just do like most of us have done, open a 2nd account and start playing over again. I'm up to an Adder now(second account) and still "mostly harmless", so the NPC AI just ignores me as I trade and run missions. I've been interdicted once but broke loose easily. All my opponents are mostly harmless as well and easy to kill with an official Dangerous ranking. I agree they need to nerf the present AI a little to ignore the traders and miners or at least space them out a little more. It's not realistic to have someone waiting on your six every time you leave the station or depart from a gas giant ring. Work the game, CMDR's, don't let the game work you.
---Cheers

 

[Cybermykl]

Does anyone besides me have problems when you are under attack by a NPC that after 2.1 release it takes way to long for the FSD to charge and jump away?

I have been almost killed more than three times because of how long it took to charge and jump away. In the past at worse my shields would almost be gone, now my hull is down to 30% and lower by the time I can finally jump.

Once in my T9 I was under attack so I know it had nothing to do with mass disruption because I was under attach by an ASP. I lost the T9, between the cargo and T9 replacement cost I was out 12M CR's.

This is only when under attack and I am not mass locked and I have no message about the FSD being cut by 1:14 due to mass disruption or whatever the message says because another ship is to close.

When not under attack the FSD charges normally.

Yes, I wondered about that too. So, there I am corkscrewing away from the AI python in my ASP (main account) and trying to get the FSD to charge and it is taking way too long. It's like they know we're running and have purposely turned down the FSD charging system so we are forced to turn and fight, which results in getting our butt handed to us in a sling or managing to escape with precious little armour left when the FSD does finally charge and we can high wake out. I hate to admit it but the game is living up to its name Elite: Dangerous

 

[manos70131]

I've been interdicted about half a dozen times in the last two weeks, & have never faced a single Over-powered AI opponent with "insta-kill" abilities. Makes me wonder how many of these claims are legit, especially given the lack of evidence provided!

I'm not sure how you reached the conclusion that most of the people agree that all is well now (was there a poll? I wasn't asked) but in the end, all of us that enjoyed the game (I have 500+ hours of gameplay) are waiting for the developers to tell us if this is what the game has become. If it is, many of us will just move out. We don't want to spoil the fun for the people that enjoy the new situation, we just need to know if what we see is a bug or a feature, according to the developers. That's all. We have no quarrel with the people that do not see any problem. We don't have to prove anything. We can be here or somewhere else. All were well before ED, all will be well even without it.

 

[Alec Turner]

I'm not sure how you reached the conclusion that most of the people agree that all is well now (was there a poll? I wasn't asked) but in the end, all of us that enjoyed the game (I have 500+ hours of gameplay) are waiting for the developers to tell us if this is what the game has become.

I'm not sure how you reached the conclusion that all of us are waiting for the developers, I'm pretty happy with 2.1 so far.

Sorry ... couldn't resist it!

True tho.

 

[manos70131]

No, just do like most of us have done, open a 2nd account and start playing over again. I'm up to an Adder now(second account) and still "mostly harmless", so the NPC AI just ignores me as I trade and run missions. I've been interdicted once but broke loose easily. All my opponents are mostly harmless as well and easy to kill with an official Dangerous ranking. I agree they need to nerf the present AI a little to ignore the traders and miners or at least space them out a little more. It's not realistic to have someone waiting on your six every time you leave the station or depart from a gas giant ring. Work the game, CMDR's, don't let the game work you.
---Cheers

I believe you my friend. I believe that if you start over, maybe things will be better. But why should we start over? Did we do anything wrong? I'm sorry but personally I don't want to throw away 500+ of gameplay and start over for no good reason. And if the game does not respect our "investment" in time and forces us to start over just because that's life, what will happen in 3.1(random example - I don't know anything specific for that version)? Will they introduce a new feature that will force us start over again? I'm not sure how many will be ok with that. I know I'm not.

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I'm not sure how you reached the conclusion that all of us are waiting for the developers, I'm pretty happy with 2.1 so far.

Sorry ... couldn't resist it!

True tho.

You are correct. I should have clarified. Some of us that are not happy with the new version (I use 1.6 - no Engineers expansion) are waiting for the developer's feedback. As I said, no quarrel with anyone...

 

[relayer]

I've been interdicted about half a dozen times in the last two weeks, & have never faced a single Over-powered AI opponent with "insta-kill" abilities. Makes me wonder how many of these claims are legit, especially given the lack of evidence provided!

Marc, there's plenty of evidence of these things posted and reposted on YT - no need to litter the forum with every single video clip out there. Just search youtube - there's dozens of clips.

Evidently you missed the beginning post of this thread where Zac explained that these overpowered weapons were definitely in the game, and the explanation of the dangling pointer that caused them. They have also said they are continuing to look into these issues. That tells me that at least FD is taking these reports seriously.

 

[CMDR Rakzoid]

I've been interdicted about half a dozen times in the last two weeks, & have never faced a single Over-powered AI opponent with "insta-kill" abilities. Makes me wonder how many of these claims are legit, especially given the lack of evidence provided!

And where is your evidence to claim your statement? Maybe you are great in telling hero stories and like to post about how great you are just to feel good?

"I am an avarage player and managed to kill 5 Elite Anacondas that interdicted me so AI is ok to my opinion."
So as long as I write things like this, I dont need to prove myself, but if I stated I have problems with the endless ammount ammo/energy/chaf of NPC's
I suddenly need to prove it?

 

[Tecker]

I have read many opinions here and in other threads and most people seem to agree that the game environment is now hazardous, whether you are looking for combat challenge or not. As I have already written, even after 2.1.02, NPCs seem to have superpowers, and it's very difficult to even target them, even with agile ships. It's not only the strong weapons, it's the faster and more agile ships. You cannot target them and you cannot outrun them. It's a death sentence. I have read that the ship does not matter. Big, small, slow, fast, it's a matter of time to run across one of these NPCs that will blow you up. Unless you are an Elite player with a top rated ship. I have concluded that only this kind of players find the new situation pleasing.

Even though I enjoyed the easiness of the game before 2.1, I too agree that it was too easy to make money and a little tweaking to make it more challenging was not a bad idea. Going to the other extreme however is much worse. Giving NPCs abilities the player will never have, it's not only difficult, it's unfair. I have decided that it's not worth the risk and I'll stay in the safety of the space station I have docked till the developers let us know what their opinion on the situation is. It's not a bad idea to take a little rest. I'll leave more free resources for the hardcore players that enjoy the changes.

100% true.
My own FdL with A Thrusters an Boostspeed of a little over 390 can´t outrun an NPC FdL.
Full Pimps on Engines with Boostspam on GCD and the NPC comes CLOSER and keeps firing on me.

 

[midnightblue101]

Still think that the casual player will want the npc,s toning down a tad.

Completely agree.. I think this is a welcome update for Elite level CMDRs that needed extra challenge..for those of us who were enjoying it before casually, its now an impossible grind..

 

[zippychippy]

I think that you have to get the engineers expansion in order to keep up with the new beefed up NPC's and create the new weapon upgrades.

 

[Tecker]

I think that you have to get the engineers expansion in order to keep up with the new beefed up NPC's and create the new weapon upgrades.

Possible.
But how you can get the Engineet upgrades?
You must go to them and do Quests to get reputation.
I tried that and get´s interdicted and killed half Way.

 

[Turjan]

I think that you have to get the engineers expansion in order to keep up with the new beefed up NPC's and create the new weapon upgrades.

Exactly.

But what if I only had the 1.6 game and not 2.1 Engineers?

Basically I'd be stuffed, wouldn't I?

This is actually the situation I'm in right now as it happens - on my alt account. My main (lifetime pass) account is 35k LY from home, still making episodes for my video series out in the far black.

My second account is in the bubble, but does not have access to Horizons.

My second account cannot therefore upgrade anything to keep up with Engineer-modded NPCs. Which puts that Commander at a perpetual disadvantage in combat.

Basically, if I want to remove that disadvantage, I would have to BUY Horizons for my second account to even have access to abilities that all NPCs now possess.

Now I ask you, is that fair to anyone who plays only 1.6?

I know it was never Frontier's intention to make any aspect of Elite Dangerous "Pay To Win", but I'm afraid they have now done exactly that. As long as NPCs are using abilities that are unavailable to a player unless that player pays for a game upgrade, that is clearly P2W.

I will also add at this point that if Frontier had given us the extra Commander slots we were promised back in KickStarter then I would not be in this position, because my main account has a lifetime pass, so a second Commander on that account would have access to Engineers without me having to fork out any more cash.