NPC AI update

[Zac Antonaci]

Hey guys,

We wanted to share a quick update with you to let you know how the investigation into the NPC AI has been progressing after the removal of the Engineers weapons for the NPCs and what the next steps are.

The development team have been hard at work investigating these bugs. To give you a little more information, it appears that the unusual weapons attacks were caused by some form of networking issue which allowed the NPC AI to merge weapon stats and abilities. Meaning that all new and never before seen (sometimes devastating) weapons were created, such as a rail gun with the fire rate of a pulse laser. These appear to have been compounded by the additional stats and abilities of the engineers weaponry. (We don’t think the AI became sentient in a Skynet-style uprising! ). However, the valiant Mark Allen from the Development team has managed to terminate these NPCs in their tracks.

The bug fix is expected to go live in our next point release which is planned for the end of this week/early next week but we’ll have more news on the exact time in the normal patch notes forum.

I would just like to take this opportunity to clarify a few misconceptions. The AI has in no way been reduced, it remains the glorious, improved version from the update. The only action that we’ve taken so far has been to remove the engineer weapons to allow us to investigate the issue and address a key bug. Once this bug fix goes live we’ll be able to see how the AI is performing and then, over time, should we feel that the balancing is right to introduce a very select few high end engineers weapons to the highest ranked NPCs we will investigate that option. However, that won’t be immediately as we want to ensure that the balance is just right.

Edit: Please note this point update will be PC specific and the Xbox One update will need to follow after. We'll let you know as soon as we have more information.

[drkaii]

Thanks for the fantastic, detailed update as always Zac. I don't know any other game where the devs give this much detailed info about the inner workings of the game, especially if it's related to a bug.

Looking forward to the results

[Robert Maynard]

Sounds like the pest control team have been working hard to identify the problems - thank to all!

.... and thanks for clarifying that the AI itself has not been toned down.

[who?]

Thanks for the detailed update!

I, for one, welcome our new NPC overlords. It was only a matter of time before they hacked our laws of physics, and taught us ugly sacks of mostly water a thing or two...

[warlock]

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

[Zac Antonaci]

Thanks for the detailed update!

I, for one, welcome our new NPC overlords. It was only a matter of time before they hacked our laws of physics, and taught us ugly sacks of mostly water a thing or two...

The NPC overlords will reward your loyalty when the time comes.

[Zac Antonaci]

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

Again, it's part of the balancing once the fix is in place.

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

This actually sounds way more complex than anyone predicted Impressive debugging devs! It opened a rare window into crazy possibilities of potential NPC uprising!

[Koyote]

Hi Zac

I really appreciate your effort in trying to fix all the issues. But to be honest, I really doubt, that there are no more NPCs on steroids or overly aggressive NPCs out there.

I died 4x since yesterday and the last time just a few minutes ago. This time by an NPC, attacking me without prior contact directly in front of a Station. I did not even have the chance to react. Before I could release my weaons, I had no shields any more. After weapons were released, my a-shield /2x a-shield booster ASP Explorer was dust... No I stop playing, because I am tired of wasting my credits for this buggy and annoying 2.1 update.

Question: do I get my 5-6 million credits back, that I lost since yesterday because of those bugs?

[Sir T.j]

Great work as ever guys.

[Jenner]

Nice update. This is great communication with the community!

[Ziljan]

The AI has in no way been reduced, it remains the glorious, improved version from the update.

...and there was much celebrating and joyous cheers heard across the land.

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Hi Zac

I really appreciate your effort in trying to fix all the issues. But to be honest, I really doubt, that there are no more NPCs on steroids or overly aggressive NPS out there.

I died 4x since yesterday and the last time just a few minutes ago. This time by an NPC, attacking me without prior contact directly in front of a Station. I did not even have the chance to react. Before I could release my weaons, I had no shields any more. After weapons were released, my a-shield /2x a-shield booster ASP Explorer was dust... No I stop playing, because I am tired of wasting my credits for this buggy and annoying 2.1 update.

Question: do I get my 5-6 million credits back, that I lost since yesterday because of those bugs?

Contact Frontier Support to get reimbursed.

[Shadowdancer]

So you're saying that the AI exploited networking bugs and did hardcore minmaxing?

[Kyokushin]

Hey guys,

We wanted to share a quick update with you to let you know how the investigation into the NPC AI has been progressing after the removal of the Engineers weapons for the NPCs and what the next steps are.

The development team have been hard at work investigating these bugs. To give you a little more information, it appears that the unusual weapons attacks were caused by some form of networking issue which allowed the NPC AI to merge weapon stats and abilities. Meaning that all new and never before seen (sometimes devastating) weapons were created, such as a rail gun with the fire rate of a pulse laser. These appear to have been compounded by the additional stats and abilities of the engineers weaponry. (We don’t think the AI became sentient in a Skynet-style uprising! ). However, the valiant Mark Allen from the Development team has managed to terminate these NPCs in their tracks.

The bug fix is expected to go live in our next point release which is planned for the end of this week/early next week but we’ll have more news on the exact time in the normal patch notes forum.

I would just like to take this opportunity to clarify a few misconceptions. The AI has in no way been reduced, it remains the glorious, improved version from the update. The only action that we’ve taken so far has been to remove the engineer weapons to allow us to investigate the issue and address a key bug. Once this bug fix goes live we’ll be able to see how the AI is performing and then, over time, should we feel that the balancing is right to introduce a very select few high end engineers weapons to the highest ranked NPCs we will investigate that option. However, that won’t be immediately as we want to ensure that the balance is just right.

OK for me!

Thanx for clarification.