News NPC AI Update - 2.1.03 and beyond

[Varrag]

We were promised a dynamic world , were the BGS was the center of it all.

Now its transforming into some artificial early 2000s game logic.
Maybe this is just a temp solution

I really, and I mean really don't understand their design philosophy any more.

Just for the record: one reason why I've always preferred Gothic/Risen over Elder scrolls series is the fact that in Gothic/Risen there was no such thing as dynamic NPC rescaling in order to match the player's level. In those RPGs world was out there in its full, complex glory; some parts safe, some dangerous, some insanely tough; and everything was connected in delicate but logical way. So you had to carefully plan your steps - and pay the price for every mistake you've made.

FDEV decided (again?) to go with the flow, a.k.a the simplest possible game mechanics.

/end rant

 

[6xes]

I'm a pc player and I think the AI is about right. The game is called Elite Dangerous not just Elite

I agree, Elite Dangerous, emphasis on Dangerous!!

I think people need to be reminded whenever Players have a Rant about AI getting the better of them.

Dangerous!!! not easy mode, not medium mode. Dangerous!!

 

[Hilight]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share a quick update with you as we go live with the 2.1.03 update. You can see the full list of changes on the forum post here, but we wanted to point out a few tweaks and updates that we made in order to further improve your experience with the NPC AI. We also wanted to share a few AI changes that we have planned for a future update, too.


For 2.1.03 we fixed a bug where AI were using too tight a turning circle at low levels, we reduced ranks of Powerplay interdictors, lowering the chance of powerplay ships choosing to interdict you by 25%. The interdiction rank range has been reduced by one both above and below the player. It is also now based on your combat rating. We’ve made a change that ensures there will be a pause before AI attacks you after you’ve been interdicted… previously some Commanders would be immediately bombarded as soon as they’re pulled from supercruise.

We have a lot of AI changes planned for upcoming updates too, such as stopping the bottom three levels of AI from boosting (which was an unintended bug), we are looking at stopping AI from targeting sub-modules and we’re considering further reductions on the interdiction rank ranges detailed above.

In a previous update we fixed the AI bug that would create super modules, we stopped the bug that allowed AI aligned powers from attacking you, we reduced the ranks of AI spawning based on accepted missions, and we reduced the ranks of AI in ambient traffic.

The development team are dedicated to making the NPC AI experience as fun as possible, and the right level of challenging, and will continue to work hard on finding the correct balance.

The amount of attention, thought and consideration the development team puts into Elite is remarkable. You all are doing an excellent job

 

[GG7]

Would be nice if some of you would actually TEST the new release before falling all over yourselves with praise!

FYI:

The DOCKING COMPUTER is now BROKEN! Refuses to line up with the pads on large StarPorts. Sitting to the right of the target reticle and refuses to complete the docking process. NPCs are also effected. All NPCs attempting to land on pads in large StarPorts are all sitting to the RIGHT of the center of the pad with thrusters pulsing. Will eventually time out their landings and station will begin destroying them for loitering.

TURRET WEAPON MODE BROKEN ... Keeps resetting itself to FIRE AT WILL regardless of user setting. If you set it to something else, it will default back to FIRE AT WILL when entering SuperCruise or HyperSpace. If the user fails to notice and does not reset this before combat, TURRETS WILL NOT FIRE AT ALL!

Nice work Frontier! [wacky]

 

[constvoid]

I'm not convinced that basing the encounters on the player's combat rank is the best idea. As many have said a high rank, especially one gained with the earlier incarnations of AI, mainly reflects the number of kills the player has made, not necessarily how good a combat pilot he/she is.

I believe it would be much better if recent combat performance (e.g. last 7 days) were taken into account. If you get killed a lot, or run away from more encounters than you acheive kiils then your rating would diminish. Someone who slaughters every NPC they come across would get a high rating. That way a hot shot pilot would have a higher number of encounters with higher ranking NPCs and would get get the challenge most seem to to want. Those of us who fair less well against the AI would tend to get fewer encounters and/or lower ranked AI. In addition the system security, location etc. could be taken into account as well.

 

[Eymerich]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share a quick update with you as we go live with the 2.1.03 update. You can see the full list of changes on the forum post here, but we wanted to point out a few tweaks and updates that we made in order to further improve your experience with the NPC AI. We also wanted to share a few AI changes that we have planned for a future update, too.


For 2.1.03 we fixed a bug where AI were using too tight a turning circle at low levels, we reduced ranks of Powerplay interdictors, lowering the chance of powerplay ships choosing to interdict you by 25%. The interdiction rank range has been reduced by one both above and below the player. It is also now based on your combat rating. We’ve made a change that ensures there will be a pause before AI attacks you after you’ve been interdicted… previously some Commanders would be immediately bombarded as soon as they’re pulled from supercruise.

We have a lot of AI changes planned for upcoming updates too, such as stopping the bottom three levels of AI from boosting (which was an unintended bug), we are looking at stopping AI from targeting sub-modules and we’re considering further reductions on the interdiction rank ranges detailed above.

In a previous update we fixed the AI bug that would create super modules, we stopped the bug that allowed AI aligned powers from attacking you, we reduced the ranks of AI spawning based on accepted missions, and we reduced the ranks of AI in ambient traffic.

The development team are dedicated to making the NPC AI experience as fun as possible, and the right level of challenging, and will continue to work hard on finding the correct balance.

Thanks.

That's a great new

 

[Manticore]

Thanks FD for listening to the community.... all of the community.

I haven't had a chance to fly since the update (that will happen tonight) but from what I see of the change logs there has been every genuine attempt across the totality of the game mechanic(s) to balance the game for everyone.

Will the game require further balance? I don't know yet.

With respect to everyone perhaps a lot of the ongoing discussions in this thread on what pilots have gotten, or haven't gotten in the update, is perhaps best left to the discussions and feedback thread(s)?

There has been so much of this all over the boards (and yes; some of it has come from me) but perhaps we should try the game, play it a while, comment and positively appraise or constructively criticise as the need arises.

Sure; if I see/experience something that I think needs further fixes or balance I certainly will comment but I'll give it a go first.

I just want to get out there and fly and explore.

See you out there.

 

[ShimEnki]

Most people don't post on the forums period. They may complain however when talking to their friends and relatives, either IRL or using various forms of voice chat (phone, Mumble, Xbox party chat, etc)

I know many, many players, who complain a lot when I talk to them but don't even know these forums exist.

Agreed CMDR. They are a portion the ones that play the game rather than getting their kicks from forum politics, and when the game becomes nonsensical as it has been, they leave and spread that feeling unseen to countless others via the myriad of available personal media where no one gets the opp to try discounting their personal views.

 

[Brimstone]

I tried very hard to appreciate the changes in this update, but they were not for me..

 

[Pumabear8]

I got some of that last night in a conflict zone. One second the NPC was within 500m constantly circling my ship, then when i was able to change directions/speed to break out it had super boosted and was 3-4 km away. I'd close back in and we started all over again. Almost every 1v1 fight I had was like that, only the ranges differed depending on the ship. It got old real fast.

I'm wondering if the distance gain is a network issue, several occasions I've had a target locked, then suddenly it's beyond lock range, and I'm not talking about it speeding away, one moment it's in front of me, then it blinks out and I see it 4km away.

 

[demonj00]

Cool, the AI was a tad crazy, I hope this isn't too far the other direction.

 

[Max Gandalf]

Played half an hour this evening only. Looks fine so far to me. No permanent interdictions anymore. Happy with that. Too soon for me to judge AI with half an hour this evening, so I'll find out at the weekend.

Happy to see so many bugs fixed, therefore I don't mind having to disable the docking computer as Marvin the paranoid Android took over

Thanks FD for your hard work.

 

[Geth Prime]

Thanks FD, I see the update as a big step in the right direction.

Nice work

 

[carlosmaline]

could you please refund (ingame credit of ship insurance) the player who has been destroyed during the last patch ?

I have been...without asking. Came back from the void just as 2.1.1 was released bought me a python thermaled and impulsed to death on 3 occasions. After 7 mill insurance I was was pretty annoyed, but fd devs have recredited. Nice one keep up good work fellas.

 

[ShimEnki]

Why not just get them to self destruct as soon as they see you and be done with all this nonsense ?

Now you're talking. Someday maybe, but we are happy that things are going in the direction of the greatest fun for the gretest number of CMDrs.

So...baby steps I guess, next step is totally remove module focused damage by NPCs outside of combat focused areas.

 

[vizvayu]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share a quick update with you as we go live with the 2.1.03 update. You can see the full list of changes on the forum post here, but we wanted to point out a few tweaks and updates that we made in order to further improve your experience with the NPC AI. We also wanted to share a few AI changes that we have planned for a future update, too.


For 2.1.03 we fixed a bug where AI were using too tight a turning circle at low levels, we reduced ranks of Powerplay interdictors, lowering the chance of powerplay ships choosing to interdict you by 25%. The interdiction rank range has been reduced by one both above and below the player. It is also now based on your combat rating. We’ve made a change that ensures there will be a pause before AI attacks you after you’ve been interdicted… previously some Commanders would be immediately bombarded as soon as they’re pulled from supercruise.

We have a lot of AI changes planned for upcoming updates too, such as stopping the bottom three levels of AI from boosting (which was an unintended bug), we are looking at stopping AI from targeting sub-modules and we’re considering further reductions on the interdiction rank ranges detailed above.

In a previous update we fixed the AI bug that would create super modules, we stopped the bug that allowed AI aligned powers from attacking you, we reduced the ranks of AI spawning based on accepted missions, and we reduced the ranks of AI in ambient traffic.

The development team are dedicated to making the NPC AI experience as fun as possible, and the right level of challenging, and will continue to work hard on finding the correct balance.

Great, thanks!
Could you please consider giving the AI a little randomness? Make it make mistakes sometimes, change tactics, take chances, run out of ammo, get tired...... that kind of things. I'm sure it'll make the engagements a lot more entertaining because right now most of the times it feels like a looong and boring dance circling each other.

 

[Meatshield58]

I'm a pc player and I think the AI is about right. The game is called Elite Dangerous not just Elite

It won't be called anything if you can't get players to play it

 

[jpcebu]

Would be nice to have storage lockers at a home planet or station, and the ability to have all your ships sent to your home planet.

 

[bigevs]

Going to try out the latest patch soon. The NPC notes read well. However I would definitively prefer a completely random NPC spawning and base the interdiction rate mainly on the security level of the system (and goverment type) and maybe even security level of the connected systems.

I also think the AI difficulty should be random and not based off of your combat ranking with a small chance of a vastly superior ship interdicting you. You should have to evaluate the situation in the moment as to whether or not to fight or run, otherwise the encounters are too "canned" and very unnatural. There is nothing wrong with bad ass NPCs roaming around provided You have the opportunity to fight or run. Getting destroyed once a week is acceptable. Getting wrecked five times a day is excessive.

 

[MONTItheRed]

Hi everyone,

we are looking at stopping AI from targeting sub-modules

Why? Targeting sub-systems is a completely legitimate combat option. Players complain about NPC "pirates" never really pirating. Isn't preventing AI from targeting sub-systems just turning them all into murderers?