Been a while since I've looked at an AI Thread.
But after dealing with countless V2.1.0x NPCs, two Details I'd like to see corrected/changed/improved :
1) The NPC "Flexibility" a.k.a. Cheats and Inconsistencies (spawn and re-spawn issues, which often defy all rules Players are bound to)
(repost of mine I made elsewhere)
- NPCs don't suffer from Inertia and maneuver any Ship as if it was 25% of its weight
- Ships coming to a fullstop in nearly no time using (Modded Class 15?) Super-Thrusters
- Ships instantly accelerating to max. speed
- Ships "selectively" Afterburning to get out of Player's Firing arc - but barely gaining 400-500m distance doing so instead of getting propelled away like a Player would (even with Thrustering tricks to minimize forward velocity/distance)
- Ships using ultra-agility (Level 10 Thargoid Drive Mod?) to Turret even a heavily modded FAS. Heck I've been circled by a Viper Mk.IV (!) in my FAS, running 4 Pips ENG on Dirty Drive Mods, FA OFF at optimum speed...
- Ships losing PowerPlant doing the "PowerPlant is down - let's Afterburner one more time" (dunno - I can't do that when mine fails)
- Ships barely ever get Weapons malfunctions... if my Modded Heavy-Duty Hull is down <50%, chances are most of my Weapons are dead or dying Modules. NPC @ 1% Hull? Still fires full barrages, despite being hammered non-stop...
- Actually overheating NPCs only getting a Symbolic (fake) and drastically muted Module degradation, usually also sparing the critical Modules reliably for last
- NPCs passing 70% Power Plant never suffer from the ~10sec temporary loss of Power that Players have to deal with
- NPCs warping to any Player Position instantaneously after a disengage
- NPCs magically waiting for Players even in super-remote, uninhabited Systems within a few hundred LY of the bubble (if valuable Cargo is carried or magic Insta-Interdictions after MSN Critical Updates)
- NPCs which' Power Plant and FSD you physically disabled after an Interdiction and then left them behind will re-appear back in SC and re-Interdict you. With a 0% Power Plant and 0% FSD. Try it.
- NPCs repeatedly firing off what seems like CapShip-class (Class 10?) Super-SCBs without a heatsink, 100%-recharging depleted, massively boosted Shields, without any of the massive overheat damage they should suffer
2) godlike Interdiction skillz of high-ranked NPCs
I used to be one that could evade almost all NPC- and even most PvP Interdiction Minigames.
But against those V2.1 super-aimbots (most I meed are ELITE Ranked) ?
Sorry, not a chance in hell. I
might win 10% of these. And 50% of those times, then the Escape Vector starts warping and I typically auto-lose.
Escape Vector even of heavy Ships like an Anaconda NPC interdicting my (more agile, heavily modded) Ship? It often moves around faster than I can physically follow it due to SC turnrate limitation of my Ship.
It's so bad, I don't even try anymore. Pointless, despite having tons of Experience and being otherwise fairly good at it.
Now it's just auto-submit, no point in even trying (which I occasionally still do - but with expected results).
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Those are the things I've really come to dislike when it comes to NPC combat encounters.
More than once I've found myself Afterburning straight into them in sheer, disgusted frustration - with some
very unfriendly comments given...
I really like a good challenge from NPCs. Always did.
But whatever they do - they have to follow the same darn rules as we do.
Should they need "tweaks" (benefit of not having a Sandbox), those have to be and remain
invisible and
undetectable by the Player.
I'd rather see a whole Wing of NPCs interdicting me - but all following the rules, than seeing a single NPC cheating left & right or pulling off stunts (re-spawn logic) that are blatantly obviously impossible within our own Player limitations.
PS.
Seen my fair share of Combat under all conceivable circumstances, so I do believe I've seen it all over a long enough time to make a sound judgement.