02.02.2009, 05:16
v 1.7:
Some observations:
IMO, the AI planes are using the vertical a bit too much. I am seeing hammerheads and stall turns and loops and vertical scissors, all of which are very good, but there seems to be a lack of horizontal maneuvers. Recently I have been flying a lot in the DGEN campaign Disaster on the Fronts, (Moscow map). I flew about 25/30 missions on the blue side flying mostly Bf109F4 and a little of FW190A4 and Bf109F2. Most of my kills came when I caught the enemy hanging in the air. Seems a bit unrealistic.
The AI seems to lose the will to out-turn me after a while. I have seen instances when flying Me109F4 against Yaks and P40M against Zeroes, with the enemy on my tail, when he allows me to separate after a few turns, turn into him and start a scissors. (Don't remember if this was the case with the vanilla AI). IMO planes like Yaks and I16s should try to use the horizontal rather than the vertical more often.
Also, the shooting accuracy for ACE level at least should be higher, I think.
There's another factor that I (and another guy too) pointed out earlier. It has become easier to *surprise* the enemy. They sometime seem to be oblivious to anybody sitting in their six.
Scenario 1: DGEN campaign from Disaster on the Fronts, Moscow map
I flew about 25/30 missions on the blue side flying mostly Bf109F4 and a little of FW190A4 and Bf109F2.
There is a bit of a rugged terrain just north and north-east of Vyazma. I didnot see any German plane crash here, but 3 Yaks and 1 IL2 crashed; however since these were already damaged, I would not worry too much, and this statistics is over 25/30 missions, especially since I crashed once myself
But I also noticed one IL2, undamaged (as per my beliefs) make a low-level bombing run on an Axis airfield and crash on the rugged terrain.
Scenario 2: NewGuinea map (lots of mountains north of Port Moresby)
Mission #1. DGEN mission.
4 P39D1 vs 4 Betty + 3 Zero
2 A6Ms, undamaged as far as I could see, crashed into mountain walls while pulling up from the valley.
Mission #2. FMB mission.
4 Bf109K14 vs 4 P39Q1 (planes 1 and 3: ACE, planes 2 and 4: VETERAN, both red and blue)
1 P39 (wingman), undamaged as far as I could see, crashed into the mountain wall while pulling up from the valley.
Mission #3. FMB mission.
4 Bf109F4 vs 4 Spitfire Mk 5 LF (planes 1 and 3: ACE, planes 2 and 4: VETERAN, both red and blue)
Nobody crashed.
I think that the AI is crashing after the controls freeze at high speeds; the crashes usually occurred after pulling out after a chase. Testing planes like zeroes, oscars and lightnings (those which have a tendency to be unresponsive at high speeds) and comparing with planes like 109s, spitfires and mustangs might give rise to some interesting observations.
I will try to do a bit more testing on the NewGuinea map with the original and the modded AI.
S.
Some observations:
IMO, the AI planes are using the vertical a bit too much. I am seeing hammerheads and stall turns and loops and vertical scissors, all of which are very good, but there seems to be a lack of horizontal maneuvers. Recently I have been flying a lot in the DGEN campaign Disaster on the Fronts, (Moscow map). I flew about 25/30 missions on the blue side flying mostly Bf109F4 and a little of FW190A4 and Bf109F2. Most of my kills came when I caught the enemy hanging in the air. Seems a bit unrealistic.
The AI seems to lose the will to out-turn me after a while. I have seen instances when flying Me109F4 against Yaks and P40M against Zeroes, with the enemy on my tail, when he allows me to separate after a few turns, turn into him and start a scissors. (Don't remember if this was the case with the vanilla AI). IMO planes like Yaks and I16s should try to use the horizontal rather than the vertical more often.
Also, the shooting accuracy for ACE level at least should be higher, I think.
There's another factor that I (and another guy too) pointed out earlier. It has become easier to *surprise* the enemy. They sometime seem to be oblivious to anybody sitting in their six.
certificate Wrote:It would be particularly useful to me if you could provide an example misison of the AI having trouble with mountainous areas. Then I could troubleshoot it, instead of trying to look through code to figure it out.
Scenario 1: DGEN campaign from Disaster on the Fronts, Moscow map
I flew about 25/30 missions on the blue side flying mostly Bf109F4 and a little of FW190A4 and Bf109F2.
There is a bit of a rugged terrain just north and north-east of Vyazma. I didnot see any German plane crash here, but 3 Yaks and 1 IL2 crashed; however since these were already damaged, I would not worry too much, and this statistics is over 25/30 missions, especially since I crashed once myself
But I also noticed one IL2, undamaged (as per my beliefs) make a low-level bombing run on an Axis airfield and crash on the rugged terrain.Scenario 2: NewGuinea map (lots of mountains north of Port Moresby)
Mission #1. DGEN mission.
4 P39D1 vs 4 Betty + 3 Zero
2 A6Ms, undamaged as far as I could see, crashed into mountain walls while pulling up from the valley.
Mission #2. FMB mission.
4 Bf109K14 vs 4 P39Q1 (planes 1 and 3: ACE, planes 2 and 4: VETERAN, both red and blue)
1 P39 (wingman), undamaged as far as I could see, crashed into the mountain wall while pulling up from the valley.
Mission #3. FMB mission.
4 Bf109F4 vs 4 Spitfire Mk 5 LF (planes 1 and 3: ACE, planes 2 and 4: VETERAN, both red and blue)
Nobody crashed.
I think that the AI is crashing after the controls freeze at high speeds; the crashes usually occurred after pulling out after a chase. Testing planes like zeroes, oscars and lightnings (those which have a tendency to be unresponsive at high speeds) and comparing with planes like 109s, spitfires and mustangs might give rise to some interesting observations.
I will try to do a bit more testing on the NewGuinea map with the original and the modded AI.
S.