BoS AI - great job!

[Reflected]

While there are many aspects of BoS that needs some improvement, I think the AI is one of the best I’ve ever seen. I’m really happy because I enjoy flying offline.

 

My expectations weren’t so high, because I find the RoF AI is not so good, quite repetitive with lots of downward spirals. The AI of the old il2, as well as CloD is what put me off both sims. It’s beyond annoying to see them accelerate like UFO-s, doing repetitive rolls like F-16-s instantly as soon as they get into my crosshair.

 

BoS on the other hand is human-like AND challenging at the same time. They don’t do anything I couldn’t do, they make mistakes, they spin, still they’re good enough to surprise me from time to time. They’ll never be as good as a good human pilot online, but still pretty ok. SP is no fun without the chance of being shot down.

 

It needs some polishing – I think  badly damaged planes, especially if they’re on fire, shouldn’t keep fighting but try to save their lives – but it’s already better than anything I’ve seen before.

 

Good job, there!

[No601_Swallow]

After one SP mission, instead of just quitting, I switched to externals for a change to see if my (109F4) AI wingmen finally do make it down to land. The next one down dinged his prop, I was secretly delighted to see. It was exactly the kind of landing I'm prone to making - bouncy, bouncy - ding! 

 

All very convincing.

Edited October 28, 2014 by No601_Swallow

[Finkeren]

There are aspects, where the AI is seriously lacking:

 

Ability to hold formation

 

Level/dive bombing capabilities

 

Bombers/attack planes return home with un-dropped ordinance.

 

Occasionally fighters continue flying agressively after their fuel tanks have been set on fire.

 

Fighters on escort duty abandon the bombers to chase after enemy fighters that are also on escort duty and thus pose no thread.

 

Fighters are far too eager to engage in head-on duels.

 

Despite these shortcomings, most of which will no doubt be fixed in time, the AI is pretty good when it comes to the flying itself and (with some notable exceptions) does a good job with mission priorities.

 

I also really like the fact that not every single encounter ends in a massacre, where one side completely wipes out the other. This has been a problem for the majority of CFS' I've ever played (RoF included). I pretty much think only Rowans BoB II and EAW ever did this right.

[[TWB]80hd]

The AI certainly is not terrible.  Finkeren hits on a lot of it... and once I dove to the deck with 2 Yaks in tow (I was in a 190) and they never lost a meter on me... when I hit the deck I went emergency power and they gained on me.  Maybe I am on crack, but I think a 190 should outdive them, and I don't know a ton about the A-3, but max power I figured I would walk away from them.

To my surprise I think they actually ran out of ammo and left...  either way I made it home... it was certainly more interesting than the bomber missions offline.

[Finkeren]

[TWB]80hd, what you describe has nothing to do with the AI. The capabilities if the aircraft are not connected to the AI. The AI uses exactly the same FM as we do.

[Dakpilot]

After todays update the AI seem to be a little less "wobbly" has anyone else noticed that they fly a bit smoother and more believable, tried with a few different types, also on ground attack/support they got stuck in with no orders

 

perhaps an anomaly? has anyone else noticed any improvements like that

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[Gustang]

The BoS AI seem to do a fair job of keeping themselves alive.   I'd like to see them break off more often and be more cautious with their virtual lives, especially when burning a ton of oil or venting all their fuel. 

 

In combat, they're believable and fun.   I noticed the 109s did a (mostly) great job of not over-shooting while attacking the IL-2s.   The late-campaign AI seem to be capable of vicious snap-shots. 

[Brano]

I like the AI very much.Finkeren mentioned points for improvement I agree with.But in general they feel and fly OK.I had some very extensive dogfights in my LaGG or La5 with messers,chasing thru clouds,losing sight of each other and then again whirl in a crazy fight.Those who say AI sucks are either not spending their flying in offline at all or are embarrased to admit that AI can get them anytime,anywhere or do not fly soviet side.Thats the side where you will learn what does it mean to be chased with not many chances of survival.And when you succeed to evade kette of messers and even got 1 down,satisfaction is there    

[Tyberan]

After todays update the AI seem to be a little less "wobbly" has anyone else noticed that they fly a bit smoother and more believable, tried with a few different types, also on ground attack/support they got stuck in with no orders

 

perhaps an anomaly? has anyone else noticed any improvements like that

 

Cheers Dakpilot

An anomaly. I just did 3 ground mission, AI did not attack at all, I tried not giving order, telling them to open fire on nearest target, even to patrol for ground targets. they sort of circle around a bit then never drop anything. 

 

AI fighters though are pretty good, like really good. 

[Finkeren]

An anomaly. I just did 3 ground mission, AI did not attack at all, I tried not giving order, telling them to open fire on nearest target, even to patrol for ground targets. they sort of circle around a bit then never drop anything.

 

AI fighters though are pretty good, like really good.

Strange. Which plane were you flying? I usually fly IL-2 and the AI does a fair job attacking most ground targets. The main problem is, that they use bombs and rockets individually, which makes ground attack a long process for them.

[[TWB]80hd]

An anomaly. I just did 3 ground mission, AI did not attack at all, I tried not giving order, telling them to open fire on nearest target, even to patrol for ground targets. they sort of circle around a bit then never drop anything. 

 

AI fighters though are pretty good, like really good. 

 

Sometimes, when I tell my AI to attack, the spray bombs all over the place.

 

They only seem to drop on target when they are trolling me by killing all the depot buildings before my bombs hit.

 

They need to get with the program and do the unlocks too, they never have the right skin on.

[Gustang]

Well, the AI currently like to dump their rockets over your shoulder when they decide to engage air-to-air while loaded and in formation with you.    It took me a while to figure out that it wasn't flak afterall. 

Edited October 28, 2014 by Gustang

[Finkeren]

Yep, the AI seems to regard rockets purely as air-to-ground weapons.

[Blutaar]

In my opinion the AI is just bad like in every other Flightsim i played, they allways know where you are, shoot through clouds and do stuff a real pilot will never do and it seems they dont have restricted views like wa have, no cockpit or they can look through it dont know but they will never loose sight on you and lead perfect.

 

They can hit you no matter what you do with ease, frontal attacks versus AI is just bad and they seem to know it, they allways come headon and dont break off because they know they will hit you.

 

The AI gunners are bad too, they shoot like modern Radar guided AAA, i mean they should hit sometimes but not with that precision, i dont mean the High Calibre Guns, i mean the Small ones.

 

AI should be tuned down a bit in terms of acuracy and visibility, they need view restriction like we have and then maybe we can surprise them sometimes like it happens to us!

Edited October 28, 2014 by r4p70r

[SeriousFox]

In my opinion, AI is not smart enough/ or human like compare to other games.

For example, AI has eyes of an elf. They can see anything if the target is on the "O" map.

Another example, if you order them to RTB, they will land on nearest airfield even if it's an enemy airfield.

That's just not right. 

Sometimes, when I tell my AI to attack, the spray bombs all over the place.

 

They only seem to drop on target when they are trolling me by killing all the depot buildings before my bombs hit.

 

They need to get with the program and do the unlocks too, they never have the right skin on.

 

IIRC, Digital Nature engien can't show different aircraft texture more than 5.   

Edited October 28, 2014 by SeriousFox

[Blutaar]

Hehe, i had a mission yesterday and im on the way to my Airfield, it was Bolo, and normally i tell my AI to rtb when im near the Airfield but not this time, i was near Pitomnik as i give the order.

 

Then i wonder my self why Pitomnik say something like "clear to land blah blah" now i know why.

[vonPilsner]

I've had some great AI moments in the campaign, much better AI than CloD had.

[Y-29.Silky]

I think the AI is one of the best I’ve ever seen. I’m really happy because I enjoy flying offline.

I couldn't disagree more. They don't drop their bombs, and when they do, it's not even close to the target, I've seen them collide with each other, they'll keep dogfighting with you even when their engine is badly damaged,  I actually killed a couple wingmen from my bomb blasts, they have no tactcs, they'll take out a bomber in one pass.

 

This only good I see, is your wingmen can cover you.

[LLv24_Zami]

I've had some great AI moments in the campaign, much better AI than CloD had.

 

Thats true for sure! AI in CloD was horrible .

 

There are issues with AI, I hope devs will continue to improve it because the basic things are pretty good.

 

Finkeren did a pretty good list earlier to this thread, hope especially those things improve in future updates.

[Matt]

The fighter AI is pretty good, at least that of the 109s and Yak-1. The 190 AI still doesn't know the limits and gets into a spin very often, but that's only noticable in QMB of course. The La-5 and LaGG-3 is also not the best, seems a bit scared most of the time. But then the German fighters outperform them quite a bit, especially in a turn fight, where the Yak-1 and 109 do very well (both the planes and the AI).

 

Ground attacks also seem to work fine, as long as the AI is triggered to attack ground targets by the mission. For instance, enemy Il-2 are pretty good at destroying ground positions. Stukas are also pretty good at dive bombing, as that old escort mission (not sure if it's back now) showed. Level bombers are also OK. But all that just doesn't work that well, when you're leading the flight and have to give orders.

 

That's why i would love to NOT be the flight leader at all. I would prefer to have them do their job, fly to the target area and attack stuff on the ground. It would also make level bombing more interesting for me, trying to stay in formation and drop the bombs when the AI leader does.

 

The AI just doesn't know what's going on sometimes. Very often i have to evade my wingmen, who don't understand what i was planning to do with gear and flaps out and when approaching the home airfield. I check more often for my own wingmen at the end of a mission than for enemy planes, because the latter are less of a danger than getting rammed by friendlies.

 

So overall, the AI is pretty good and a vast improvement over RoF (which i absolutely did not expect to be honest), but there are some issues which i hope get fixed in the future

[Mikey]

I couldn't disagree more. They don't drop their bombs, and when they do, it's not even close to the target, I've seen them collide with each other, they'll keep dogfighting with you even when their engine is badly damaged,  I actually killed a couple wingmen from my bomb blasts, they have no tactcs, they'll take out a bomber in one pass.

 

This only good I see, is your wingmen can cover you.

I dont recall the ai being good on cod.

last i remember playing cod i shot down 6 ai spitfires and i quit cause it was boring...idk maybe they do certain things better like bombing,leaving after injured yea. 

Besides that id like it if the game worked right in the first place or years later.

in bos i have seen ai collide and not only with other ai, i have been in at least 3 collisions in campaign while flying a straight path usually on my final to landing. wingman just slammed into my plane from above.

besides a few problems, I think they are best ai dogfight-wise/ they do some crazy maneuvers i never seen ai do thats impressive...now if they just work on their strategy a little...

[Brano]

Yes,AI needs to graduate from school.But it does not make it stupid per se.We all went to school

[Guest deleted@1562]

In my opinion the AI is just bad like in every other Flightsim i played, they allways know where you are, shoot through clouds and do stuff a real pilot will never do and it seems they dont have restricted views like wa have, no cockpit or they can look through it dont know but they will never loose sight on you and lead perfect.

 

Try BoB 2 for the best AI in a flight sim. In IL2:1946 the AI can't see through clouds since a few patches back.

[LukeFF]

 

 

they allways know where you are, shoot through clouds

 

The AI hasn't been able to see and shoot through clouds since day 1, since this was a feature originally added to ROF. 

[LonnyEnds]

So What am I doing wrong if 9/10 times my Stuka wingmen are not dropping bombs or properly engaging ground targets, with or without orders?

[Blutaar]

I definitely get shot through clouds, i dive in to the thick cloudcover trying to hide because of to many enemy planes above me!

 

My Girlfriend is sitting next to me and i told her what i try to do and i was sure the AI will get me, after maybe 20 secs or so i get multiple hits and bailed out, after the bailout i clearly hear the sound of a Yak-1 or Lagg-3 engine near me but didnt see it because of the clouds.

 

Maybe its a bug or i dreamed it but then my girlfriend has the same dream as me.

[kiershar]

The AI must seems fairly good for someone who fly when thinking only about the immediate present. Sure, he's gonna turn when you turn. He's gonna head straight for you when in range and he's gonna chase you when on your 6. If he got a gun solution he will shoot you down. So that all make sense for someone who is just yanking the stick and not thinking ahead.

 

However as soon as you start doing out of plane maneuver or energy fighting, the AI is absolutely incapable of being competitive. One lead turn is all it takes to defeat any AI, and that from any kind of position. If you are above the enemy he will attempt to head straight at you until he runs out of energy, and even when he does have energy he is too imcompetent to properly defend against someone above him. Worse, when you get behind an AI he will sometime fly straight until you kill him.

[Brano]

Come back when you will fly smtg else then Bf109.Like La5+1 wingman bounced by 4 messers while escorting 6 sturmoviks.Please record the video of you thinking ahead and killing all of them.I would really like to learn smtg new.

[Bussard_x]

I think AI is pretty good at the moment. Cover me command works good, pity you can not send it to your wingman alone. AI can surprise you, sneaking in from behind and fire at close range, I like this feature. There seems to be something wrong with the 190 AI, frequently crashing without being damaged, and their shooting skills are poor. In QMB 190 ace get their ass kicked by rooky LaGG, something wrong there. Also the reason I do not fly the 190 in the campaign. I do not think the gunners are too good, if you do quick hit and run moves you are relatively safe. If I am a gunner and see a fighter slowly approaching from behind be sure I hit him, no problem. The AI drop their bombs at the moment you drop them, not really usefull if bridge is the target. But in general AI is good, hope there will be some improvements.

[kiershar]

Come back when you will fly smtg else then Bf109.Like La5+1 wingman bounced by 4 messers while escorting 6 sturmoviks.Please record the video of you thinking ahead and killing all of them.I would really like to learn smtg new.

 

Here you go Brano, i made this just for you so you learn smtg. new, 4 bf109 Ace AI starting behind and above me:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXeWVUXdE4U

 

You can see the AI is not able to react to lead turn. It doesn't try to use position and energy to attack. It doesn't attempt to fight very close to the ground and when you get behind their wingline they will continue turning until you yoyo into gun position and kill them. At the end you can see the AI attempt some really weak scissor but it's just flying in a line until it gets killed.

 

At least the AI in RoF was constantly defending.

[SeriousFox]

At least the AI in RoF was constantly defending.

 

you mean endless turning until you get AI's 6? 

 

BoS is the same. They just turn no matter what. (as you described)

Edited October 29, 2014 by SeriousFox

[kiershar]

Well when you approached it from favorable angle with better energy it would at least do the proper defense; diving inverted and then spiral to avoid getting shot. And this allows the other AI to get an energy advantage on you. In BoS they never maneuver in the vertical at all, they only flat turn.