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Suggestion: change the AI insta-bail.


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Posted

I think it would look better if instead of:

If plane = broken

then bailout

 

It was:

If plane = broken

wait 3 - 20 seconds

then bailout

 

So it doesn't appear so obvious that the ai pilots literally have a switch in their brain that tells them to bail out if the plane gets damaged past certain level.

Posted

They don't instantly bail out. I've fought with AI that bailed out after I shot them up and was circling back for another pass. They jump when the engine goes out, or major structural damage such as a key part to maintaining flight falls away.

Posted

Yep that's what I'm talking about, when you blow off a wing the cockpit pops off at the same time as if they pulled the handle the moment the shell hit the wing.

Posted

Well, I do the same thing. Once my wing is gone I hit that bailout command just as quick.

Posted

Yeah but sometimes it takes 1-2 seconds to realise that the wing is actually gone and a bailout is recommendable, so a 2-3 seconds delay before AI pilots jump out of the plane would be in order imo. (Haven't measured how long it actually takes right now.). 20 seconds seems a bit excessive though.

Posted

Not really. Next time your wing comes off and you realise your plane is going a direction it shouldn't be, let me know your reaction time. It's less than second to hit that button, and less than a second to realise your wing is gone.

Posted (edited)

Not always. Oftentimes, one knows immediately that one has to get out. But there are situations where the wing might just be damaged and the plane is thrown around a bit (thus going a direction it shouldn't be) while the pilot is looking out the other side so he doesn't immediately see whether the wing actually came off and therefore may be reluctant to leave a plane which might still be in flying condition and could be brought home or at least over friendly territory. Assessing this situation will probably not take less than a second but I'll keep an eye on the watch next time I get shot down. :)

Edited by I/JG27_Rollo
Posted

It would be nice to see AI do emergency landings although if they don't bail not many of us would give them a chance to :biggrin:

  • Upvote 1
Posted (edited)

You could make a 'simulator' out of this one process. What's to say the AI pilot didn't have his hand blown off or his leg shattered, or had parts of the instruments stuck in his face. Maybe he's unconscious. Maybe the track or the handle for the canopy is jammed. All of these situations could be animated as well. Having variables in a game break up the repetition and make it feel more realistic, as well as give the viewer something interesting to look at. Things like this seem just as important to model as the planes.

Edited by steppenwolf
Posted

Yeah the 20 second thing was just a random suggestion but it could be that the pilot is stunned or panicked or the handle is stuck.  Usually it would be in the 2-5 second range like the time for a person entering the keybind, but more than the current .0000000000001 of a second and with a randomness element. 

The bailing out of AI is after all purely cosmetic I don't think their individual lives are tracked.

Posted

I mentioned it in another thread. 5 second would be ok.

 

I would also like to have 1). a different key for jetison canopy and a key for bailing-out.

 

and 2). the possibility that enemy shots can damage your canopy opening/jettisoning and you would have to belly land.

Posted (edited)

wait 3 - 20 seconds

then bailout

 

2-20 seconds equalled death.

 

Cockpit would go from 30deg to 3000deg in a matter of seconds, BOB pilots have recounted that if your not out in a few seconds your gone.

Have a listen very moving:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/battleofbritain/11424.shtml

Edited by BigPickle
Posted

Probably a mistake on my part to suggest a time.

 

To rephrase my suggestion: 

1.  Make them not bail inhumanly fast (the moment the shell impacts)

2. Add a variance to it so it's not always the same.

  • Upvote 3

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