Interesting Bots

[Todt_Von_Oben]

Been flying several types in SP and MP last week; checking how they fly, comparing VR quality of SP to MP, etc.  And a couple fun / interesting things happened.

 

First of all, the bots are amazing.  Tactics, techniques, maneuvers.  They go as vertical as I do.  I'm impressed.  They're not quite as aggressive and unpredictable as a man but pretty darn good and a very satisfying dogfighting experience, IMOHO,

 

I found this interesting:  Last Duel in SP I engaged three Camels in succession at 300m near Douai.  I wanted to see what the third one would do so I led him over the city at low altitude and started turning with him there.  Once we were downtown, he only fired once: a short burst when his guns were pointed towards the countryside. Then he climbed away and led me on a chase that lasted a long time and got us up to altitude away from town.  I had to stalk him and he was hard to catch.  Then he turned back and made a decent attack that shot me up pretty good.  We got into it after that and he eventually lost but what struck me was it seemed like he wouldn't fight me at low altitude over an Allied city; and I would think that'd be to protect the non-combatants below.  Might have just been happenstance but it was kinda cool when it happened.  I didn't expect that.  It felt like I was competing against an intellect rather than a dumbot; and that sort of thing really adds to my enjoyment of the sim.

 

The other cool thing was at a Zoo site.  My Dr.1's engine got shot up and quit so I decided to see if I could glide under a nearby bridge, just for kicks.  I had somebody on my six and their rounds were kicking up white water around me as I flew a "ckeckmark" pattern under the span.  Once clear, I pulled up and bailed out; chute opened, got one ding and a standup landing that, had it been a real jump, wouldn't have needed much of a PLF.   But, while my chute remained visible, it looked like my body disappeared.  And that was confusing.  How do we interpret that?

 

Does that site "even the score" by making parachute jumps fatal?  (I don't mind if it does.) 

 

Did I sink into a bog and drown? (There was a river nearby.  It coulda happened?) 

 

Cool either way; great fun.  Swoopin' that bridge and bailing out (I say successfully!) was a blast.

 

That's what I like about this sim; it keeps surprising me.  

 

So, good site, Zoo and Kudos on the bots, Devs. 

 

Oh, and DM?  I've seen a lot of wings come off but none with just one or two hits while flying offense and defense.  (Sometimes I set my self up to let the bot shoot me down in various planes.  It always takes some doing; I'm pretty tore up by the time I auger in.)  I don't find the DM a spoiler at all.  Works for me. 

 

Generally, I'm happy flying FC1.  If FC2 comes out with a significant increase in content; I'll buy it.  If not, I could fly FC1 as long as my Rift holds out and be happy with that.

 

Prosit!

 

EDIT:  Tonight, I went back and watched the FR of the bridge swoop-bailout.  It was a D7F and the jumper survived to the sitting position.  Don't know why it looked like he drowned in mud when it happened but the FR shows he made it.  Nevermind, Zoo.  All good.

 

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Todt_Von_Oben

[BraveSirRobin]

1 minute ago, Todt_Von_Oben said:

 We got into it after that and he eventually lost but what struck me was it seemed like he wouldn't fight me at low altitude over an Allied city; and I would think that'd be to protect the non-combatants below.  

 

No, the AI just flies more carefully at low altitude to try to avoid crashing.

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

4 hours ago, Todt_Von_Oben said:

First of all, the bots are amazing.  Tactics, techniques, maneuvers.  They go as vertical as I do.  I'm impressed.  They're not quite as aggressive and unpredictable as a man but pretty darn good and a very satisfying dogfighting experience, IMOHO,

Recently fought vs 8 AI ACE but unfortunately I can't say that yet. Good for you if you can say that!