Is enemy AI still following the player all the way home?

[apollon01]

Hello pilots,

 

I was away from Il-2 for more than a year and now I am considering giving it another serious shot ?

 

The thing that drove me crazy (and later actually away from this otherwise splendid sim) was the enemy AI following me to my home airfield deep into allied territory (SP career mode).

 

Is this still a thing as of July 2021?

 

Thanks!

Edited July 2, 2021 by apollon01

[Thad]

Salutations,

 

I think this situation was addressed and it is now less likely to happen. ?

[IL2Battle]

It was addressed, but I think last update take it back.

[BlitzPig_EL]

The AI do have odd priorities.  I have a multiplayer mission I generated with Vander's EMG, and that I have added other units, bases, etc. to.  Sometimes I will fly it alone as enough is going on to make it fun.  So, last night I took off in a 109 F2 to escort an AI flight of four JU 88s.  I was above and behind the bombers when a flight of four I-16s show up on our 1 o'clock, just a little higher than the bombers.

 

So what happens?  The I-16s ignore the low hanging fruit right in front of them, and all climb to engage me.

 

I managed to bring down one of them, but I had to break off and run as they sniped my radiators and oil cooler, and shattered the canopy.  They followed me down to a forward air field, and only broke off when the AAA on the field opened up on them.  I managed to land, and roll out as my engine died.

 

Fun, but why they ignored the higher priority bombers eludes me.

[UFA_Bagel]

It was addressed but after some updates, it tends to follow you all way to your base.

[Props]

They still chase me home, but I noticed that if I turn on my landing /nav lights and make a good landing (after scattering the foul oppressors a safe distance) they no longer strafe me on rollout or taxi to my parking area. They use to and I often had to hurriedly hide between buildings or duck into a hangar in the past to avoid the strafing. 

 

My only beef with AI now consists of the early retirement of at least 1-2 of my flight who leave the fight immediately and head for the field requesting permission to land at the start of the fight! Chickensh*ts! This usually puts me in a defensive fight sooner or later, at low altitude, with 4/6 enemy, always turning into them while I make my way haphazardly back to home base, getting low on ammo, especially because even the presumably set US "ace" pilots use all there ammo missing their targets in a couple of passes and get shot down by their Axis counterparts. I seldom finish a singleplayer or career mission with any allies left in the sky to render assistance. My usual retort to "Out of Ammo!" is "Of course you are!". Add to that the fact that once an AI is in the pattern with their lights on they refuse to fight and just wander around dazed and confused forever, easy pickings for those AI that followed them home, instead of landing quickly or fighting back (this is true for Axis as well).

 

Oh yeah, almost forgot - my allies have a nasty habit of getting in my way while I am mixing it up with the enemy, often cutting me off, shooting me, and on occasion ramming me while they target fixate on my target. I've learned to just get out of the way and pursue a different target. I definitely don't count on having a wingman to cover me, I can, on the hand, count on them to fill my lovely aircraft full of holes. My favorite payback is to send them in later, if they are still alive, to strafe ground targets drawing off the AAA so I can make my own runs unmolested?.   

[Props]

All whining aside, I still feel the devs deserve credit for what they have accomplished with the AI in game! I cannot imagine how they can make these "Artificial" beings behave as good as they do and my whining is not meant to cast the devs in a poor light. I do notice the improvements. Just noting my own experiences and look forward to any improvements that may follow. 

[Thad]

On 7/3/2021 at 9:07 AM, BlitzPig_EL said:

The AI do have odd priorities.  I have a multiplayer mission I generated with Vander's EMG, and that I have added other units, bases, etc. to.  Sometimes I will fly it alone as enough is going on to make it fun.  So, last night I took off in a 109 F2 to escort an AI flight of four JU 88s.  I was above and behind the bombers when a flight of four I-16s show up on our 1 o'clock, just a little higher than the bombers.

 

So what happens?  The I-16s ignore the low hanging fruit right in front of them, and all climb to engage me.

 

I managed to bring down one of them, but I had to break off and run as they sniped my radiators and oil cooler, and shattered the canopy.  They followed me down to a forward air field, and only broke off when the AAA on the field opened up on them.  I managed to land, and roll out as my engine died.

 

Fun, but why they ignored the higher priority bombers eludes me.

 

A manual mission builder can dictate the I-16s engage the bombers but a basic mission generator is probably limited to the general AI performance of the assigned waypoints priority setting. This is a current shortcoming of mission generators.

 

If the waypoints priority is set to HIGH, they will not engage any craft along the route.

If the waypoints priority is set o MEDIUM, they may or may not attack any craft along the route.

If the waypoints priority is set to LOW, they will attack any enemy craft that comes within range along the route regardless of type.

 

These are the general waypoint guidelines as I know them.

[BlitzPig_EL]

The bombers were closer to them than I was.  They were above the bombers in an advantageous position relative to the bombers, so, they climbed to attack me.

Makes no sense, regardless of their waypoint priority setting. 

[Gambit21]

On 7/23/2021 at 3:15 PM, BlitzPig_EL said:

The bombers were closer to them than I was.  They were above the bombers in an advantageous position relative to the bombers, so, they climbed to attack me.

Makes no sense, regardless of their waypoint priority setting. 

 

No as Thad eluded to, it’s simply mission logic. Let Vander know. Likely you were set as the target rather than the bomber group. However the generator might not be able to accomplish this currently.

[PatrickAWlson]

In PWCG I set every enemy plane as the target (fighters only).  Solves that problem.  Then it is up to the AI what to do.  

 

There is no "attack the player" code in the game.   The AI can make some wonky decisions but it does not really care whether the target is the player or otherwise.  Climbing to attack the cover is not entirely unreasonable.  Attacking the bombers would expose the AI even more to the cover.  That could be the decision that the AI made.  

 

Following back to base can also be solved in the mission.  I put commands to break off around bases not too close to the front.  If a player heads towards one of those bases the AI will break off.  The AI does not have any real understanding of front lines without the mission maker specifying it in various ways.