So, I want to be able to control the following behaviors for NPC fleets:
- Don't pursue enemies
- Pursue enemies if provoked (get too close or are fighting fleets not hostile to us), break off if they're outrunning us
- Pursue any enemy entering sensor range doggedly until we lose them or they die
And
separately controllable:
- Don't assist ally fleets in battle
- Assist ally fleets in battle
And
separately controllable:
- Don't attack enemies (particularly player) if they have transponder off and are of unknown identity
- Do attack such fleets
(#3 can be done with the pirate fleet memory key, but this has potentially unwanted side effects like making the affected fleet turn its transponder off. #2 requires the trade fleet memory flag, which seems even worse.)
Can this be done? If not, could it be implemented for 0.7.2?
Specific use cases where I've encountered issues:
Spoiler
- The "Follow Me" ability in Nexerelin currently gives nearby fleets an ORBIT_AGGRESSIVE assignment targeted on the player. This makes them basically ignore the order if there's a nearby enemy fleet they can chase all day. This can be solved with the ORBIT_PASSIVE assignment, but now said fleets won't come to the player's aid (ally battle) if player is attacked, which can be a huge noob trap.
- Templars should opportunistically attack the player fleet if the player is the enemy, even if player's transponder is off, like pirates and Pathers do. (Else it becomes too easy to avoid a fight simply by keeping transponder off) But they should not do so too aggressively, as being constantly hunted down would get annoying very quickly given how powerful and far-seeing Templar fleets are.