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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Author Topic: 65a - Hammerhead AI  (Read 3082 times)

Blips

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65a - Hammerhead AI
« on: October 23, 2014, 07:05:50 PM »

I've fought though numerous battles, with me piloting a Wolf-class and the AI piloting my Hammerhead. Up until now, the Hammerhead AI has been great: rarely taking damage, very competent. We've been usually out numbered and the Hammerhead would always keep its distance and focus on isolated enemies.

But now, my Hammerhead is just charging into swarms of enemy ships and is (surprise!) getting completely overwhelmed and destroyed rather quickly. I'm really not sure what has changed. I've not changed the Hammerhead's loadout at all - I've simply added additional capacitors as my skills have increased my ordinance points.
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Nanao-kun

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2014, 07:18:01 PM »

Maybe it got cocky. :D
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Alex

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2014, 07:42:46 PM »

Are you giving any orders? That's about the only thing that comes to mind, beyond that, I don't see why it would be acting all that much differently, beyond being faced with different enemies.
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Alex

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2014, 07:48:22 PM »

Something to try might be seeing how it behaves in a simulation battle, if you can deploy similar enemies to where you're seeing the issue. If you can reproduce the errant behavior, then I'd love to take a look at it.
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Blips

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2014, 08:53:56 PM »

Wasn't giving it any orders. I hadn't been keeping track of the exact composition of previous fleets, but I'll see if something jumps out from the simulated battles.
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Alex

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2014, 09:01:24 PM »

I appreciate it! I'd actually spent quite a bit of time making the AI more survivable for this release, so if there's a hitch somewhere, I really want to resolve it.
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OOZ662

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2014, 09:37:02 PM »

One thing I have noticed is that any fighters ordered to escort my heavy flagship get absolutely devastated. It seems like perhaps targeting priorities changed; whereas before the enemy would focus on the brunt of my force and kinda let the fighters wander around pewing it up, now I find that even destroyers are diverting their main batteries to hammer a fighter into paste before shifting to me. This may be due to the current flameout issue, though, as another effect of the fighters entering the fray is that all their engines almost immediately shut off. ;D

So perhaps look for whether it's really the Hammerhead charging in face-first or if it's initially trying to move in cautiously and getting dove upon itself.
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Blips

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2014, 04:19:13 PM »

I forgot to confirm 100% by actually checking, but in my last battle it looked like the hammerhead was trying to engage enemies but was failing to actually fire any weapons (flux was low on the ship and enemy was in range). It stayed too close to the enemy cruiser and then got destroyed all the time without firing back.
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Alex

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2014, 05:19:51 PM »

Hmm, that's really not making any sense. What's the loadout? Does it happen if you deploy it in the simulation?
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Blips

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2014, 11:23:09 PM »

I kind of worded that all rather poorly, sorry. What I meant to say was essentially, I think (but did not confirm) that the hammerhead was out of ammo. It looked like it was wanting to attack, it repeatedly closed in on enemies, but instead of firing it just built up flux via shield damage and then tried to get away.

The loadout:
  • kinetic missiles X 2 (sabot pod I guess?)
  • assault chainguns X 2
  • pd laser X 4
  • +shield stabalizer
  • +expanded missile racks
  • +20 capacitors and vents

And now that I think about it, I think what may have happened is that once running out of ammo, the Hammerhead tried to attack using its lasers but kept gettting into situations where it had to back down.
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Alex

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Re: 65a - Hammerhead AI
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2014, 11:39:41 PM »

Ohh, ok - now that makes sense. Gotcha.

So, then, this doesn't sound like an issue - I think it's reasonable for the AI to assume you'd like it to keep fighting using whatever means it has at its disposal in this situation, since you're still keeping it on the field. It being more apparent that something is out of ammo is another question...
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