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

Author Topic: Allies don't move towards enemy  (Read 3620 times)

Gothars

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Allies don't move towards enemy
« on: May 22, 2017, 10:55:52 AM »

This is a behavior I observed regularly from back when I started palying .8, didn't report it because I'm not sure it's a bug or some way to decompress battles. Ships don't move towards a far away enemy in a straight line, preferring to loiter and move in random directions.

Look for example at the movement vectors of the two hounds (flagship on autopilot) after they finished an enemy in their part of the map:
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Thaago

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2017, 01:15:24 PM »

I've noticed this as well - it seems that sometimes the ships don't see outside of their own sensor range.
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Gothars

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2017, 03:15:28 PM »

Also, while thinking of things I noticed for a long time (sind .7 at least), but never reported: When you give an assignment to a specific ship, some of your other ships may react to it for a few seconds. For example, in this case I ordered the Gemini to escort me, and both Brawlers turned around to escort me too, before resuming course after about three seconds. It has little impact on the battle, but it doesn't feel clean either.

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Alex

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2017, 04:32:24 PM »

Fixed the 2nd issue, at least. Not sure what might be causing the first one, haven't reproduced it so far though I do seem to recall seeing it in my playtesting. At the time, I wrote it off to ships, ah, "gathering their wits" after a local battle ends - it can take them a few seconds to become aware that their target is destroyed, if there's nothing else around.
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Gothars

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2017, 09:24:09 AM »

It's relatively easy to reproduce: Open for example the "Fistful of Credits" mission, order your Hound in the corner, then cancel the rally point once when you and the enemy are out of its sensor radius. It will show a search&destroy kind of behavior until it eventually stumbles upon the fight (or doesn't).

Here's a video:
https://youtu.be/BCsWnXOppPs
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Alex

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2017, 10:19:33 AM »

Ahh, thank you - fixed! Some errant code there where it was aware of the target, but was thinking periodically that it needed to back off.
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Dri

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2017, 12:17:17 PM »

Holy crap, I wonder if this'll finally fix the issue where ships won't close into weapon range that I've noticed for ages now...
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Alex

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2017, 12:23:41 PM »

Depends on what you mean, exactly.

There's a behavior where smaller ships won't close to fight larger ones if there's an ally relatively nearby that's not fighting anyone and so might come to help - in this case, smaller ships will just play keep-away with larger ones, until they gather forces enough to attack.

This *might* be what you're talking about? E.G. this could show up if you're in one ship, watching a nearby ally fight, and thinking "why aren't they attacking?" and in the meantime, they're waiting for you to come help.
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Gothars

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2017, 12:43:46 PM »

Fixed the 2nd issue, at least.
Ahh, thank you - fixed!

Glad we got those dealt with for 8.1 :)



thinking "why aren't they attacking?" and in the meantime, they're waiting for you to come help.

(And that's why some behavioral feedback from your captains would be nice. Like a short info about the current intention/concerns when clicking their ship in the command screen.)
« Last Edit: May 23, 2017, 12:45:43 PM by Gothars »
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The game was completed 8 years ago and we get a free expansion every year.

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Alex

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2017, 01:01:18 PM »

(And that's why some behavioral feedback from your captains would be nice. Like a short info about the current intention/concerns when clicking their ship in the command screen.)

Yeah, for sure. The AI signaling what it's doing/why it's doing it is probably more important for perception than the AI actually doing something smart...
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Dri

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2017, 01:19:57 PM »

Maybe an official take on the "Combat Chatter" mod? That'd be great!
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Inventor Raccoon

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Re: Allies don't move towards enemy
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2017, 02:31:47 PM »

Even just a brief piece of text when you target a fleet member or ally, that tell you what they're doing and why - "Escorting ally", "Moving to engage", "Retreating: high flux"/"Retreating: outnumbered", "Regrouping fighters: enemy close", "Regrouping fighters: replacement rate low". Helps find bugs and helps players understand what their AI buddies are actually trying to accomplish.
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