AI Bots

[Blackdeath]

How are the bots in this game? Are they currently active etc... I only buy FPS with Bots since the FPS genre seems to lose game servers every week..

[Khanromi]

We have bots. The AI can (can, not necessarily will always or with the greatest efficacy) perform almost any ingame task, including taking objectives, placing down support items (not with much consideration for context or surroundings), shooting people, chucking grenades, flying ships, manning turrets, boarding ships and taking them out from the inside, etc etc. I hear they take cover sometimes too. We also have an AI commander that can assign tasks to the squads when there's no player commander. From the feedback we've been getting, they're generally regarded as either pretty dumb, surprisingly smart, or sometimes one and sometimes the other. Regardless, they'll no doubt be getting more work as development continues.

[Blackdeath]

Thats good to hear, is there bots offline or do I need to always be connected to a server to play?

[battlecattle]

One can set up offline matches, with options for team size, bot difficulty, and minimum match time.

[Khanromi]

Bots are both offline and online.

[Rogue]

The bots are good! I enjoy playing against them :)

[Blackdeath]

Bought it last 30 minutes of the sale...very happy. AI is strong and the maps are fantastic.

[Rogue]

Originally posted by Marcus Antonius:

I will be the one to say that the bots need improvement.

All AI need improvement mate :)

I think what I an others are saying is that the AI in this game is better then most of the others in a simular game, or if not better good enough to make the game play fun.

And Fun is what games are for :D

[[AFF]farseer]

Thanks for in-depth feedback!

Originally posted by Marcus Antonius:

[...]If they have no direct LOS but "think" there may have been someone behind cover, they need to throw a grenade or shoot a explosive in a opening that has a layer that is behind the cover the enemy is in

They actually do understand how to use nades to flush people out of cover, as well as employ a bunch of sniping-specific tactics.

As for the other points, we're very much aware that their behaviour still requires a lot of work. It's partially due to their animations often looking unnatural and partially to optimizations - when we get the AI to be less CPU-intensive we'll be able to make them more responsive too. We're working on it.

[Vidmaster]

Good, because I still believe that it the end, a really solid AI will be incredibly beneficial to this game. I mean, I am playing it for about a year now and usually against bots or together or against some small human population. And it do is fun :-)

Even when AFF succeeds and gains an actual large player base, the game is very much dependent on the fact that there are two large armies colliding. To make sure this works, Bots are essential and the better and "natural" the bots are, the better the experience for everyone one all sides.

Played a few rounds today, liked what I saw since I checked out the test branch a few months back. Very solid and stable patch you made there.

[SmashRyan]

I know im late to this thread but does this game support fully offline no broadband required?

[76]

Originally posted by AshSmash93:

I know im late to this thread but does this game support fully offline no broadband required?

Yes :)

[Veeshan]

Originally posted by AshSmash93:

I know im late to this thread but does this game support fully offline no broadband required?

Yeah but as a general fyi stream doesn't, for long. DRM requirements need occasional sign ons so for extended periods like if you're a trucker or whatever it may not work.

[aplethoraof]

Originally posted by Veeshan:

Originally posted by AshSmash93:

I know im late to this thread but does this game support fully offline no broadband required?

Yeah but as a general fyi stream doesn't, for long. DRM requirements need occasional sign ons so for extended periods like if you're a trucker or whatever it may not work.

Some games don't actually make use of Steam's DRM and can be logged into without Steam directly through the exe. Though I'm not sure if AFF is among them.

Easy test would be to launch the exe without Steam, I suppose.

One thing I did note playing this game offline - the progression system saves independently between offline and online. So offline progression and online progress are completely separate.

[Veeshan]

Originally posted by aplethoraof:

Originally posted by Veeshan:

Yeah but as a general fyi stream doesn't, for long. DRM requirements need occasional sign ons so for extended periods like if you're a trucker or whatever it may not work.

Some games don't actually make use of Steam's DRM and can be logged into without Steam directly through the exe. Though I'm not sure if AFF is among them.

Easy test would be to launch the exe without Steam, I suppose.

One thing I did note playing this game offline - the progression system saves independently between offline and online. So offline progression and online progress are completely separate.

Excellent, another piece for the puzzle of Steam's DRM. I may be able to purchase games here again, when DRM isnt used.

[McFlurry Butts]

I kind of liked how Half-Life 2 did AI with pathfinding, may the AI seem threatening when they understood what was next to them and the relation of the player.