What changes with AI difficulty?

[Gunn]

I only play the multiplayer "offline" skirmish mode and was curious what changes with AI difficulty. I read that the AI resources are the same as the players in offline skirmish mode, otherwise that would be my first though, they simply get more MP and thus, more troops. But if what I read is true, and they get the same as the player, then what changes with difficulty?

[Saxhorn]

Not documented anywhere I've ever seen but I think it's pretty much the same sorts of thing as change in the various difficulty settings for Conquest.

Heath (HP) of your soldiers
Health (HP) of enemy soldiers.
Accuracy of your/their soldiers.

The bots get different amounts of CP and MP. I believe at normal and easy the CP/MP are the same as a player but if you play versus heroic they get 240 CP and more DP.

You can actually see all of the stats they differnt ♥♥♥ difficulties use in game but it's a bit fiddly to get to the point you can see those things.

If you're keen here you go try it yourself:

In Local Skirmish mode setup a game on your favourite 4 v 4 map.
Enable spectators it's box at the bottom centre and move yourself to a spectator slot.

Now you have two teams each with 4 players on each team.
Give each team one of each ♥♥♥ difficulty : easy / normal / hard / heroic.

Start the game and you are now watching the 8 ♥♥♥ players fight.
you will have one player selected by default and you are curently seeing the units that ♥♥♥ commands as blue dots on the minimap.
Allies of that ♥♥♥ are green dots.
Enemies are the usual red dot2.
In the bottom right of the screen is the usual MP CP and DP stats for that ♥♥♥ player.

To switch to "watching"a different player press tab and click on the player name in the list.
You are now (EDIT : that should be now instead of NOT) "watching" that player.

The biggest difference between a real player and the bots seems to be the payback figures.

The AI gets a massive amount of payback. Payback is the bottom number next to MP.
It looks like +6.0 or 0.0
When a unit worth 100 MP is destroyed the 100 MP is returned to the player (real or AI) so they can spend that amount again but it is returned at the payback rate.

For players it seems to be about 2 MP per second. So to get your 100 MP back would take 50 seconds.

The AI has much higher payback rate as the difficulty increases. So as a fast as you destroy them the ♥♥♥'s units they spawn a replacement unit.

That's because the AI is a blunt instrument. It doesn't use tactics. It doesn't flank or ambush. It knows one thing only "capture the flags". All units it commands have that goal alone.

[Gunn]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Saxhorn:

Not documented anywhere I've ever seen but I think it's pretty much the same sorts of thing as change in the various difficulty settings for Conquest.

Heath (HP) of your soldiers
Health (HP) of enemy soldiers.
Accuracy of your/their soldiers.

The bots get different amounts of CP and MP. I believe at normal and easy the CP/MP are the same as a player but if you play versus heroic they get 240 CP and more DP.

You can actually see all of the stats they differnt ♥♥♥ difficulties use in game but it's a bit fiddly to get to the point you can see those things.

If you're keen here you go try it yourself:

In Local Skirmish mode setup a game on your favourite 4 v 4 map.
Enable spectators it's box at the bottom centre and move yourself to a spectator slot.

Now you have two teams each with 4 players on each team.
Give each team one of each ♥♥♥ difficulty : easy / normal / hard / heroic.

Start the game and you are now watching the 8 ♥♥♥ players fight.
you will have one player selected by default and you are curently seeing the units that ♥♥♥ commands as blue dots on the minimap.
Allies of that ♥♥♥ are green dots.
Enemies are the usual red dot2.
In the bottom right of the screen is the usual MP CP and DP stats for that ♥♥♥ player.

To switch to "watching"a different player press tab and click on the player name in the list.
You are not "watching" that player.

The biggest difference between a real player and the bots seems to be the payback figures.

The AI gets a massive amount of payback. Payback is the bottom number next to MP.
It looks like +6.0 or 0.0
When a unit worth 100 MP is destroyed the 100 MP is returned to the player (real or AI) so they can spend that amount again but it is returned at the payback rate.

For players it seems to be about 2 MP per second. So to get your 100 MP back would take 50 seconds.

The AI has much higher payback rate as the difficulty increases. So as a fast as you destroy them the ♥♥♥'s units they spawn a replacement unit.

That's because the AI is a blunt instrument. It doesn't use tactics. It doesn't flank or ambush. It knows one thing only "capture the flags". All units it commands have that goal alone.

Interesting, so it's MP and CP *aren't* equal to the players regardless of skill, they do in fact get more at higher levels. And this is the first I've hard of a "payback" system but that's also nice to know. Appreciate the in depth write up!

[Saxhorn]

Payback really only applies in MP.

You DO get payback in Conquest but only AFTER the battle.
You can see the "payback" amount listed on a separate individual line in the results screen after the battle is over.

I don't think you ever get payback in Grand Campaign missions.

I'm not sure about he single player "skirmish" battles. Like "Battle of Moscow".

[Gunn]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Saxhorn:

Payback really only applies in MP.

You DO get payback in Conquest but only AFTER the battle.
You can see the "payback" amount listed on a separate individual line in the results screen after the battle is over.

I don't think you ever get payback in Grand Campaign missions.

I'm not sure about he single player "skirmish" battles. Like "Battle of Moscow".

Well like I said, I don't play any of the modes you just mentioned. Only the Multiplayer offline skirmish matches.

[McKillerroy]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Gunn:

I only play the multiplayer "offline" skirmish mode and was curious what changes with AI difficulty. I read that the AI resources are the same as the players in offline skirmish mode, otherwise that would be my first though, they simply get more MP and thus, more troops. But if what I read is true, and they get the same as the player, then what changes with difficulty?

A similar question was asked before, a dev answered it personally.

Dev said, any other difficulty than hardcore, gives the player's units buffs on their stats and the enemy AI's units debuffs on their stats. Even at hardcore difficulty, the player has a little buff on his units hp I think he said.

Basically, if you like to have it "fair" (regarding units performance) you would have to play hardcore.
You will still be slightly buffed, but playing hardcore has the smallest gap between AI's and your units performance/stats.

I don't know how or if the difficulty impacts ressources/mp.

[McKillerroy]

I found it, here you go.

Diposting pertama kali oleh GoH Ty:

Diposting pertama kali oleh edwards_i2:

Hi.
Hope this makes sense.
I`m convinced the Ai cheat when playing hardcore.
Fog of war does not do anything for them.
Ai bazooka ranges are rediculous.
Ai tank crews are deadly with pistols.
Ai mortars are too accurate.
(I could fire at a target 20x and not hit anything).

Is there a breakdown of difficulties for easy, hard, etc?

It's the opposite actually. At easier difficulty settings the player as buffs (extra health) and the AI has nerfs (less health, less accuracy, etc) The buffs and nerfs are slowly reduced as you climb each level of difficulty (Easy to Hardcore).

At Hardcore/heroic difficulty these buffs and nerfs are largely removed so its an even playing field. Enemy health is still slightly lower than player though but accuracy is equal.

Weapon range is not changed at all for any difficulty setting.

[blagmire]

For what it's worth, I think the AI is a little smarter at higher difficulties, or at least more aggressive. It's a little better than AS2 in tactics, as in it'll sometimes try to flank, use smoke, and spawn units to counter yours. I've noticed that if I have a high-scoring tank or two, the AI spawns a lot more AT guns and tank destroyers.

[[=VF=]-Ray Jefferson]

Diposting pertama kali oleh parappa the brapper:

For what it's worth, I think the AI is a little smarter at higher difficulties, or at least more aggressive. It's a little better than AS2 in tactics, as in it'll sometimes try to flank, use smoke, and spawn units to counter yours. I've noticed that if I have a high-scoring tank or two, the AI spawns a lot more AT guns and tank destroyers.

The AI ​​is not more intelligent in hardcore than in normal, otherwise it would not be necessary to drown the player under a mass of enemies like the majority of RTS do