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Topics - Drawde

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1
Apologies for my long absence from the forum - after 2.3 was released I thought my AI modding work wasn't needed any more, and to be honest I'd got fairly "burned out" with FH2 after repeatedly playtesting maps to find AI issues, and decided to take a break!

However, over the last couple of weeks I've been playing some of the new maps as well as looking through the 2.3 data files and comparing them with the old 2.26 AI minimod. It looks like a lot of the AI problems in 2.3 will be a simple fix, though others I'm not sure about.
Here's a list of the issues I've found and what needs to be done to fix them (thanks to Djinn for the initial list of issues).

Hopefully some of the info here will help Remick04 and the other SP developers fix these issues for the next FH2 version; I'll probably also release a new 2.3 version of my AI minimod (much reduced in size from the 2.26 version as a lot less needs fixing!), as well as the Stuka dive siren mod as a seperate release.


Tanks not firing the right shell types: A number of tanks/AFVs don't fire HE or special AP shells as the aiTemplate for these weapons is either missing or commented out via "rem". The ones I know of are:

GB Achilles, Cromwell, M3 Grant, M3 Stuart, M4A1, Sherman V and VC
US M4A1, M4A1/76, M4A1_eu, M5 Stuart, M10, M24 Chaffee
DE Panther A, Panther G, PzIIIN France, PzIVF2, PzIVH

A number of tanks also have the misspelling "Infantery" in their weapons.ai file. Don't know if this actually affects the AI or not; this bug(?) dates back to the original BF1942.

The Pz.IVD and F1 also share the AI template for the PzIVH, despite having a different main gun and shell types.

M16 MGMC not firing at aircraft: This vehicle uses the AI for the M3 halftrack, the gunner AI for this has very limited rotation/elevation limits although it's capable of firing at planes. The vehicle also has the same temperature and attack/defence value as the M3 so bots aren't particularly inclined to use it. Probably the best fix is a new AI template for the M16 with 360' rotation for the gunner position and increased temperature for both crew positions.

The M51 (static quad .50 AA) uses the AI for the Flakvierling, which works fine.


Crusader AA not firing at aircraft:
This vehicle does have its own AI files in 2.3 (crusadermk3AAAI) but it doesn't use them - the aiTemplate assigned in crusadermk3_aa.tweak is that of the standard Crusader tank.

Flak88 looping fire sound: For the 3rd-person firing sound script (e.g S_flak18_barrel_Fire3P) change "ObjectTemplate.loopCount" to "0". A simple fix but needs to be done for all shell types of all 6 Flak88 variants!


Bot use of deployable MGs:
haven't looked into this yet, when I play I don't use deployables that often and don't usually leave them to bots when I do! But I'll try and have a look at this later.

Map-specific problems (other than pathfinding/AI commander issues): The British mortars in Villers Bocage are the non-AI type. Probably more map issues out there but this is the only significant one I've found so far.


Some other minor issues:

The KWK 5cm (found on Port en Bessin, not sure if it's on any other maps) has the "Fixed" rather than "FixedGun" AI setting, so bots usually bail from it before they get the chance to shoot at anything.

The Bren AA weapon (bren_std.tweak) uses the aiTemplate for the standard Bren, although it has its own aiTemplate (BrenAAGun_AI) which is only permitted to fire at aircraft (otherwise bots waste time trying to track ground targets they can't fire at)

Some tank coaxial MGs have a minimum range of 5.0 which prevents them firing at close range

Bots don't use the Geballte Ladung AT charge: the weapon has no aiTemplate assigned in the .tweak file. (should be geballteladung_AI)

Bots rarely seem to use hand grenades against infantry.

Universal Carrier AI has very low temperature settings for crew positions (so bots are less likely to use it) also passenger positions have a fairly high defensive StrategicStrength (so less likely to bail when needed elsewhere). Other transport vehicles may have similar problems (haven't checked them all yet).

The Universal Carrier with Vickers MG uses the same AI for the Vickers as for the front gun (so it can't rotate 360').

Wespe doesn't have its own AI - haven't seen this in action yet (what map(s) is it in?) so I don't know whether the standard LeFH18 AI will be adequate or not to get bots to use it correctly.

The Wasp Universal Carrier also lacks its own vehicle AI, though it does have weapon AI. (the standard UC AI still works with the Wasp, but the gunner position probably needs a higher temperature  ;D and AntiAircraft=0 setting)


Also some AI issues which are unchanged from 2.26 - there are plenty more but these are a couple that come to mind:

- Bots still seem to be unable to use anti-tank rifles.

- Bots don't respond to radio commands.


I'll post any more issues here when I find them!

2
DOWNLOAD LINK - AI minimod
DOWNLOAD LINK - Map tweaks


(NEW VERSION UPLOADED 24/7/10)


This contains quite a few fixes since the last version, both large (AI firing howitzers) and small (planes less likely to strafe tanks). It's still definitely a BETA version as there are some serious issues not yet fixed (such as bots not firing small arms at exposed vehicle crew) and I haven't really playtested it enough to check for CTDs and map-specific issues.

Any feedback on CTDs, particularly repeatable ones, would be welcome!

Installing the map tweaks minimod is highly recommended, as you'll need to install it to use the SP-only artillery with raised gunner viewpoint. It also has a lot of changes to the map AI scripts, fixes to the "commander spam bug", etc. It's currently very unfinished, many maps don't have custom AI scripts yet, but all those that do are tested and working correctly (to my knowledge)

Installation may be a tricky job for anyone not used to working with BF2 mod archives (you need to open each map's server.zip and add the mod files to it), but I don't really have the webspace/bandwidth to upload a version containing the full server.zip archives for every map (really ought to try using a filesharing site rather than my own webspace) If anyone wants to make a "compiled" version available, feel free!

Feedback on the map mod (probably best in a separate thread) would also be welcome - I'd particularly like to know if the commander spam bug is still present on any maps!

3
I somehow seem to have "broken" the artillery spotting camera in my FH2 install... instead of the overhead view of the target (or the gun, if no target available), it just displays a third-person view of the gun, even if there are spotted targets available.

Originally I thought this was due to my using custom SP-only artillery objects in the map, but I still get the same problem when replacing them with the standard artillery objects, and it even occurs when running FH2 without the AI minimod .zip files - so it's presumably caused by one of the modified Python scripts from the minimod, rather than by any modifications to the artillery object data. For some reason I neglected to backup the 2.26 Python directory (despite backing up everything else) so can't restore the original files.

I really need to get this issue sorted out before I release the next AI minimod beta version (it's not a critical, game-stopping bug, but still annoying for anyone who actually wants to use the spotting system) - so any chance someone could post the Python directory from an unmodified FH2.26 install here? It's about 110kb zipped so probably small enough to attach to a post.

A complete reinstall of FH2 is the only other option, which I don't really want to do as it'll also involve re-installing all of my modded map data.

4
Whilst I've hit some annoying problems with getting the current AI minimod version finished (notably planes not firing rockets, and bots not firing small arms at exposed vehicle crew positions), I've finally found out how to get the AI to use artillery howitzers (and the Nebelwerfer): Just set the indirect fire value for HE shells (weaponTemplate.indirect) to "0" in the weapons.ai file.
Bots will now be able to fire artillery at anything they can see (and with the raised viewpoint, this is quite a lot - for example, the German LeFH18 on Siege of Tobruk can fire at the British forward line, and the British 25pdr at the two bases nearest the main). 

By default, all FH2 artillery weapons have HE shells set for indirect fire. However, BF2's AI only seems to recognise mortars as "indirect" weapons. The AI treats howitzers as direct-fire weapons, same as an AT gun (bots can automatically work out the amount of vertical elevation to get the round to hit, same as with low-velocity tank guns) so they won't work if you set them as indirect-fire weapons. (The Nebelwerfer will occasionally fire if set as indirect - but not as much as it does now...)

This is still only a partial fix, bots are still limited to targets in their visual range and they can't fire at spotted targets. They're also oblivious to scenery blocking their line of fire (the Nebelwerfer on Totalize usually ends up hitting the windmill when firing at Allies advancing along the road/railway). Bots also seem very reluctant to use howitzers on some maps, especially if they're on the attack (the US 105mm on Cobra should be able to see plenty of targets from its hilltop position, but I never saw a bot use it).
I suspect there's not a lot more that can be done to improve things, though if I can find a way to raise the viewpoint higher without blocking spawnpoints, it should allow the bot gunners to see more distant targets.

One other thing: I've disabled the AI for howitzer AP rounds, I initially did this just to try and get bots to fire HE, before I discovered the direct fire fix - but I'm thinking it would be a good idea to keep this change, since bots are notoriously bad at picking the right shell type. Direct HE hits appear to be able to kill most FH2 tanks in one shot, so the lack of AP shells isn't a great disadvantage. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

5
DOWNLOAD LINK

This is a BETA 2.26-compatible version of my FH2 AI minimod, compatible with the 2.26 patch version.

It includes most of the major fixes and improvements in the previous version 1.2, but is missing some of the smaller changes (such as raised viewpoints for howitzers; mortars are OK though), and has also not been fully playtested so may have some bugs and CTD issues on some maps. I've tested it on quite a few NA and Normandy maps (including Remick04's additions) and haven't had any CTDs or other major issues, but I haven't tried all the maps yet.

I will be away from home for a week tomorrow, hence the final 1.3 minimod will not be ready for at least 2 weeks - so I thought it would be a good idea to get a more or less complete and playable 2.26-compatible version sooner rather than later.

Reports on CTDs, bugs, AI issues etc. are still welcome (though I probably won't be able to read them till next week); some of them may just be things I haven't got round to fixing yet, but they could also be new issues introduced by 2.26 or (like the Jeep CTD in the last version) as a result of my own errors/typos.

6
Are any of the new vehicles + weapons (SdKfz.231, Bf109F, Citroen, Drilling) added in 2.26 found in AI-supported maps (official or unofficial)? I haven't spotted any of them so far; the 231 seems like an obvious addition to some of the North Africa maps.

I've also never spotted any of these vehicles (2.25 and earlier) in a SP map:

- Sahariana
- SdKfz.251/10 (with 37mm gun)
- Opel Blitz with Flak38
- Marder III (the ones in El Alamein + Goodwood are Marder Is)
- VW type 82
- Schwimmwagen
- German 155mm howitzer (not the 105mm LeFH18)
- Deacon (British truck SP gun)
- Churchill AVRE
- GPA amphibious jeep
- M36 Jackson

Which (non-AI supported) maps are these found in, if any? I know the Churchill AVRE, and possibly the M36, aren't currently used in any official maps.

7
Singleplayer and Coop / AI tweak/fix minimod v1.2
« on: 02-05-2010, 19:05:45 »
DOWNLOAD LINK

This update took rather longer to finish than the last one, mainly due to trying to track down and fix the cause of the CTDs in the Luttich and Goodwood 64 maps. However, this also means that it's basically got two updates worth of fixes and additions in it, which I was working on alongside fixing the map CTDs.

Here's a list of changes:

Quote
- Modified the AI "armour class" system. Bots can now recognise static guns, unarmoured, light, medium and heavy armoured vehicles as separate target types, allowing them to select weapon types + shells more intelligently.
- Bots can now exit from or switch vehicle crew positions (e.g.: if you exit a tank with a bot hull gunner, they'll switch to the driver's seat).
- Bots can aim and fire mortars effectively at targets within visual range.
- AI maximum range for Bofors AA gun now matches the maximum range of the shells (no attempting to fire at ground targets out of range).
- Bots are more likely to use the MG34/42 Lafette gun positions.
- Bots can now fire the Nebelwerfer.
- Bots can now aim + fire the Sherman and Cromwell hull MGs.
- Bomber aircraft will now strafe infantry rather than bombing them.
- Reduced AI range of infantry anti-tank rocket weapons.
- Revised AI "StrategicStrength" priority values for all vehicle types.
- Fixed vision port shield movement on halftracks (US and German) and Kubelwagen.
- Fixed a CTD when the Pak 40 static version was destroyed.
- Fixed CTDs associated with the US Composition B explosive charge and British PIAT anti-tank launcher.
- Bots will no longer drop explosive charges at friendly CPs (bug caused by the AI C4 usage code)
- More minor tweaks to vehicle and infantry weapon AI data.

This version includes modifications to the .ai files and a couple of Python scripts, so I'd recommend backing up your FH2 \ai and \python folders before installing.

There's not a huge number of things left to fix or add (at least not things that are easily fixable), but next I'm going to look at radio/comm rose commands, artillery, and bots using truck/APC passenger positions (since they now know how to exit vehicles)

8
Singleplayer and Coop / CTDs on Anctoville 64 map
« on: 02-05-2010, 15:05:26 »
I'm not sure this has been mentioned in any other threads - Does anyone else get regular CTDs on the Anctoville 64 map? (unofficial AI support for this map was released by Winterhilf?). I usually get a CTD on this map within the first 10 minutes.

As this map has no vehicles and (I think) no or very few static weapons, I'm not sure what could be causing this. Maybe it's a pathfinding issue, or something related to the map's "no squad leader spawning" scripting? It's annoying as, being infantry-only, the map ought to be fully playable, unlike some of the other Normandy maps with no AI vehicle navmesh.

9
There's an odd bug with the static version of the PaK 40 AT gun which causes the game to CTD (most of the time) when the gun is destroyed - but only in single-player mode. This causes frequent CTDs on maps like Goodwood and Totalise.
I've tracked this bug down to a line in the gun's AI data file (vehicles\land\DE\pak40_static\ai\objects.ai):

Quote
aiTemplate.create pak40_staticAI
aiTemplate.addType ITUnit
aiTemplate.addType ITBiological
aiTemplate.addType ITGround
aiTemplate.addType ITHasWreck

Just add "rem " to the beginning of the ITHasWreck line (or remove it entirely) and the problem should be fixed. For anyone who doesn't want to attempt changing the game files themselves, this fix will be included in the next version of my AI minimod (hopefully not too long in the future)
 
Note that I've no idea what the ITHasWreck value actually does (or why it crashes the game)! It has nothing to do with whether the vehicle/object leaves a wreck when destroyed or not (the Pak 40 does, whether this line is in the file or not). It may have something to do with whether the AI can use the wreck for cover?
Even stranger, the Pak 38 (which never CTDs when destroyed) has the ITHasWreck line, but no other static AT guns (other than the Pak 40) do ???

10
This post has a lot of rather technical detail probably only of interest to other AI modders, so, to summarise: I've found a workaround for BF2's limited number of "armour class" settings used by the AI, which will allow bots to select weapons and shell types more intelligently, and also do things they couldn't effectively do before (like troops firing small arms at unarmoured trucks, or planes strafing lightly armoured tanks but ignoring heavier ones)

In more detail:
StrTypes are values indicating the "armour class" of a vehicle to the AI, so (a) bots know whether they can attack a target with a particular weapon, and (b) they know how to prioritise targets. They're specified in the "objects.ai" file for each object/vehicle (e.g "aiTemplatePlugIn.setStrType HeavyArmour") and referred to by the "weapons.ai" file for each weapon (e.g "weaponTemplate.setStrength HeavyArmour 5.0"

FH2 uses the following StrTypes: Infantry, Plane, LightArmour (unarmoured vehicles, guns, and halftracks/APCs) and HeavyArmour (all other armoured vehicles). Helicopter and NavalArmour are also in the BF2 engine but not used by FH2.
The problem with this setup is that a lot of quite different objects are grouped into the same class, often making it hard for the AI to know what weapon/shell type to use, and very hard for modders to fix - for example, HE shells are the best choice against AT guns and MG positions, but not much good against halftracks; but both use the LightArmour class. If you give both AP and HE shells similar priority against LightArmour, bots will more often than not pick the wrong shell type!
Similarly, all tanks (and other non-APC armoured vehicles), from Panzer IIs to King Tigers, use the HeavyArmour class, so there's no easy way to get bots to use special AP rounds on heavy tanks like Tigers and Matildas, or to fire AA guns and plane cannons at light armoured vehicles.

The ideal system would probably be to have seven different StrTypes: Infantry, Plane, Gun, Unarmoured, LightArmour, MediumArmour and HeavyArmour. Unfortunately, the existing StrTypes are hard-coded into the BF2 engine (I know, I tried adding new ones and it just CTDed when loading the map). However, I then had the idea of using the unused Helicopter and NavalArmour StrTypes as placeholders for Unarmoured and HeavyArmour respectively. I wasn't initially sure if this would work, but after a bit of testing it works fine.
Basically, the Infantry and Plane StrTypes are unchanged, "Helicopter" is used by unarmoured vehicles and guns, "LightArmour" by light armoured vehicles (including APCs, armoured cars, light tanks etc.), "HeavyArmour" by medium armoured vehicles (including most tanks) and "NavalArmour" by the heaviest tanks - the Matilda, Valentine, Churchill and German "big cats". I've modified all the weapons.ai files to make use of these changes.

Note that the StrType setting only affects bot weapon usage, it has nothing to do with the vehicle's behaviour or its actual armour thickness (bots won't attempt to fly trucks if you set their StrType to "Helicopter"!)

This makes a noticeable difference to the AI's use of weapon and shell types vs. different targets - for example, infantry will now fire small arms at trucks, jeeps and static gun positions, and tanks will almost always fire HE at AT guns. If I don't find any problems with it in future (none so far) this will be in the next version of my AI minimod.

11
Singleplayer and Coop / Modding the AI map strategy files
« on: 23-03-2010, 16:03:03 »
Quote
How to stop Commander Spam? - Answer, One of the uncapable flags in the map was 2-way neighbored. The rule for neighboring uncapable flags is you 1 way neighbor the other flag to the uncap. It's useful to remember, "My neighbor comes to me" when neighboring SA.
- http://www.battlefieldsingleplayer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13677

Thanks to cannonfodder for pointing out this fix for the "commander defend spam" issue. It looks like it should be easy to fix - but whilst looking through the map AI files, I noticed quite a few other things in the map scripts that could potentially be fixed or improved. For example - Supercharge has a bug in the attack/defend conditions script which appears to be the reason the Germans don't attempt to counter-attack, whilst Op. Aberdeen has some of the CPs (notably the German forward strongpoint) incorrectly linked. Also, many maps don't have map-specific strategies, and their CPs aren't assigned tags such as "Base" and "SoldierSpawner".

The latter might not make much or any difference to the AI's behaviour, but the map strategy scripts (or the lack of them) in strategies.ai ought to make a big difference to the AI. For most FH2 maps, where both sides are fighting over the map, both sides need to have a "defend" strategy for when they're in control of all the capturable CPs, an "attack" strategy (all-out offence) when the enemy controls more CPs than them, and a "push" strategy (combining attack + defence) when they're starting to get the upper hand. Defensive maps like Siege/Fall of Tobruk are similar, but with one side more biased towards defence.

Where the map doesn't have its own strategies.ai file, the AI just uses the default strategies, which don't work well in some situations (e.g Sidi Rezegh where the British attack the uncappable German main base after capturing the airfield CPs, when they ought to go to a defensive stance).

Anyway, I'm currently experimenting with modifying the map scripts to fix some of the issues and add strategies to maps that don't have them. If it works out, I'll release the files for download in future.

12
Singleplayer and Coop / AI tweak/fix mini-mod v1.1
« on: 06-03-2010, 22:03:40 »
DOWNLOAD LINK
(updated 7/3: fixed incorrect Stuka weapon priorities)

(I thought I'd better create a new thread for this version, as the old one has got to 4 pages now)

This is more or less a "beta" version, as I haven't tested every map extensively and have encountered a few CTDs on some maps (not the usual suspects like Goodwood 64), I'll probably release another, more polished version in the near future. But there are so many fixes in this version compared to the last that I thought I ought to get it out sooner rather than later, particularly for any FH2 SP players who don't have the modding abilities to fix the AT gun + bomber bugs (the two most important changes) themselves.

Here's what's new in this version:

Quote
- Bots can now use bomber aircraft effectively (and drop bombs!).
- Fighter aircraft will (theoretically at least) fire MGs at long range and cannons at short range.
- Tanks with HE shells will not fire AP shells at infantry, and AT guns without HE shells won't fire at infantry at all.
- Further tweaks to tank shell type and co-axial MG use.
- Greatly reduced the minimum range for tank guns.
- Fixed the Chevrolet Vickers MG not firing, and corrected the min/max aiming angles for some other vehicles.
- Limited the AI fire rate for semi-automatic rifles and pistols (so they can't fire faster than a human player)
- Many more minor tweaks to vehicle and infantry weapon AI data.
- Altered the maximum audibility distance for some weapon sounds for greater consistency. Not an AI fix, but something I thought was worth fixing - with the default data, some weapons are audible from halfway across the map whilst others (of the same type)
- Fixed the sound looping bug with the 2-pounder AT gun (ditto)

I'd definitely appreciate any feedback on errors, crashes (particularly any map-related CTDs that don't occur with un-modded FH2.25) and other issues. There are some areas, like AT charges + grenades, that I'm currently working on, and may still not be working properly.

13
BF2 (and FH2) currently has 6 object classes/types used by "aiTemplatePlugIn.setStrType" in objects.ai files: Infantry, LightArmour, HeavyArmour, NavalArmour, Helicopter and Airplane. Anyone know if it's possible to add more via modding, or if the classes are hard-coded?

Adding "Unarmoured Vehicle", "Medium Armour" and "Static Gun" classes would be very handy for improving the AI's target selection and weapon use - e.g. aircraft could be set to strafe unarmoured and light vehicles but not medium/heavy armour, tanks could be set to only use special AP rounds on heavy armour, etc. Currently, having all tanks/armoured cars as "heavy armour" and all guns, APCs and softskins as "light armour" makes it difficult to get the AI to use the right weapon type; HE rounds, for example, are the best choice against AT guns, but not too effective against halftracks.

14
The AI seems to be capable of flying most of the aircraft in FH2 reasonably well - they don't crash too often and can strafe ground targets and engage enemy aircraft. However, the Ju87 Stuka (and possibly the Beaufighter bomber version as well, though I haven't tested this myself - the Stuka is a lot more common in maps) seems to be an exception to this. It never drops its bombs, and rarely manages to stay in the air long enough to get the chance to do so!

I've been trying to fix this problem, or at least find out why it happens, without much success! I've looked through the Stuka data files, comparing them to those for other FH2 aircraft, and have tried changing some of them and flying in the gunner's seat of AI-piloted Stukas to see what the AI does. So far I've got no further to fixing the problem, although I think I've found its main cause.
There are a number of issues in the Stuka AI data files (see below), but what seems to be the main cause of the problem is the AI control input parameters (pitch, roll + yaw scale and limits) in objects.ai. These values, along with the input sensitivity (identical for every FH2 aircraft including the Stuka) seem to control how the AI flies the aircraft.

These are the default values for the Stuka:
Quote
aiTemplatePlugIn.pitchScale           0.0110
aiTemplatePlugIn.rollScale            0.0220
aiTemplatePlugIn.yawScale             0.0175
aiTemplatePlugIn.maxRollAngle         0.5000
aiTemplatePlugIn.maxClimbAngle        0.1700

and these are the values for every other aircraft in FH2 (except the Ju52, which has the same max roll and climb angle as the Stuka):

Quote
aiTemplatePlugIn.pitchScale           0.0420
aiTemplatePlugIn.rollScale            0.0680
aiTemplatePlugIn.yawScale             0.0275
aiTemplatePlugIn.maxRollAngle         0.9900
aiTemplatePlugIn.maxClimbAngle        0.3333

With the default values, an AI-piloted Stuka flies and manouevers so sluggishly that it eventually ends up flying out of the playable map area and getting killed. Occasionally it'll attempt to strafe ground targets or even dogfight with enemy planes, but won't drop bombs (the bomb issue seems to be completely unrelated, though).
However, if you replace the default values with the standard ones from another aircraft, the Stuka flies wildly and erratically, almost as if the bot piloting it is attempting to do aerobatics, and will eventually (usually sooner rather than later) end up spiralling or nose-diving into the ground. They rarely (if ever) seem to make any attempt to attack targets on the ground.

Does anyone have any clues as to why this is happening with the Stuka but not, as far as I can see, with any other aircraft type in FH2? I'd really appreciate some help from anyone with more experience coding aircraft AI in BF2.

Finally, the other issues I spotted in the FH2 Stuka data:

- Bombs have a lower AI strength than MGs vs. many target types
- Bombs don't have the AI fire input key set (PIAltFire) in weapons.ai
- The AI input key to select the rear gunner position is PIMenuSelect2 rather than PIPositionSelect2 (conflicting with the bomb select key)
- The 250kg bomb has an extremely high minimum range (500)

These may be the reason for the AI not dropping bombs, but until the flight issues have been sorted out it's hard to say for certain!

The aiTemplatePlugIn.equipmentTypeName in objects.ai is also set as "Bomber"; not sure if this is necessary, as the "vanilla" BF2 aircraft, all set as "Fighter", never had any problems dropping bombs when piloted by the AI. Changing it to "Fighter" doesn't seem to affect the Stuka's behaviour much, if at all.

15
DOWNLOAD LINK (v1.0)

I think I've playtested it enough now to make sure that the AI is still working correctly, so here's the first version of my SP AI tweak mini-mod for FH2 2.25.

From the readme.txt:

Quote
FIXES:
- Bots now aim and fire AT guns and mortars.
- Fixed the error with the the Sherman roof-mounted MG which caused the "Luttich" map to crash in SP mode.
- Tank HE shell min/max ranges are now consistent with those for AP shells.
- US 57mm and 76mm AT guns now have the correct AI files for mobile and static versions.
- Disabled AI use of AT mines (bots don't know how to use them correctly, so just get themselves killed charging enemy tanks)
- All open crew positions on vehicles and guns now have the "exposed soldier" setting so the AI will fire MGs and small arms at them.

CHANGES, TWEAKS + ADDITIONS:
- Completely revised the weapon AI data for all vehicle and AT gun/artillery weapons. Vehicles will (most of the time) use both MGs and shells against infantry targets and guns, and will prioritise AP, HE and special AP shells for different target types. Bots manning hull and cupola MG mounts will fire at their targets more reliably,
- Adjusted the AI data for infantry weapons. Changes to "small arms" (rifles, SMGs, MGs etc.) are minimal, but AT weapons (including grenades and explosive charges) have been tweaked significantly.
- Aircraft will strafe ground targets more, and (except for the Hurricane IID) will prioritise infantry and light vehicles. Still can't get them to drop bombs, though.
- Adjusted the "strategic strength" and "temperature" values in vehicle AI files, so bots are more likely to select vehicles and crew positions based on their effectiveness.
- Bots will avoid using (unarmed) passenger + tank rider positions on vehicles - they rarely know how to use these effectively, or when to get out, making them deathtraps.
- Bots will not attempt to move mobile AT guns (other than turning them in place) - as they don't really understand how to use mobile guns properly (treating them like extremely slow tanks).
- Bots will now fly spotter planes (they don't know how to use the artillery spotting ability, but the "radar" effect is useful for the player)
- Added unique AI files for vehicle + gun types that were either missing them completely (e.g. Cromwell, Churchill) or which used AI files from another vehicle of the same basic type but different function (e.g Opel Blitz Flak, SdKfz.251/10)
- Vehicles (and other PCOs) of the same basic type (e.g. all Sherman variants other than the Firefly and M4A1/76mm) now share object and weapon AI files. Static and mobile versions of AT guns now also share weapon AI files, though they have seperate object AI files.

KNOWN PROBLEMS (other than the usual BF2 AI issues, and pathfinding issues - such as tanks getting stuck and aircraft crashing into the ground - which are dependent on map scripting)
- Aircraft don't use bombs/rockets, despite all my attempts at getting them to do so. Maybe in the next version...
- Bots don't use static artillery (25pdr, LeFH18, US 105mm, Nebelwerfer) - although they will use emplaced mortars.
- Bots rarely seem to use static defensive MG positions.
- Bots don't fire certain vehicle gun positions (such as the Vickers .303 on the LRDG Chevy, and the rear MG34 on the SdKfz.251) although they will man them.
- The "Goodwood" map still crashes after around 15-20 minutes.

Now I've got a basic playable version out, I'll work on more AI fixes for the next version - including artillery, aircraft bombs and radio commands (no guarantees I'll be able to get any of these to work, but I can try!)

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