How good is the AI...?

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

How good is the AI thus far in the Alpha?

The more particulars, the better. It's the only thing keeping me from ordering the Supporter's edition.

How are they in open terrain?

How do they operate in CQB?

Are they capable of assaulting a structure properly? That is, do they form up, or...?

I was disappointed in the one video Dslyecxi posted on movement & shooting. Near the end of it, he storms a building, immediately blasts the first AI (plausible), then steps 1.5 m. to his right, opens a door, and there, another 1.5 m. away, is an AI, looking outside through a window. :butbut: Um... Shouldn't that AI have turned towards the door where he heard shoots fired from a second before?

I'm hoping for BIG improvements in the AI more than anything else. If you happen to make/find some videos that do an excellent job of capturing your thoughts on the AI capabilities, please post links to them in the body of your replies.

Thanks in advance!

[Necramonium 10]

Haven't played it too much too see the AI, but one thing i found was that they managed to find me constantly in the Scuba mission even when i was deep under water.

[jake_krieger 10]

Our only hope is that Robalo creates his ASR_AI-Mod for ArmA 3 and that Bohemia could finally contact him directly and implement his works into ArmA 3.

That is the only way i could see the AI improving.

[manzilla 1]

My team's ai in the infantry showcase mission seems greatly improved. They actually would lay down behind rocks for cover and would mo0ve between cover/concealment very well compared to A2. They still did some dumb things to get killed but that was more due to the ai leader. Probably would been better with me leading. The enemy seems much better as well. Don't get me wrong there was still some dumb stuff done but in general the alpha seems to be a huge improvement over A2. much more so then the ai improvement from A1 to A2

[stk2008 14]

They seem to engage at much much greater distances to.

I aint sure but some times unrealistic distances with the guns they where useing.

[sic-disaster 311]

To be honest the AI is a big step up from ArmA 2. They react better under fire, find cover more quickly, fire a lot at you both with small calibre weapons as well as 40mm grenades. They are very agressive.

A community member at TDNL made a mission where he used UPSMON as well, causing them to counter attack etc... We had a really hard time getting into the village. We got completely wiped out two times (we had respawn) as a full group of 12 players, and nearly a third time before we managed to find a more or less safe route to the objective. We play a lot of ArmA 2 and manage to finish pretty much all missions pretty well, but we got smoked. (they didn't just instantly hit us in wtf-moments, we had an actual firefight going on)

The AI can be pretty quick in CQB, though a bit slow sometimes. But I have seen them side-step into cover while firing, come around a corner and blast me away before I had a chance to react (though the framerate at that point wasn't helping much either). Hell, get the headless client in there to give the AI even more thinking cycles and prepare the lube, because rape will ensue.

[elmas 10]

They are more aggressive and engage from longer distances, other than that, it´s pretty much the same meaning, the AI is fine, but you will run into odd behaviors.

[manzilla 1]

To be honest the AI is a big step up from ArmA 2. They react better under fire, find cover more quickly, fire a lot at you both with small calibre weapons as well as 40mm grenades. They are very agressive.

A community member at TDNL made a mission where he used UPSMON as well, causing them to counter attack etc... We had a really hard time getting into the village. We got completely wiped out two times (we had respawn) as a full group of 12 players, and nearly a third time before we managed to find a more or less safe route to the objective. We play a lot of ArmA 2 and manage to finish pretty much all missions pretty well, but we got smoked. (they didn't just instantly hit us in wtf-moments, we had an actual firefight going on)

The AI can be pretty quick in CQB, though a bit slow sometimes. But I have seen them side-step into cover while firing, come around a corner and blast me away before I had a chance to react (though the framerate at that point wasn't helping much either). Hell, get the headless client in there to give the AI even more thinking cycles and prepare the lube, because rape will ensue.

Glad to read it wasn't just me. I'm really trying to look at this objectively but it really does seem like a big step up. I'm kinda excited to see what the future holds if it's already this nice.

[bad benson 1733]

i wouldn't say big step but they are certainly more responsive. it's like what we had before but with faster reaction and more polished in some regards. they still like to ignore buildings and they still like to prone on airfields even if you shoot at them alone while they are around 5 guys. i would like to see some more "fortification" behaviour in those situations. just bringing a bit of cover between them and the location of the shooter.

what they do great is react and flank. when i was harassing them with supression after placing them on the airstrip they did their prone thing again like in arma 2 but then after (in my opinion too much time) 2 of them started looking for me which looked almost human sometimes. i also can confirm that they react very fast when they come around corners to find you.

as mentioned by manzilla what's lacking the most is intelligent squad management. i get that when hell breaks lose they might be overwhelmed but not changing their location when getting shot at from one direction on a plane area without cover when cover is relatively near has to be improved.

in short: micro AI seems better but gets sometimes ruined by stupid move commands issued by the leader.

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

I'm excited to read what you all have posted thus far. Sounds very promising.

If it wouldn't be too much trouble...

Would any of you be willing to create a couple of quick scenario, and report the results to me?

My interest lies primarily in clearing structures. In that regard, how did the scenarios go for...

...your comrades holding a structure against an assault?

...your comrades clearing an occupied structure?

Is the process methodical, partial chaos, all chaos, or...?

[manzilla 1]

Solid review, Bad Benson. Yeah you're right still a lotta silly things happening. The micro does seem a lot more micro this time then in A2. It was nice to see

[joe21 10]

More like getting shot across the map and i can't even see them lol or trying to sneak past them and they instantly know im there

but other then that good

[rehtus777 10]

Have you guys gone to the game options and set the AI to "Super AI"? Also, you can set the AI to expert or novice for either team.

[BelgarionNL 10]

I got killed twice by Ai shooting Through the tree brush! so I couldn't see them and they still could see me!

in CQB I own them! they always seem to stare at a rock or tree or building and I just shoot them in the side or back!

Visually its a nice overhaul to arma 2 but Without the promised features like JAVA, and the Take on Helicopter flight model its a pretty big fail!

Plus I don't really see the difference between arma 2 no physx and arma 3 physx they are both equally unrealistic just in a different way...

DEVS: GIVE US JAVA AND TOH FLIGHT MODEL!

[hellfire257 3]

Truly amazing how some people don't get what an alpha is.

[hyzoran 17]

The AI notice things and spot things too easily, imo. In the scuba mission the moment I pop my head above the water (most of the time by accident) the alarm instantly sounds and they converge on you. (I think I have the AI on 0.7 skill or so). Also, the scuba mission is frustrating because of how crappy the sdar is. (Takes 3 hits to kill under 10m range, on land) and insanely inaccurate.

[bad benson 1733]

In the scuba mission the moment I pop my head above the water

this sounds as if the mission is designed that way. meaning that if you leave the water to early the AI gets auto alarmed. i didn't have a problem getting close unnoticed. was diving really low chasing fishes and stuff though ;)

Takes 3 hits to kill under 10m range, on land

i don't no if you noticed but you can change the ammo to stanag for land fights. use the action menu to do it.

Solid review, Bad Benson. Yeah you're right still a lotta silly things happening. The micro does seem a lot more micro this time then in A2.

i will make some more detailed tests later. people also have to keep in mind that the blank AI just placed in the editor is often made really flexible (meaning less specific) so you can make missions with them easier. at least that's how i explain it to myself that the AI doesn't go garrison in buildings by default and other stuff that arma 2 AI mods have by default.

in general i'm happy if they just clean it up a bit more since most AI mods should still work with some modifications and cleaning things up and making them more straight forward makes modding them easier.

[Heradon 1]

Current AI bugs that i've noticed:

When the AI is patrolling with their truck they won't always see you when they drive past you. The AI will ignore you even if you're stand close to them with clear sight.

The AI in watchtower can see you in their deadzone. Not sure how it works on the field, but the guy at the watchtower headshotted me in less than a second. I was crouching 50m away behind a wall and the AI. I just wanted to raise a bit up so i could get him in my sight. When I did that, i heard "boom" and i was dead. Well I won't complain about their response lol.

AI next to the green "sheds" or whatever they're named, those AI's that stands next to "sheds" and its stairs are usually bugged and rarely respond really well, so they're easy to pick out.

AI in helicopter will only engage randomly if you drive an IRT (truck), they won't engage if you are on foot.

AI's line of sight can be too extreme sometimes. I mean when i stay low behind vegetation and rocks and the nearest AI are 850m away, I can't see them myself because its too far away and i barely have any vision, i thought it would be a good idea to keep a low profile... But i was wrong, the AI would still detect me and easily hit me. The AI also have much better accuracy than you, because the recoil on the weapons are insane. The LMG have a terrible recoil and can't hit anything from distance due to the high recoil, and you can't deploy it, even tho there is a bipod attached to it and semi-function barely work.

AI won't react if you miss (Don't react by sound), the AI only responds when they've detected you by vision and if you hit them.

Except that the AI works really well, it will try to find cover, by taking cover behind objects or run away so there out of sight and try to flank you. The AI is generally better when they're not being retarded. Which means the AI would be very impressive if it wasn't for all the bugs.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Heradon

[connorwarman 60]

They are better than they are in ArmA 2. But not by much, they respond quicker but do not always effectively engage.

[chrisb 196]

I have only done a very brief test with ai, in the Editor..

Must say after reading a lot of posts here, many players must be playing with awful ai in A2, if they think these are better.

The ai here are pretty bad, run the wrong way, can’t decide where fire is coming from, little use of cover and poor cover use if they do find any, slow on the uptake, seems like there is little to no communication between ai units, if they manage to get a shot off, they are reasonably accurate, but they are usually dead before they get that far. Pretty bad all around.

Mannerisms are reasonably good and of course they look great, but that’s not what its about really...

But as said, it was a brief, albeit repeated test, over a dozen times with slider and skill set high, slightly different take on each, but all in town.

Will be doing lots more testing and possibly filming them, for comparison perhaps with our A2 ai, would be very interesting ;)

Its only the beginning though, bugs removed etc and it may get better.

Only problem I have is, the best ai mod makers are not around anymore, therefore it could be a problem, imo.

What a shame, was hoping for another level of ai for A3.. Its not there, well not yet, anyway..:(

[Muscular Beaver 0]

Engage from higher distances? That was a problem in ArmA 2 already, because they landed very accurate shots even with unscoped weapons from long distances.

One huge question is, if they are still able to see through bushes, leaves and fallen over trees.

[Dominic92x 10]

That's strange. I watched two AI groups engage in a town...They acted very intelligently. A lot different from the AI in ArmA 2. I loved watching them. The battle lasted 15 minutes before the last soldier died. Sure, the AI does some stupid thing sometimes, but this is still an amazing improvement in my eyes. CQB is amazing for me.

:D!!!

[gabe_ruckus 5]

This AI is great, big improvement. I've been shot point blank by AI coming around a corner at high ready in CQB before I knew what happened. They're brutal and aggressive, and a proper challenge at range.

I've gone in and edited my profile cfg values to max their skill and set their dispersion to .35, and that still might be too high. They do a good job of pinning you down and flanking or bringing up grenade launchers to flush you out.

[chrisb 196]

Sorry wrong thread..

Edited March 6, 2013 by ChrisB

[weaponsfree 46]

First impressions of the AI :

The Good:

- I found they weren't overly accurate at range, since I had some good moments setting up my squad's position while under fire. Moving along my line of fire crouched, while my soldiers returned fire, seeing bullets snap into the ground and trees around me was nice.

- An Ifrit did a good job of chasing down my squad, and pinning me down behind a rock while enemy infantry flanked.

- I felt that infantry used terrain fairly well, as I saw them retreat back behind a ridge once they were properly suppressed.

- Use of infantry grenade launchers was effective (felt that while on the receiving end)

Not so good

- I did not notice very effective use of cover (objects like rocks and buildings), but Stratis is pretty sparse in it's country side, so not sure if it was lack of objects the reason.

- AI shoulders their weapons and points them in wrong directions a lot. At friends, generally around them. I would prefer seeing the weapons being shouldered when pointed at least within 180 degrees of known enemy locations. 90 even better.

- Helo AI is no good in air combat. They can't hit each other, so I had a few helicopters fighting each other for 10 minutes, not being able to hit each other.

Have yet to test CQB, will try soon.