Estar

I agree. The AI in that game was very good.

A lot of the difficulty in ARMA2 comes from the more realistic wounding and damage system where 1 shot can put the player down. That and the fact that the AI can be extremely accurate at very far distances. Never did I feel that the AI had killed me because of something clever that they did. I can sit in one spot and mow down tons of enemy infantry that will run around randomly or lay prone in the open and then have a burst from a enemy rifleman kill me from 500 meters away as I sprint. The other games you may consider to be "Rambo" due to a more forgiving health and damage system and probably lower accuracy but if the first scoring shot from the enemy could critically wound or kill the player then a more tactical approach would be needed to succeed.

What you said is true. I guess I'm just really frustrated about the untapped potential of ARMA2. Ever since Operation Flashpoint I've always thought to myself "this would be the best game (IMO) if it just had better AI". Was really looking forward to ARMA when it was announced but was disappointed when the only major improvements was cosmetic. I was really hyped about ARMA2 with all the talk about Micro AI and found the AI to have noticeable improvements but is still severely lacking. So now my thoughts are still the same - "if only it had better AI (and less bugs)". Really hope to see improvements with patches and mods.

Have you played any of these games? I consider AI (along with gameplay. Graphics and Sound not that important to me) to be the most important factor in a single player game. The AI in the games I listed offered a much better experience than the AI offered in ARMA2 at its current state. Not saying the AI is bad, just listing games that I thought had a more solid AI. It doesn't matter how advance the AI is, if it performs stupid in-game then it is not good AI.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl / S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Freedom Fighters Sniper Elite Soldiers: Heroes of World War II / Faces of War / Men of War (not FPS games though) F.E.A.R. Brothers in Arms series Fallout 3 (I actually found the AI for human enemies to be pretty good in this game. Taking cover often, navigating the environment well, etc.) System Shock 2 / Bioshock Farcry / Crysis / Crysis Warhead Killzone 2 Gears of War / Gears of War 2 Counter Strike / Counter Strike Source Official BOT (very dependent on nodes and waypoints though) Grand Theft Auto 4 (AI takes cover behind ANYTHING) No One Lives Forever 1 and 2 Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Only splinter cell game I played. The AI was excellent when in combat ; Using cover, suppressing, flanking, etc.) Clive Barker's Undying Heavy Gear 2 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas Swat 3 and 4 Vietcong / Vietcong Fist Alpha Mech Warrior 4 Metal Gear solid 3 Soldier of Fortune 2 Red Faction 2 Just to name a few from the top of my head. These games had the feeling of a more solid AI. Don't get me wrong, I love the Operation Flashpoint/ARMA series and I really like ARMA2 but the AI is the weakest part...and the bugs.

AI needs to use and STAY in cover way more. The current AI changes positions too much, even when under fire. Suicide runs towards enemy fire is the most common way that I've seen AI soldiers die. When under fire the AI needs to instantly take cover and fight from that cover, advancing only when it is safe to do so. AI should only change position when needed (flanked, falling back, cover is gone, etc.) and use suppressing fire if possible before doing so. AI should NEVER stop in the open while advancing when there is any cover around. Currently the AI will often stop out in the open while advancing even though there is tons of cover around and get shot. They should be moving from cover to cover. AI should keep there attention more towards the direction of the threat instead of scanning around so often during combat. I constantly see soldiers facing in a direction away from the enemy where there is no threat or just spinning in a circle during combat. It looks stupid and reduces their combat effectiveness. AI groups should stick together more often. Once combat starts AI groups become way too spread out with everyone going out in different directions and getting picked off one by one. After playing the game and observing the AI I feel that there is tons of untapped potential with the current engine with regards to how the AI infantry fight. I smile when I see a AI soldier crouch, take cover behind a building, and then proceed to peak around the corner. But then I cry when moments later, instead of firing from that corner at the enemy down the road he decides to run out into the open and get shot :confused: . The AI currently has the ability and moves to fight smart and effectively but doesn't utilize them well. Really hope to see AI improvements in future patches (or mods). The potential is there.

Yup, this is the exact same impression I have of the ARMA2 AI.

@fabrizioT Thanks for the tip, gonna try playing with lower precision settings. Maybe more bullets will be fired during a firefight now. :) @walker what??? :confused:

I see someone has already linked my AI vids. Infantry AI has improved from ARMA but could still use a lot of improvement. Would be nice if the AI fired from cover more often. As of now, they don't really use suppressing fire and will basically use all weapons like sniper rifles only firing when an enemy is in their line of sight. This makes combat sort of boring when almost every shot fired is a hit/kill (BAMBAM THUD ARRRGH ...Silence... BAMBAM THUD ARRGHHH ...Silence...). Would be much better if the AI would take cover and then fire from that cover towards the general direction of enemies/incoming fire. Here is a test video that someone made of the Killzone 2 AI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqxpFAZ2P2c Would be great if the ARMA 2 ai could get anywhere close to that. Men of War also has a pretty good cover system where anything including physics objects could be used for cover. Unfortunately the AI in that game doesn't use it very well.