Updated to version 3.0
3.0
Enhancements:
- Revamped threat calculation, threat map and unit aggression based on potential threats and damage to allow units to use safer routes when pathfinding
- Added several conditionals to give AI units more data to evaluate their capabilities and the battlefield conditions (such as ranged units avoiding dangerous melee proximity, repositioning for better accuracy, moving out of toxic tiles, etc).
- Changed how units attempt to take objectives to prevent groups of units from clustering around an objective point or ignoring some objectives altogether.
- Added aggression options to the config file for each faction.
Fixes:
- Fixed passive unit AI bug introduced in 2.2.1
2.2.1
Fixes:
- Update AI:
-- Fix ranged units with no melee abilities will incorrectly close for a melee attack
-- Add path threat level consideration when deciding to attack with ranged weapon or closing in for melee
-- Improve path threat level consideration when deciding where to move and attack as a ranged unit
-- Add unit health consideration when deciding when to move to a new location
-- Improve weapon capability vs. target defense consideration when selecting a new target with a ranged unit
-- Greatly lower the likelyhood of the AI causing friendly fire from grenades
-- Remove the chance of the AI torching its own men with flamers.
-- Fix Night Lords AI does not make use of any grenade
- Update AI transports:
-- Incorrect AI unit size calculation during initial deployment stage
-- Incorrect AI Firing Deck calculation during initial deployment stage
-- When a transport has a Firing Deck:
-- leverage passenger firepower before unloading (fire first, then unload).
-- Unload units 1 at a time to stretch firepower advantage
- Misc:
-- Fix potential lockup when randomizing Night Lords army during force selection
-- Update Helbrute ATRating to align with lascannon change (influences AI)
-- Fix incorrect interpretation of abilities for some Night Lords units (Crack Shot applied instead of Stalker Sights, etc)
-- Fix Helbrutes cannot make use of stasis grenades
Sandbox:
sandbox_release_3.0
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This originally was a bug fix release intended to address a few issues I noticed when playing against the Night Lords. After making several fixes I released version 2.2.1 but then had to immediately withdraw the release as I found a breaking bug that needed attention. When I dug into the fix, I decided to keep going and ended up making even broader changes. It's now all packaged up into 3.0.
The majority of the fixes are around the AI. A few of the specific changes:
AI units should no longer -
- eagerly run straight into reaction fire
- stand around in radiation (and similar) waiting to die
- run up to melee knights only to be stomped
- try to shoot at enemies under their minimum firing range (instead they'll reposition)
- hang around near dangerous melee units if they can't also melee.
- flame each other anymore or throw grenades into their own ranks (although Orks still can, apparently by design. I left Ork grenades alone for now, but other factions will not).
Overall there are several changes made to the flow of the code with the intention of making individual units position better and help decide their optimal attack method in battle.
One other revamp is how objectives (victory points) are treated by the AI. Units sometimes had a tendency to cluster and loiter around a VP and forget to fire at the enemy. This release addresses the aimless milling about, and makes them a little more willing to grab VPs instead of ignoring easy opportunities.
I'm out of time and didn't get done with everything I wanted to. Combat Teleporting still needs work, hunting objective markers can still be improved on, decisions about when and where to better use some abilities, so many little things - it's a decent sized list.
Not sure if I'll have time anymore to get to them or not, but I would like to see if I can add some of these changes to a global mod so it can be used in the campaigns. Some of it can't (because of how global mods work), and some of it shouldn't as it will likely break campaigns, but I would like to give it a try anyway.
One more thing. New "aggression" options have been added to the config file to allow tweaking of how willing the AI is to run into reaction fire or find a safer route. There are several factors that play into the decision, but these aggression options will change the floor to make the units more or less gung ho.
The range is from -100 to 100, normally defaulted to 0, but Orks and Daemons are set to 30 (for now, subject to more testing). Note that a value of -100 or 100 doesn't make them completely timid or reckless, but only more so.
From the config file:
--- Values for aggression are -100 to 100 ---
AggressionSpaceWolves 0
AggressionOrks 30
AggressionAstraMilitarum 0
AggressionDaemons 30
AggressionNightLords 0
I haven't had time to work on it for the last few weeks.