Active target seeking
Posted: 19 Sep 2006, 02:55
I've realized that the problem that we've all seen, the one with gunships and other aircraft landing in the middle of combat for no apparent reason, isn't unique to aircraft.
The problem is with pretty much everything, as far as I can tell. Give a bunch of peewees to an AI player, then attack then with your own group of... thuds. Or something. They'll usually just sit there and take a beating, even though the thuds are within their visual range and their maneuverleashlength. On the rare occasion they'll fight back, but it's definitely in the minority.
The problem is that units don't actively seek targets to engage. Even if there's radar coverage, line of sight, or both, they'll just ignore everything unless specifically told otherwise. In some cases, this isn't so bad. During ground combat you can usually give specific orders. But the problem becomes much more visible when aircraft are involved, because when they don't attack they'll actually land. You can't micromanage a swarm of aircraft. There's too many of them and they're moving too fast.
Here's how unit target needs to work: If an unfriendly unit comes into your unit's LoS, they will attack them, UNLESS they are outside your unit's maneuverleashlength. If the enemy unit goes beyond double your unit's maneuverleashlength while they are being pursued by your unit, your unit will go back to the location they were in before the enemy unit came into LoS.
An example:
5 friendly aircraft are patrolling between points A and B. 10 other friendly aircraft have landed, awaiting orders. They are 1024 units away from point A and 2048 units away from point B. Their maneuverleashlength is 1024. Their LoS is 512.
10 Enemy aircraft approach the patrol zone, midway between points A and B, and are detected by a friendly fighter's LoS. The appearance of these enemies immediately spurs all the patrolling fighters into action, and they all attack the enemies. A dogfight ensues, which eventually reaches point A. At this point, the friendly fighters which have landed attack the enemy fighters.
Seeing that they are clearly outmatched, the 3 surviving enemy fighters retreat back the way they came. The friendly fighters which were landed return to their original location and land as soon as they are 2048 units away from that location. The patrolling fighters continue to chase for a short while as well, until the enemy is 2048 units away from their patrol route. After that, they return to their patrol.
Diagram:
Remove the word "land" from the above situation and replace "fighters" with "Peewees" and the same should be true.
But in both cases, it's not. The friendly units will just sit there and do nothing, probably even if they're fired upon.
~~~
Apparently, the situation with bombers is the complete opposite. Not only do they actively seek targets, they ignore orders while doing so.
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=7142
Something's really borked and needs a rewrite.
The problem is with pretty much everything, as far as I can tell. Give a bunch of peewees to an AI player, then attack then with your own group of... thuds. Or something. They'll usually just sit there and take a beating, even though the thuds are within their visual range and their maneuverleashlength. On the rare occasion they'll fight back, but it's definitely in the minority.
The problem is that units don't actively seek targets to engage. Even if there's radar coverage, line of sight, or both, they'll just ignore everything unless specifically told otherwise. In some cases, this isn't so bad. During ground combat you can usually give specific orders. But the problem becomes much more visible when aircraft are involved, because when they don't attack they'll actually land. You can't micromanage a swarm of aircraft. There's too many of them and they're moving too fast.
Here's how unit target needs to work: If an unfriendly unit comes into your unit's LoS, they will attack them, UNLESS they are outside your unit's maneuverleashlength. If the enemy unit goes beyond double your unit's maneuverleashlength while they are being pursued by your unit, your unit will go back to the location they were in before the enemy unit came into LoS.
An example:
5 friendly aircraft are patrolling between points A and B. 10 other friendly aircraft have landed, awaiting orders. They are 1024 units away from point A and 2048 units away from point B. Their maneuverleashlength is 1024. Their LoS is 512.
10 Enemy aircraft approach the patrol zone, midway between points A and B, and are detected by a friendly fighter's LoS. The appearance of these enemies immediately spurs all the patrolling fighters into action, and they all attack the enemies. A dogfight ensues, which eventually reaches point A. At this point, the friendly fighters which have landed attack the enemy fighters.
Seeing that they are clearly outmatched, the 3 surviving enemy fighters retreat back the way they came. The friendly fighters which were landed return to their original location and land as soon as they are 2048 units away from that location. The patrolling fighters continue to chase for a short while as well, until the enemy is 2048 units away from their patrol route. After that, they return to their patrol.
Diagram:
Code: Select all
E
F A----------B
E= enemy fighters
F= friendly fighters
A= point A
B= point B
---= patrol routeBut in both cases, it's not. The friendly units will just sit there and do nothing, probably even if they're fired upon.
~~~
Apparently, the situation with bombers is the complete opposite. Not only do they actively seek targets, they ignore orders while doing so.
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=7142
Something's really borked and needs a rewrite.
