Prioritisation of targets by AI?

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Prioritisation of targets by AI? - 2/12/2017 10:24:47 PM

Panzer_Leader

Posts: 62
Joined: 1/10/2014
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Status: offline

Hi team

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere: does the AI prioritise its fire by target type and/or distance? I was playing 'Hell's Crossroads' as BAOR this weekend (great scenario by the way) and noticed some fairly random engagement of units by my forces when I had the Soviets outflanked in a sizeable engagement area immediately north-east of the major crossroads. The unit(s) in question had visibility of all Soviet units in the EA but didn't seem to prioritise by target type (such as AD, HQ, etc.) or distance, often firing at units quite far away, or low "threat", rather than closer. I understand in real life units prioritise targets by type and threat (e.g. proximity) and I wondered if the AI does too, as the above example suggested to me that it doesn't. No worries if not, I'm just keen to understand the mechanics of the game one way or the other.

Cheers

Post #: 1

RE: Prioritisation of targets by AI? - 2/13/2017 7:18:39 PM

rixtertech

Posts: 48
Joined: 12/30/2001
Status: offline

I had a similar experience a few days ago while playing through Reforged "Soviet Punch". My WG Panzers had the last dregs of the attacking Soviets nicely kesseled up for the final slaughter when a few surviving T80U's pushed forward to within 500 meters of my soon-to-be-victorious but thinly stretched tank lines. My tanks ignored them while getting shot up, and instead sat there blithely firing at some lighter and less numerous units much farther away. This sort of thing actually happened quite a few times during that scenario, in some cases with WG armor literally firing over the heads of attacking russian armor to ineffectually target units a few kilometers from their lines.

It's a great game with the absolutely best UIX of any wargame I've ever played... but if you're looking for realism, there is still a ways to go. I for one still have faith in our developer overlords. With time it will get better.

(in reply to Panzer_Leader)

Post #: 2

RE: Prioritisation of targets by AI? - 2/14/2017 4:39:23 PM

CapnDarwin

Posts: 8467
Joined: 2/12/2005
From: Newark, OH
Status: offline

Realism is a tough thing to get right in a computer simulation and we are definitely not 100%. There is "target priority" code and it is entwined with spotting, threat assessment, kill potential, training, readiness, morale, under fire, and so on. We have given the AI a "list" of priority targets like recon, HQs, AD and then AFVs and that plays into the calculation. In some cases, the shooter does not see the specific target unit another unit see. Sometimes it engages what it thinks is a higher priority target and that clashes with the players thoughts on priority. In most cases, if the unit is attacked by an enemy it will attempt to engage that threat. This reaction is still effected by readiness and other factors.

We are looking at adding a couple of features to the game engine to give the player more direct control on things like target priority. Units will still have to deal with other factors stated above, but at least the player will have the ability to set that default list.

Hope that sheds some light on things.

_____________________________

OTS is looking forward to Southern Storm getting released!

Cap'n Darwin aka Jim Snyder
On Target Simulations LLC

(in reply to rixtertech)

Post #: 3

RE: Prioritisation of targets by AI? - 2/15/2017 12:37:48 AM

Panzer_Leader

Posts: 62
Joined: 1/10/2014
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Capn Darwin

Realism is a tough thing to get right in a computer simulation and we are definitely not 100%. There is "target priority" code and it is entwined with spotting, threat assessment, kill potential, training, readiness, morale, under fire, and so on. We have given the AI a "list" of priority targets like recon, HQs, AD and then AFVs and that plays into the calculation. In some cases, the shooter does not see the specific target unit another unit see. Sometimes it engages what it thinks is a higher priority target and that clashes with the players thoughts on priority. In most cases, if the unit is attacked by an enemy it will attempt to engage that threat. This reaction is still effected by readiness and other factors.

We are looking at adding a couple of features to the game engine to give the player more direct control on things like target priority. Units will still have to deal with other factors stated above, but at least the player will have the ability to set that default list.

Hope that sheds some light on things.

Great, thanks for the update Capn Darwin. It's good to know the AI does prioritise, even if it's not always obvious to the human observer. Admittedly, the questionable prioritisation I was seeing was occurring in a very target rich environment (maybe 20+ enemy units in a large three-sided kill sack) so there were probably lots of permutations of the algorithm. With fewer targets prioritisation might have seemed more logical, which makes sense since I'd never really questioned it before.

(in reply to CapnDarwin)

Post #: 4