Think Like An Evil Genius

[[dteviot]]

Fellow degenerates,

 

Grathor has posted some interesting ideas for Alien AI here.

http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?s=...st&p=160695

 

As I know you are inventive and not burdened by conscience, your contributions would be most appreciated.

[Snakeman]

If I understood it all correctly, it seems straight forward. One of the highlights I liked was the idea of incorporating in a briefing blurb that "UFO X has been sighted. Radar records show this craft was responsible for (this or that on such n' such a date)".

 

I'd be wondering too if the reappearances of the same ship among many throughout the game can be an influencing factor. For instance, since the ship might have racked up a lot of successes, any time you see it, it is progressively doing bolder and bolder actions. Likewise the aliens could view your interceptors in a similar way.

[Shinzon]

Be interesting if a ship that got very lucky over the course of its missions gained a sort of "Veterancy" so that a battle hardened crew would be alot harder to first shoot down and then kill then a freshly bred one...

[[dteviot]]

Gentlemen,

 

The objective here is what can be done to improve the Alien AI. Some thoughts that come to mind:

Have a pool of tactics, that AI will try, and if they work, continue using, and if they fail, will move on to others.

e.g. If player starts shooting down (harvesting) supply ships, the supply ships get battleship escorts. (With bigger and bigger escorts.)

Another thought, setting up traps for the player. Placing bait (say a base) with a bunch of battleships in hangers, and waiting for the player's assult team to come along. Then when craft gets close, all the battleships launch and destroy the player craft, along with the highly trained soldiers.

Another possibility, blow up the shot down UFOs, so there's no salvage. (Better yet, blow it up when human soldiers are in it.)

 

A final comment, it's possible that a UFO mission might start and end at an existing base on earth. e.g. A harvesting run.

[Snakeman]

Have a pool of tactics, that AI will try, and if they work, continue using, and if they fail, will move on to others.

e.g. If player starts shooting down (harvesting) supply ships, the supply ships get battleship escorts. (With bigger and bigger escorts.)

 

Similarly speaking, maybe supply ships themselves would be swapped out every so often, such that a different class gets to perform it. In this way, a supply ship or lesser class won't have to do it and be escorted. It could be an AI developed extension to what happens when you became good at the first tactic - killing the escorts then the supply ship. Things progressively get escalated in the hot places.

 

It also shows that the Overmind brain dude is shifting his eggs around a bit - freeing up ships to be used elsewhere.

 

I like the idea of some of the alien missions starting and ending on Earth as you said. It opens up the idea of fleshing out the use of patrols for investigating known traffic spots.

 

Your ambush idea has merit too, but makes more sense for a base that you've been going after over and over again. Alternatively, maybe they can't do this ability if you'd damaged the base structures inside enough to slow them down i.e. you always took out a hanger if it had one etc.

 

This is partly why I think lending the supply mission role to larger ships is a logical next step; your less likely to shoot down a Battleship performing the mission unless your adequately armed, and secondly base recovery time for the aliens could be faster with this ship type. That being said if a hanger was repaired or built, I don't see why the ship afterwards couldn't just park its self there when finished.

[Robo Dojo 58]

If player starts shooting down (harvesting) supply ships, the supply ships get battleship escorts. (With bigger and bigger escorts.)

Supply ships already come with an escort. It's called being parked next to a full fledged base! There's no way a team could cut the UFO up and return it to base when there's an entire base to protest it.

 

Would you raid a convoy that's just a mile away from a military base?

Edited October 13, 2006 by Robo Dojo 58

[GARAK]

Good point, yet what are the odds of shooting down a supply ship within miles of an alien base. It just looks that way on the globe but if you zoom in most shootdowns are pretty far away.