Enemy (land & sea) AI

The Thinker

Dockworker
Ahoy all. Super happy to be here and completely thankful for TLOPO team bringing one of my fave games and communities back!! ;)

So, I definitely don't want to sound like a whiny ungrateful pirate, but the AI of the enemies (movement, detection levels, speeds, etc.), both on land and sea, seem to be a little too off the original for my tastes.

I was formerly a level 50 Maggie McMalley, and a 40-something guild master, Stump. I was very well versed in the ways of the "old game."

I've read through similar posts, especially from earlier times, and I see they are usually met with not much of a response. I find this to be a bit surprising as it seems to have completely altered the game. It just seems like a mod that changes the game experience vs a mod that keeps the original game intact - like a second page on inventory, more outfits, or the like - which I am in favor of.

Am I the only one who thinks this?

A few things that I am really disappointed about are:

- Can't have methodical, planned kills. Grenades and daggers are almost impossible to launch with intended effect as the enemies move so quickly. And shots are difficult to land between reloads.

- Enemy detection is so quick that you are literally surrounded by them. It becomes ridiculous and just not as "life-like, " more like a horde. On the sea, ships just pile up around you. It's just not life-like and allows no strategy. It just becomes a shooting fest.

- Ship speed - enemy ships would need a maelstrom to sail that fast. And one that misses our ships. This makes shooting down sails, or even using chain shot at all, unfeasible.

- Enemy ship spawning locations - they seem to group up in a huge flotilla. i miss having to search a bit. And if you need just one of the ships in the middle of a 10 ship flotilla, gods help you if you are low level.

It's just so frustrating, as this game is so close to being great. It's at the point where I have to force myself to logon due to my own personal frustrations. I do love the community though, and the game is just like 97% there. Again, thank you to TLOPO crew for providing this game, regardless for my petty complaints.

Does anyone know if the enemy AI was a deliberate decision or if maybe the team is just still trying to fine-tune it? From the earlier posts I see, I might be in the minority, but I would vote in favor of returning the enemy AI to as close as possible to the original.

Thanks, and I hope to see what others think.

Look forward to meeting more of ye filthy pirates out on the high seas and lands beyond.

Best,

Stumpy

tldr ~ enemy AI changes the game for the worse. Does anyone else want the original AI returned?
 
I never really had a problem hitting enemies on land with guns or grenades and yes they do tend to group up on you but I've only experienced this in the forsaken shallows. The developers are still working on the aggro on the land enemies and they did change the ship ai to make it a more of a challenge.
 
OK, ya got a lot to say here and imo it's about a 50/50 split on legit observations and just plain wrong stuff:

I've not seen any issues with nades and/or throwing knives/dagger throwing skills.

You are right that there are quite a few issues with land enemies attacking you but there are also equally many issues with land enemies not attacking anyone. This is something that there is a recent thread discussing and I hope the developers are working on.

You are right that enemies ships behave differently than in potco but it is not their actual speed but their reaction time that is fast, the speed is about the same. Ships also only circle you in a clockwise direction whereas in potco they would randomly change directions.

It is not the spawning locations that cause the huge flotillas that you see but rather the fact that when a player engages lots of AI ships, as you might have in potco, those ships never return to their patrol areas if the player that engages them either ports or sinks, they just sit there in a mob, in potco they would move off and back to their designated patrol areas. If you are low level you certainly can still mess with such mobs if you know what you're doing and if you don't they can easily be avoided. I do hope the developers are working on this issue also.

As far as potco AI returning: I am all for it on land for the original parts of the game but hope that new parts will eventually get a more advanced AI.

I am also all for giving ships patrol routes when they are not aggro and for random directional changes for aggro ships, as it was in potco, but am less certain about the reaction time. I kinda would like to see a mixture of like it was in potco and the way it is now with different ships behaving differently. I know that many players like the way the ships react now as do I but I also like variety and the two reaction times require different strategies to effectively mash the maximum number of ships in the minimum time, so there is plenty of room for debate there. I also hope that eventually a more advanced AI will be incorporated for new, as yet unseen, enemy ships.
 
AI ships : Galleon now have the greater speed , they out run sloops and Frigates by far . They all seem to have max speed when they start out chasing you also , unlike player ships that slowly gain speed . Leveling I pick and choose Skeleton ships due to Navy and Eitc being so out of line ! Land AI : Other then the grenadiers having a faster reloading time then mine since they botched our grenades I don't see any Issues , Aggro has been an on going Issue , either none attack or 10 attack ye ! lol
 
I agree with Eric and Thunder here.
A Bulwark cruising at instant sloop speed from a standstill is a bit silly. Actually, it's hysterical to watch, as the bumbling ol' tub o' wood suddenly rockets past you as if pulled by a heard of sharks.
Grenadiers and Spineskulls toss grenades way to quickly as well, which is also amusing to watch, but not when being rained upon.
Something I definitely noticed lately are the sword swings the NPCs level against the pirates, at a distance of 50 paces or more, and manages to land the blow, even tho they are no where near you and not even facing you at the time of strike.
Now I'm not referring to the undead Spanish and French pirates, which of course, HELLOOOO, but the British and EITC, that can now strike you at significant distance, almost immediately after aggroing them at a decent range.
I personally feel that AI ships should sail as fast as the pirate ships, and AI foe need to have the same skill set as the players.
The faux enhancements to make the game more challenging are a bit silly.
 
I've noticed the pre hits as well from Navy / Eitc when I use throwing daggers , they get about half way to ya and they're already hitting you with a sword !! lol Either graphics are way off or they're learning from the French and spanish ! :pirate duel:
 
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