AI threat awareness

[7thGalaxy]

I've noticed a few strange things playing CMSF2.  Don't get me wrong, it's great, and I think the game plays so much better than it used to regarding soldier behavior, but there are some oddities. 

Mostly noticed in scimitar light tanks.  Playing the 'Warriors in the Sand' campaign. They're not great at reacting to threats.  Maybe they haven't noticed them?  They don't seem to pop smoke often at all - I had one with RPG rounds peppering around it and clanging off the slats, but they sat schtum.  Eventually one got them, and boom.  I'd expect to see some serious smoke popping and reversing behavior at this point.  Another one was being peppered by high caliber MG fire from a pickup.  It was penetrating.  Just sat there firing off rounds at the building I'd ordered it to pop some rounds into. I'd like to see a bit more skittish behavior from these lot, they're not tanks and shouldn't sit around soaking up fire in an ambush but move to cover if possible.  

(Yes, look after them better; not always possible, especially if hit by ambush.  They are designed to be mobile and use their mobility to survive though.)

I'd expect heavy incoming fire to break pre ordered targeting and for the unit to either engage the higher threat or pop smoke and retreat as quick as possible. 

I'm sure I've seen this behaviour in light vehicles, maybe its because the game isn't quite sure what the Scimitar is?  I'd rather it behave more like a scout car than a tank.  

 

[IICptMillerII]

8 hours ago, 7thGalaxy said:

They don't seem to pop smoke often at all

This is normal. For the most part, popping smoke is a voluntary act the player must commit. The only time a vehicle will do this on its own is if it takes a penetrating hit that causes damage, loses a crewman (such as an exposed vehicle commander that gets shot) or if the vehicle has a laser warning receiver (LWS) that triggers the vehicle to pop smoke and reverse. Otherwise it is up to the player to pop smoke and reverse the vehicle. 

8 hours ago, 7thGalaxy said:

Another one was being peppered by high caliber MG fire from a pickup.  It was penetrating.  Just sat there firing off rounds at the building I'd ordered it to pop some rounds into. I'd like to see a bit more skittish behavior from these lot, they're not tanks and shouldn't sit around soaking up fire in an ambush but move to cover if possible.  

That is definitely more of an anomaly. Usually, a unit will ignore a target command if it encounters a higher threat enemy. I and I'm sure many others have seen this happen plenty of times. Sometimes its not a good thing. For example, you might want a Bradley to continue putting suppressing fire into a building while infantry assault it, but the Bradley decides to engage a pop-up target instead, and the infantry start taking accurate fire in the open because of it. I don't think this is a bug at all. Warfare is messy and confusing, and nothing ever goes perfectly to plan. The best you can do is mitigate these risks.

8 hours ago, 7thGalaxy said:

I'm sure I've seen this behaviour in light vehicles, maybe its because the game isn't quite sure what the Scimitar is?  I'd rather it behave more like a scout car than a tank.  

Its possible, but the Scimitar is definitely more armored and armed than a humvee or a pickup truck. Overall I think it is working as designed.