Oolite Bulletins

I'll admit to having taken a rather long break from Oolite in favor of other things. Now that I'm back, I installed the latest version, and found some tasty graphical OXPs, but nothing that effected gameplay.

What I don't remember noticing before, was enemy NPC intelligence. I know the latest versions made NPC's a bit smarter, but I came across a truly dastardly enemy today.

I came across a pirate convoy engaging a lone Fer-De-Lance. I decided to help, and injected towards two pythons and a Krait. I had little trouble dispatching a python and the krait, but then I started taking serious hits to my shields. The remaining python proved to be one heck of a crafty opponent, and flew much better then the other pirates I had faced. He also seemed much more accurate with his laser.

So are there 'ace' pilots out there? Or am I imaging things and he just had a better laser then most pirates?

OneoftheLost wrote:

So are there 'ace' pilots out there? Or am I imaging things and he just had a better laser then most pirates?

Probably just coincidence. The AI quality goes from -5 to +10, with less than 5 being very straightforward "point nose roughly at target; hope their shields fail first" AIs, and less than 0 being even less sensible.

Without relevant OXPs the game engine shouldn't generate anyone [1] with an AI quality >= 5, which is the first threshold for enabling the skilled AI behaviours. If it was just aiming better than the other two ships, then maybe it had an AI quality in the 4-5 range, and the other two were both below zero?

[1] This is not entirely true: most miners have an AI quality from shipdata.plist of 8, which is duplicated by most shipset OXPs. But the miner AI doesn't let them attack anything other than rocks anyway.

1.77 has:

New combat behaviour and AI, including:

• More consistent missile explosion behaviour
• Smarter Thargoids
• Smarter use of turret weapons
• Better reactions against cloaked opponents
• Better reaction to deployment of Q-mines
• NPCs can now use side weapons
• NPC lasers now equivalent to player lasers in terms of rate of fire and overheating.

Edit: ninja'd by Cim ... If you want to see NPC AI cranked up, and meet a few real aces, try installing Cim's [wiki]Skilled NPCs OXP[/wiki] ...

<shameless plug>
Also take a look at my ToughGuys 4. This gives some pirates extra/upgraded equipment as well as a variety of skill levels from poor to very good. Traders and Hunters also get upgrades to level the playing field - pirates are more likely to be skillful (due to their experience as fighters) whereas traders (who want to survive!) are more likely to get extra defensive kit.
</shameless plug>

Disembodied wrote:

If you want to see NPC AI cranked up, and meet a few real aces, try installing Cim's [wiki]Skilled NPCs OXP[/wiki] ...

<nods> Also,  Fair Cobra III adds a touch more spice.