I'd like to see the AI break off when they are out of ammunition. Some amount of inherent survival instinct would be good too "...Oh, look Ma, no wings...hmmm time to head back to the aerodrome".

My bloody arms were dropping off this morning as I tried and tried again to get my attendant 'sightseers' to earn their corn and follow instructions but they steadfastly ignored the balloon and armed convoy. With this bunch of loafers I didn't fancy taking on approaching E/A so beat it back to base. Result: 1 ballon. Poor return for a five plane sortie.

OK, calmed down and had a nights sleep.

I'm wondering if it's my fault and there's something I'm not doing correctly when I try to "manage" my flight-but I don't think so.

I have the default "k" key as well as a button on my joystick programmed to tell my wingmen to attack. I've gone to the external plane view and I can see "me" waving and pointing at the enemy targets but they don't do diddly. I've tried slowing WAAAY down so my wingmen are in my back pocket and are close enough to "see" me-doesn't seem to matter...

Has anyone had success getting wingmen to follow commands?

1. Able to turn horizontally without losing altitude
2. Able to turn near maximum turn rate (current AI don't).
3. Able to dive at a target
4. Better at shooting from the rear hemisphere than from the front hemisphere
5. Natural deflection shooting - no more banking the wings 110 degrees and pushing negative g's for a shot
6. Actually respond to orders to engage, etc.
7. Correct tactics for different aircraft, e.g. hit and run with Spad, etc.
8. Self-preservation, i.e. will not engage 4vs1 if there's an option to run for it.
9. Greater variety of defensive tactics besides spiraling earthward
10. Cooperative tactics

Honestly, over the years I've noticed in many sims, including RoF but PARTICULARLY in Il-2, you have useless wingmen. You get attacked? They don't care. They'll go off on their own and attack whatever.
HOWEVER, once you get on someone's six and are laying into them? Guess who shows up, almost colliding with YOU as they steal your kill from under your nose???
I would have 2x as many kills in the average Il-2 mission if I didn't have wingmen stealing them from me. Of course, they always show up AFTER I've put dozens of rounds in. So I waste 2/3 of my ammo load shooting up planes I don't get to take down.



The Jedi Master

Less precision in coordinating turns.

A lot of problems with the AI in gunnery, flying, etc. would be solved if they weren't such perfectionists at keeping the ball centered.

If you haven't seen it yet HERE ...

So all our hypothesizing, and theoretical solutions, are likely for naught and we will be left with the warts and syphilis of our current opponents and enemy. This is disappointing given the high fidelity of most other aspects of the sim.

I think I recognize people from this community who used to fly (may still do...) First Eagles (FE) by Thirdwire. While the flight models and physics engine of that 'simlight' do not approach RoF, I have to say that FE's AI (both your wing men and hostiles) at least give you a very realistic fight. The AI does as commanded, the opponents try to energy manage, etc.

I think it all comes down to the programming foundation that was established and whether the soul and determination is there to make a better AI in RoF.
Is it too late to make a silk purse out of the sow's ear?

If funding is the issue, why not work towards RoF II, which could correct the AI foundation and could include a channel map for $xx.xx. Given the vocal support for funding continued development, I do not see why this wouldn't be successful.

Il-2 had terrible AI until the 4.11 patch. Now it's tons of fun to fight the AI. If a few guys working for free could turn something so bad into something so good, I don't see why the same couldn't happen for RoF. The first thing is to incorporate Criquet's changes into the default game.

I fly with Criquet's mod, while there is a slight improvement, it isn't much at this time. Just an opinion, but it looks like the problem lies a bit deeper than the files we have access to.

I'll try to find the thread that explains how the AI are tasked within a mission, and this explains a lot about why they behave so strangely in many contexts.
I'm sure Pat can chime in to verify given his knowledge of mission generation.

I fly with Criquet's mod, while there is a slight improvement, it isn't much at this time.

Ditto. If you're into flying Mods On, this one's a must. While it's far from perfect, it does make the rear gunner AI a little easier to deal with and the scout AI flies a good bit better. I was actually able to down a DFW CV in my new 8 RNAS Career in a Sopwith Pup, while taking no damage from the rear gunner! I dove in from above, making my profile move constantly from the gunner's point of view, leveled out about 150 yards behind the enemy aircraft, lead, and shot, and wound up flaming the engine. The gunner's shots were close, but it was far more realistic than the previous sniping-the-pilot-no-matter-how-perfect-the-attack-is AI.

The main thing that bothers me about the AI isn't the enemy. It's when I lead a flight, and my wingman(men) will go running off after the first enemy aircraft they see regardless of whether or not I gave the order to attack. I have to fire a flare telling them to maintain formation and cover me to get them to return. And this doesn't happen just once per sortie. They'll take it upon themselves to attack anything they see as many times per sortie as they spot something. It's unrealistic and very annoying.