Add to Kaze's list:

-run in guns blazing when stealth is a better idea
-shoot me instead of the bad guys

And the number 1 stupid thing bots do:

-drive off in the damn Warthog that I just parked for a second while I went to get the rocket launcher. Bastards!

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Original post by Iron Chef Carnage Add to Kaze's list: -run in guns blazing when stealth is a better idea

yea, though to keep gameplay good having suicidal allies isnt necisarly a bad thing unless the player needs them(stupid half-life engineers)
though i have no idea how you would go about making allies that could fight but have a sence of self preservation.

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Original post by Kaze ...though i have no idea how you would go about making allies that could fight but have a sence of self preservation.

You could have a variable for the "aggressivenes" of NPC tactics which would be weighed by their health/morale status (I really enjoyed Relic's use of morale in Dawn of War).

[Edited by - TheWanderer on January 6, 2005 11:33:22 AM]

I've never played Dawn of War. Could you describe the system a little, TheWanderer?

One major problem in Star Wars: Battlefront is the AI. Now the AI isn't horrible for either side. But your AI can't win or even come close against the enemy AI. This deletes a lot of the gameplay. You always have to be the frontline soldier, taking out everyone, 1,2,3. I tried once to be a sniper and killed over 20, died 0 (even at the end, I just hid in a hut until all the control points were taken) and still lost by over 50. Lack of a self-supporting AI limits your ability to try new things.

I liked the Dynasty Warriors series because the self-sufficiency of my units was dependent upon the difficulty level. On easy, you could sit quietly in a corner and wait for your guys to win the level. They didn't always win, and you never got the points and upgrades you needed, but sometimes they could handle it without you. I liked to push through an enemy line and find that one or more of my AI allies had pushed through the other side and were giving the bad guys a real run for their money even before I showed up.

On hard, of course, you have to do everything yourself, but that's to be expected.

Basically Dawn of War's morale system worked like an extra HP bar for each squad of units. Certain types of weapons (flamethrowers, hero's skills, artillery, etc) would not necessarily be very damaging to the enemy's HP, but have a demoralizing effect. If the morale bar expires, the squad is "broken" and loses effectiveness in battle. You then have to move the squad out of combat, and wait for them to regenerate morale.