Concerning Bots, they are way better than the average pug. So they are a welcome add. Maybe their tactical awareness and survival rates are not big, but neither are the random player ones. And at least you can COUNT on them to help you on objectives, or to kill stuff. In most of my Tier 4 games yesterday, bots were always on the middle of the eff table. Even in one game they were 2nd and 3rd after myself. The problem I see is that the waiting time for queues are still the same, the only difference is that you will have 6v6 instead of 3v3, or 12 v 12 instead of 8v8. But they are a welcomed addition.
Concerning the new capping bar. Well, it is too small. I play in full HD res so sometimes I didn’t noticed it.
The new tactical map looks is not much better than the previous one. In fact in some maps it is even worse. No matter how much you try, trying to compress a 3D environment in a 2D map will be difficult.
The new PvE scenario. Looks good, but at the end is a LRF fest. Also, I played it four times and I lost all the times in the last stage. No matter how much turrets you have, you need a lot of LRF firing at the transports to take them down.
So far nice patch. I expect the issue of bots being solved when more people join the game.
Bots can be as good as people (not the best people, but the average). Check DotA2’s bots. This game is pretty easy to write bots (relatively), as big part of being a good pilot is aiming, and that is one of the easiest things to do as a bot, especially with beam or very fast weapons (gauss with some tinkering -> dead interceptors everywhere). One other big part is dodging and positioning, that shouldn’t be TOO hard either (i had some fun with it). The only heavy part would be teamwork, when to go which beacon, what to do in a Recon match.
Bots can be as good as people (not the best people, but the average). Check DotA2’s bots. This game is pretty easy to write bots (relatively), as big part of being a good pilot is aiming, and that is one of the easiest things to do as a bot, especially with beam or very fast weapons (gauss with some tinkering -> dead interceptors everywhere). One other big part is dodging and positioning, that shouldn’t be TOO hard either (i had some fun with it). The only heavy part would be teamwork, when to go which beacon, what to do in a Recon match.
I don’t think it makes sense to compare this game with much bigger game titles. Just because some big company can create somewhat usable bots doesn’t mean this small shop can do it. This is a team game strategy, teamwork and communication is key. Having some mindless bots run in the enemy without thinking is worse than a human player.
So far I have never seen a human player run towards the enemy captain from the start with a frigate to give other team free kills. But I saw bots doing that.
This game mode is called PvP so there have to be only human players. Otherwise just drop the PvP and just call it skirmish. With the bots in ALL matches is that really how you want new players “learn” the game and then join Sector Conquest?
Has Sector Conquest bots? If not then there should be bots too let’s see how well that be received and fun it is.
So far I have never seen a human player run towards the enemy captain from the start with a frigate to give other team free kills. But I saw bots doing that.
Then you haven’t played enough. I’ve seen people in Tier 4 (thus, you are supposed to have some game knowledge) doing the most stupid things around. I’ve seen our captain in a covert ops running toward the enemy captain guns blazing to be killed instantly. I’ve seen people in a minotaur without auras, or spamming them like they were active modules. I’ve seen Tormentors with locked thermal phase shield, I’ve seen LRF Chirons spawn camping all day and get 0/2 in a whole game, I’ve been in domination games with 5 frigates of 8 players, all of them spawn camping for fear of being killed. I could keep saying this all the morning, but I suppose you already got my point.
After playing some games yesterday, I don’t find anything wrong about bots. They are better than the average player, and now games are more populated.
Maybe the random casual will take a step back and think about why is he doing worse than a bot in a random game… or maybe not.
You cannot make bots smart because they are bots. There has never ever been a game were bots are ever match the dumbest human player. So why mess up the game with this stupid junk?
I was in a 8v8 yesterday and the MVP on the enemy team was a bot (by quite a long way as well - i wish i took a screenshot)
So far I have never seen a human player run towards the enemy captain from the start with a frigate to give other team free kills.
When you are captain most of the time, you notice these things more and it this seems to happen every other match. Just yesterday (again) I thought I was getting rushed by bots and realised it was a human player in an engi thinking he was rambo. I killed him at least 7 times charging into me and I saw him die another 4-5 times from other players. Sure bots kind of mess up how cb recon works but there are definitely many players I would rather have replaced with bots in my games
I have one issue with the argument that bots are feeding… there are three bots on each side, and they are comparable in level and ships. Ergo, both teams are feeding equally in terms of bots, so they cancel out. If you are losing because “bots are feeding”, what that means is that other people in your team are feeding as well.
Having the bots makes games feel bigger, which is good.
Bigger games mean the waste of space Long Range Frigates have less of a negative impact, which is also good.
They do seem to make smart choices (sometimes), which is equally good.
However…
It is always 3 bots, no exceptions. I would like to be able to have games with no bots at all if there are enough players in queue.
It is unclear what their actual capabilities are; even their premium ships are listed as being “1/9 Synergy”.
They feed, constantly and without exception.
Actually, in my games yesterday, I liked the bots in one way: They made games definitely more lively. Also, they really do go for the objective. Especially on beacon maps, this comes in handy. And, finally, the bots are often much better than human players. It is sad, but that’s what I was able to observe in yesterday’s games. So I’d say, keep them.
Completely agree with thees 2 posts.
I like bots too…
In T5 battle are more inberesting now and even better balanced…I like the idea of kinda strategical use of bots in battle. And tbh they r great for completing contarcts and collecting vouchers too. Some adustments as Jasan said woud be great either
I just hope they spend the time and resources to change the gameplay to make it more attractive for new players and do not use DEVs to make the “smartest” bots. That would be a trade-off really stupid. This game needs some serious changes if want to be viable in the long term.
Ok it seems that people are loosing scope with the issue of the bots.
For what I could imagine, bots were introduced to test more MM stuff, and to populate high tiers, because servers are still not ready for a massive influx of players which will produce the game release and advertisement.
Once the players are here (if they ever release the game and get new servers…) the bots won’t be needed.
If you don’t want to play with bots, just play low tiers. There you have enough players to fill 12v12 games without bots.
But what is most funny of all, is that if you remove the (bot) tag and just implement a name algorithm with the typical teen tags “Sniper, naruto, death, killer, snake, viper” etc etc… nobody will ever notice that you have bots in the game. And most likely some of the bots would even get +1 for their performance!
Ok it seems that people are loosing scope with the issue of the bots.
For what I could imagine, bots were introduced to test more MM stuff, and to populate high tiers, because servers are still not ready for a massive influx of players which will produce the game release and advertisement.
Once the players are here (if they ever release the game and get new servers…) the bots won’t be needed.
If you don’t want to play with bots, just play low tiers. There you have enough players to fill 12v12 games without bots.
But what is most funny of all, is that if you remove the (bot) tag and just implement a name algorithm with the typical teen tags “Sniper, naruto, death, killer, snake, viper” etc etc… nobody will ever notice that you have bots in the game. And most likely some of the bots would even get +1 for their performance!
The bots are essential in small games. This game is flat out crap in small (4v4) matches. In my opinion, Star Conflict simply does not work with less than eight players aside. That would be my first change - Use bots to push all games to 8v8 minimum.
Every game I flew in was Tier 3, and every game had T2 bots. The Bots should be flying tier-appropriate ships.
The bots need better spatial awareness. The constant feeding does mean there is a perpetual brawl in the middle, but it does not necessarily do anything productive. I would like to see something like in StarCraft 2 where the AI will act on a plan and tell you about it. For example, if the AI wants to capture Beacon A it won’t fly off alone; it will ping the beacon and give a message saying something like “(bot) Alice is preparing to attack Beacon A”. This would give the rest of the team a chance to plan around this action. Other AI could be programmed so that they will automatically move to support their “leader”, making the bots a 3-man squad that support each other.
As I said before, Bots should not be mandatory. I played quite a few 15v15 with 3 bots on each team; they could easily have been dropped and the game made a 12v12 instead.
Give the Bots survival instincts. Have Bots try to disengage once in a while, especially the interceptors. Recons should microwarp away if injured; CovOps and Tacklers should pop their stealth tech and flee toward the nearest source of healing (or just back toward spawn so their shields recharge). Bigger ships could simply back away and try to break line of sight.
But what is most funny of all, is that if you remove the (bot) tag and just implement a name algorithm with the typical teen tags “Sniper, naruto, death, killer, snake, viper” etc etc… nobody will ever notice that you have bots in the game. And most likely some of the bots would even get +1 for their performance!
This. I saw that in my games as well. Which means the bots aren’t the worst thing to happen to a match. They just don’t survive fire like a human, but go for objectives like your average player. I’m not talking about Pros, it’s obvius, that a bot can’t compete with a pro on the current implemented level.
They sure make the games more lively and fun. 3vs3 is no fun, with bots to fill up the ranks, i had more fun.
I don’t understand why some players are against the Bots. Actually, the Bots are improving the Dynamics in game and add some Random event during a battle and it’s good for the game.
Bots are breaking the linearity of some game by doing “Suicidal move” and it’s fun.
They are playing the objective (or at least they try xD), they are helping other players, and even more important, they are not playing for SKILL RATING !
Of Course, the AI need some improvments especially the LRF bot ( because “CHARGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” with a Templar AE equiped with Beam Cannon is not the best idea for a bot)
So yes, Bots in PvP is a good idea which need to be analyzed more.
@Sounds and Animations
Thanks for the new “Phase Shield Sound”
Thanks for the New EM torpedo Animation
Thanks for the “Next beacon Timer”
Guided Torpedo : I really don’t like the animation change on the Guided Torpedo, it’s actually to Sneaky and promote hard Camping with Jericho LRF.
Considering the Amount of Guards (Correctly played), and even more the amount of AMS (even lower than the amount of Guard)
We have something nearly Invisible, Able to choose a target without locking it, With High Dammages (+ Annoying AoE), add the Glorious LRF spam and we have something a bit imbalanced
Giving each bot a personality could be a fun idea. Examples:
James is defensive. He flies Frigates primarily (usually Empire Engineers) and tends to stay close to the captain in CR, or try to guard beacons in other modes.
Mary is an opportunist. She likes to stay close to other ships and attack their chosen target. If alone, Mary will flee to her allies. She likes Recons, ECM and Tacklers.
Ivan is crazy. He usually flies a Gunship or Covops. Once he picks a target he never let’s up; he’ll hound them until they die or he does! His flying style gets him into trouble a lot, but he always flies powerful ships and uses Mk 4 modules.
Alice is always looking for a sneaky capture. She likes to stay away from big fights and strike at undefended objectives. She also tries to get behind the enemy and kill their Long Range Frigates. In Beacon Capture, she’s usually on the next beacon before it goes live.
Guys, bots are great idea, and they are improving the game dynamics at high tiers, but they are not the solution, they are a temporary patch.
Don’t encourage the devs to work in something which is by definition a temporary patch. It is better they work towards more content, better server capacity and the final launch.
If the choice is between having (bot)Andrew and some moronic pug in a LRF on my side, I’m going with the bot. I want them to stay, at least until the LRF is removed from the game.
If the choice is between having (bot)Andrew and some moronic pug in a LRF on my side, I’m going with the bot. I want them to stay, at least until the LRF is removed from the game.
I can only say from the few games I played, it’s mayhem. Now strong players can dominate the field, and hardly any T3 match i saw had any kind of action-reaction in the team. Mostly flat wins or flat losses, depending on your team and the enemy. If we can let bots play, we for sure could also mix queues a bit more, to get those bigger games, imho.
However as a sidenote, there were hardly any stand-around games, since the bots will sooner or later engage. And that is fun.
Guided Torpedo : I really don’t like the animation change on the Guided Torpedo, it’s actually to Sneaky and promote hard Camping with Jericho LRF.
Considering the Amount of Guards (Correctly played), and even more the amount of AMS (even lower than the amount of Guard)
We have something nearly Invisible, Able to choose a target without locking it, With High Dammages (+ Annoying AoE), add the Glorious LRF spam and we have something a bit imbalanced
I personally want the torp back to the way it was before the graphical mess that it became. Because before this update it was a flying sun, now it’s a flying ninja, but back then it was a missile with a abnormally large trail and wasn’t so obvious that a blind man could see it.
If the choice is between having (bot)Andrew and some moronic pug in a LRF on my side, I’m going with the bot. I want them to stay, at least until the LRF is removed from the game.
