Enemy/Squad AI

[deded999]

Next-generation gaming technology applied to a cutting-edge futuristic first-person shooter. Designed from the ground up to take advantage of next generation hardware. Prepare to be blown away by stunning visuals, hyper-intelligent AI, and realistic physics for a varied and immersive gameplay experience.

I wonder how they'll handle the squad? Lose 'em and you get your butt handed to you, or you can heal them or something? I would presume the latter as in co-op you can usually bring dead mates back as long as some of the squad survive. There's an opportunity there for some good ideas maybe.

The early reports suggest enemy AI will use squad techniques against you too. Anyone got some good examples of enemy AI in other games? None immediately spring to my mind. Often it's about the impression you have of the AI rather than their tactical genius, (Halo's chattering monkey-creatures): I remember the enemies in TS2 leaping across doorways and firing in mid-air - very impressive although probably not particularly advanced as AI goes.

[fallenshad0w]

Hmmm well, ts was all about them mobing you with no tactics what so ever, apart from the occasional posistioned sniper, which was fun because all u ad to do was bring out a minigun and mow them all down and 10 secs later they respawn and u do it all again http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif the tactics thing will be annoying because, u'll have to use tactics against them instead of charging wildly and im not very good at that

[deded999]

You could still try charging wildly... http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif

I know what you mean, but fewer-but-meaner enemies is far more interesting; doesn't mean there won't be plenty of cannon-fodder about for that kind of thing, but a tight battle against an enemy you've learned through bitter experience to respect will be far more entertaining in the long run, especially when you wipe the floor with em!

Far Cry had some pretty good AI going on, (although it could also be dumb on occasion). Knowing that a straight fight could end up with you dead-meat means more tense battles and more ingenuity and cleverness come into your game, although I hope stealth /shiver/ isn't going to rear it's ugly head too much. It's sooooo last-gen http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

[SlantingYeti]

I hope the Team AI is as detailed in this game as it was in Republic commando

[deded999]

The game will make use of squad mechanics and there will often be more than one of you at once. At the start of the level, we flew down on a drop ship. The squad mechanics are comparable to that of Republic Commando. The position of each of your squad members was located was represented by arrows on the side of the screen.

PALGN Preview (http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=4580)

There ya go. So presumably Republic Commando had a fairly decent squad control system then? I've never played a FPS with squad control, maybe you can enlighten us on the play mechanics...

[SteamBot]

Well the current trend for squad control is to have context sensitive commands that you can give your teammates, by pointing at a location and choosing options such as Defend, Attack, Flank, Grenade etc. If you've got a good PC, try downloading the SWAT 4 demo, which hasn't quite advanced commence to offer depending on the context.

For Haze, I don't actually care if you have control over a squad or not, I just like the idea that you're moving with groups of marines/rebels.

[BAdaSSCyb0rg]

Yeh, would be nice to order them to heal you or something like in Black hawk down, thats fun

[deded999]

Thanks for the tip Steambot. I have played FSW, so I have an idea how it could work, although that game was built around squad-play and isn't strictly speaking FPS. I may try that SWAT demo out...

[SteamBot]

The FSW thing sounds similar to the SWAT 4 one, but I recommend SWAT 4 anyway. Irrational Games does great work (looking forward to Bioshock on PC and Xbox 360 - as well as un unannounced more traditional console FPS!

Anyway, I was under the impression Haze will be built around squad play. Although I hope it's more like the scenes in Halo when you encounter marines; you work with them but you don't directly order them.

[deded999]

My (early) impression is that squad-play will be a large part of the game, but I doubt it will be there all the time.

[LeadSquirrel]

I'm hoping there isn't much squad gameplay. I prefer to go solo.

Got enough Team work done in Call of Duty. Even though they always told me to do all the hard work.
"Davies, go take down those machine guns! We'll be over here resting!"

[deded999]

Playstation Europe PS3 stated Haze had 'top-class artificial intelligence' in their E3 preview - that's quite a statement. AI is usually a fairly invisible aspect of gameplay, especially during a mid-E3 first play; the AI in the demo must have really impressed for them (and others) to praise it so highly.

My biggest wish for the friendly AI is that they don't end up jumping in front of you while you're shooting - they find a firing spot and don't block yours. This is so annoying and very unrealistic, not to mention suicidal for you or your team-mates. Real soldiers wouldn't do this, or anyone with combat experience. I noticed it occurring in a Resistance: FOM movie and wasn't impressed.

[fallenshad0w]

lol the amount of times thats happened in other games... very funny when it happens untill u realise u have to restart the level becasue of it oh well im sure they'll think of somthing to stop that from happening

[BAdaSSCyb0rg]

Originally posted by deded999:
My biggest wish for the friendly AI is that they don't end up jumping in front of you while you're shooting - they find a firing spot and don't block yours. This is so annoying and very unrealistic, not to mention suicidal for you or your team-mates. Real soldiers wouldn't do this, or anyone with combat experience. I noticed it occurring in a Resistance: FOM movie and wasn't impressed.

Heh, you get that problem on Co-op aswell, you just dont realised what your doing till your dead

[deded999]

Heh, I meant the squad AI in SP actually, but yeah it can be annoying, (but funny!) in co-op too. Depends on your mates then though doesn't it?

[fallenshad0w]

yeh me and badass usually have some arguement about standing infront of each other... although we quite often plan whos going to do what... by doing that we managed to do siberia-planet-x on hard fist timeeach level... with the exception of chicago which it took us about 4 times to kill the boss...

[TheEvilEye1919]

im guessing it will be very much like it was in Republic Commando, in that they go around with you and are fully self reliant, but you have the ability to give them commands when you want to or it is necessary.
any of you who havent played RC and therefore dont know what the system was like, i highly advise you to either play the demo, or "procure" a copy of the game http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[deded999]

The PALGN Preview (above) said it worked like RC. Thanks for the description EvilEye, I wondered how that worked. Sounds like a good system - you don't have to use them if you don't want to, but can if you need to. Cool. But how did it work with the squad members dying or getting wounded for instance?

Speaking of the AI, anyone watched the FRD interview yet? The link is on the UK Previews sticky, and there's quite a bit about the AI from Dave Doak, ('probably our secret weapon is AI'), which sounds like it could be revolutionary, (especially bearing in mind the early previews), although with AI the proof is always in the pudding.

He also says the game willl be slower than TS, although if the AI is as strong as it seems, and with squad-play in there, this sounds more like a reduction in tempo due to tactical challenges rather than the speed of movement or game-engine. Vehicles were also mentioned.

The scriptwriter is very animated, looks like he's really into it http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_cool.gif He mentions that the 'Nectar' combat-stimulant is not only part of the story, but part of the gameplay as well - perhaps something like the Bio-Mods in Deus Ex? The story sounds like a major part of the game, as suspected, with emotional reactions (of all kinds) from the enemy, (civilians?) and presumably your own men. This would presumably be part of the AI - perhaps morale will play a part, and you may be able to terrorise or influence the enemy in some way, as Kojima has also discussed for MGS4. This just went from Hot! to Boiling! http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif

[TheEvilEye1919]

The PALGN Preview (above) said it worked like RC. Thanks for the description EvilEye, I wondered how that worked. Sounds like a good system - you don't have to use them if you don't want to, but can if you need to. Cool. But how did it work with the squad members dying or getting wounded for instance?

in RC, if an enemy was incapacitated then there are 3 options: go revive him with this funky device (sorta like the electric pads in hospitals), order a squad member to do it, or leave him and when another squad member deems it safe, usually when most enemies in the immediate area are dead, then they will automatically go to revive him. if you are incapacitated, then you have order options, that you can choose for several seconds before you go unconcious, order them to help you, order them to clear the area first, order them to leave you until there is no threat. if you dont order then they will go into auto and come when its safe.
noone "dies" as such, unless you all get incapacitated. in that case noone can heal you, so you die.

note: the reviving process doesnt heal you much, so its not as if you come back fighting fit. after revival you need to get yourself fixed up.

[deded999]

Thanks for that. Sounds practical I guess.

According to the Edge preview, (issue 164), the squad is controlled by a 'smart reticule-based command system.'

[urowned]

u wanna now about the ai?? heres an exclusive you ned to see

http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=506&s=l

dave doak talks about somie cool ideas about what ahpeens in thwe ai

[deded999]

From the OPSM2 UK preview:


The shooting seems very solid... with a hugely intuitive system used to order your squad-mates around (either individually or as a team)

[deded999]

From the PSM2 (#77 UK) article:

The commmand system for friendly-AI seems to be well-designed and intuative: The D-pad is used in a double-tap system, with the first tap selecting all troops (up), Squaddie 1 (right) 2 (down) and 3 (left). A second tap will then order the selected troop(s) to either Attack (up) Cover Me (right) Retreat (down) or Go over there (left), this last presumably in concert with a look direction. In which case it's simplicity itself to order all troops to attack with a double-tap of UP for instance. Apparently squaddie positions are represented by coloured indicators 'which float above your target reticule'. I would imagine this system would become second nature very quickly.

The squad itself will have their personalities emphasised in order to make you care about individuals. However:


When someone dies in Haze, they stay dead, increasing your sense of responsibility and attachment to the team. It will be possible to kill team-mates yourself, but only through gross negligence, not by them accidentally strolling into your line of fire

You can recruit new troops though.

A final word on the AI:


Previous AI has been a means to facilitate scripted events, but this AI is a means for the character to script their own events.

[Fates.Dark.Hand]

Great Vid thanks!

This is Definatly going to raise the bar of Next Genaration FPS with the new AI system http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/25.gif

[deded999]

From the OPSM2 article (#75 UK):


Everyone knows that ordering around your colleagues in squad-based shooters usually ends up being a bit of a ball-ache. But Haze has got one of the best (read: simplest) systems we've seen. The orders are largely as expected - 'on me', 'suppress' and so on - but change according to context. What's really cool is the flexibility. Using a colour-coded system (and a menu overlaid on the screen) you can either instruct individual soldiers or issue one order to the entire squad. It's like a hybrid of Freedom Fighters and Rainbow Six, ans should enable you to mow down hostiles with consummate ease. Should.

As should be expected from FRD, the control system is sounding excellent.