Hmm, some personal analysis, but no real evidence from myself. It would help if MS could have used correct terms instead of silly names!


evade_dodge_style_weight = waggle, 1.000000

The 'waggle' is just the name they've given to the quick bluff maneuver where a pilot quickly shifts from starboard - port yaw, or vice versa. The weight is what is called a 'fuzzy weight' in 3D engine terms - I doubt that editing this value would yield any real results.

evade_dodge_cone_angle = 90

Draw a cone of set size from the nose of any fighter craft, with the between angle of each of it's vertices and the nose as this value. This is the angle in which the fighter can either yaw or pitch in a random direction to avoid gunfire in either a 'waggle', simple evade 'slide' or 'turn' or even 'corkscrew' from. Change the value to something like 270, and the enemy may fling themselves through some crazy angles whilst evading !

evade_dodge_interval_time = 2

The interval between the beginning and the end of each dodge maneuver - how long it lasts in a specific measure. I reckon it's in seconds judging by the way that craft predictable move in FreeLancer. Look at it yourself, and you'll see what I mean.

evade_dodge_time = 4

The interval between dodge maneuvers whilst 'under attack'. You'll notice this sometimes, but it rarely comes into effect.

evade_dodge_distance = 200

How far the fighter will travel in a dodge maneuver in a specific measure. Most likely S per maneuver, where S is the arbitraty FreeLancer movement.

evade_activate_range = 300

The maximum range from attackers at which to perform a dodge maneuver.

evade_dodge_roll_angle = 0

The angle at which to roll to avoid fire during a dodge action. Apparently not used as it's set to 0.

evade_dodge_waggle_axis_cone_angle = 0

Similar to evade_dodge_cone_angle, only specific to a waggle action, perhaps a true/false parameter.

evade_dodge_slide_throttle = 0

Throttle used when sliding, likely a true/false parameter

evade_dodge_turn_throttle = 1

Throttle used when pitching or yawing, likely a true/false parameter

evade_dodge_corkscrew_turn_throttle = 0

I think we get the picture by now.

evade_dodge_corkscrew_roll_throttle = 0

And again.

evade_dodge_corkscrew_roll_flip_direction = False

Obviously a true/false parameter, in this instance the fighter will not roll in more than two axis at the same time. Setting to true could result in bugs.

evade_dodge_interval_time_variance_percent = 0.800000

Random variation in all time interval based calculations. This means there is a 80% maximum difference in the base times specified here and possibly also in hard code.


Some of these are right, others could be wrong. I'll leave the more knowledgeable to deduce that for themselves. Hope it helps.

The Ambershee

+++++++++MESSAGE ENDS+++++++++++

Sweet, it helps VERY much. I think the biggest factors in dodging effectiveness will be the evade_ cone and evade_distance factors. I'll try them out and see if it makes them work a little harder at living
Thanks!
Tred

More questions
They're moving a lot better now, but still slow and kinda dumb. Anyone know if I can use the afterburner lines from the evade_break section in the evade_dodge section? I think that would really spice things up a bit
Also, even applying Warzog's better AI, they still don't shoot missiles a lot. Missiles are good now, and everyone carries like 20, so I'd like to bump up their firing percentage chance on them. I can't find anything in the gunblock section about that though- is there anywhere else that controls how often they use missiles?
I'd especially like to be able to adjust missile vs guns by range, having them shoot missiles when beyond 200 and use guns below that.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Tred

here is my entry in the pilots_population.ini

[MissileBlock
nickname = missile_fbt_fast_a
missile_launch_interval_time = 8 <--- lowering this will make an NPC shoot faster
missile_launch_interval_variance_percent = 0.120000 <--- this one will allow the npc on how fast he change targets.
missile_launch_range = 1000
missile_launch_cone_angle = 20
missile_launch_allow_out_of_range = False

[Pilot
nickname = pilot_fbt_easy
gun_id = gun_military_ace_style_a
missile_id = missile_fbt_fast_a

i used this in my ship pack and it is hard with my type of missile...

---

a message from firebase...

---

Doh, I never even saw missileblock! Sorry for the stoopid question, and thanks for the smart answer

Thanks! I'm an idjit, never thought to search for missile block lol. These are some big ini's to scroll through....
I applied time changes to missile firing rates and they were throwin' like it was their last battle- which it was So that's good.
I'm still messing with evasion settings though. It seems they all use the same terms at the end of the lines in evasion blocks, like _cone_angle, etc. Does anyone know if you can borrow lines from one evasion block, like evade_break, and put them in another block, like evade_dodge, or buzz_head toward, as long as you preface the action parameter with the right words for the block? Example question, would putting the evade_break_afterburner_delay line in an evade_dodge block (if you made it evade_dodge_afterburner_delay) get NPC's to light up their burners when that block is activated? Or is it another place I need to look to get them to hit the gas?

[EvadeDodgeBlock
nickname = evade_dodge_fighter_style_a
evade_dodge_style_weight = waggle, 1.000000
evade_dodge_cone_angle = 120
evade_dodge_interval_time = 3
evade_dodge_time = 2
evade_dodge_distance = 200
evade_activate_range = 600
evade_dodge_roll_angle = 0
evade_dodge_waggle_axis_cone_angle = 0
evade_dodge_slide_throttle = 1
evade_dodge_turn_throttle = 1
evade_dodge_corkscrew_turn_throttle = 0
evade_dodge_corkscrew_roll_throttle = 0
evade_dodge_corkscrew_roll_flip_direction = False
evade_dodge_interval_time_variance_percent = 0.800000
evade_dodge_cone_angle_variance_percent = 0.500000
evade_dodge_direction_weight = left, 0.500000
evade_dodge_direction_weight = right, 0.500000

[EvadeBreakBlock
nickname = evade_break_fighter_style_a
evade_break_roll_throttle = 0.100000
evade_break_time = 3
evade_break_interval_time = 2.500000
evade_break_afterburner_delay = 1
evade_break_afterburner_delay_variance_percent = 0
evade_break_attempt_reverse_time = 0
evade_break_reverse_distance = 0
evade_break_turn_throttle = 1
evade_break_direction_weight = left, 1.000000
evade_break_direction_weight = right, 1.000000
evade_break_style_weight = sideways, 1.000000
evade_break_style_weight = outrun, .2000000

[BuzzHeadTowardBlock
nickname = buzz_head_toward_fighter_style_a
buzz_min_distance_to_head_toward = 500
buzz_min_distance_to_head_toward_variance_percent = 0.250000
buzz_max_time_to_head_away = 5
buzz_head_toward_engine_throttle = 0.800000
buzz_head_toward_turn_throttle = 1
buzz_head_toward_roll_throttle = 0
buzz_dodge_turn_throttle = 1
buzz_dodge_cone_angle = 20
buzz_dodge_cone_angle_variance_percent = 0.500000
buzz_dodge_waggle_axis_cone_angle = 0
buzz_dodge_roll_angle = 20
buzz_dodge_interval_time = 3
buzz_dodge_interval_time_variance_percent = 0.500000
buzz_head_toward_style_weight = straight_to, 1.000000

There's also 1 place, the Trail_Block, where they have a True statement for burners:
trail_break_afterburner = True

I know they lightemup when evade_break is triggered to escape from missiles, so I want them to do it on all manuevers, just at different time intervals and delays. Thanks for any help/thoughts/comments!
Tred