Hey all, I've posted on this subject in the past... a long-distance past lol. However, I do still wonder if HV's and SV's under AI control could ever be a thing. I can see the issues an AI might have navigating terrain in an HV might pose, however, an SV needn't care about such things. We already have CV's flying around on planets, but they're, well, a little quirky aren't they? I've loved seeing PV's battle it out in a certain game-start - likely my favourite vanilla start to date - however, they do exhibit some really odd behaviours! I've seen PV's zooming along at many times the max speed that should be obtainable. Travelling East to West (for example) in just moments before vanishing from site. I've seen PVs suddenly shoot UP at incredible speeds, vanishing from site soon after. I've also seen PV's just sat there, unmoving, for hours on end. Plus of course the classic stuck on terrain. I've also not seen a regular Patrol Vessel return to a repair pad in an age... I start to doubt my memory that they ever did at this point. Their AI doesn't really inspire confidence. I'd cite these as reasons that HV and SV under AI control hasn't even been attempted, at least not in something available to the public. We have Drones, with their fixed stats per model, but even they don't perform particularly well. Outside of glitches, they're about as good as they've ever been though, they don't seem to get stuck quite so often. Progress has been made, no doubt. For me, as a Solo player, being able to order around AI-controlled vessels, and of course have AI-controlled vessels opposing me, is a bit of a holy grail of a feature. I can see why an AI would be bad at terrain navigation but, for the sake of gameplay, have it cheat. Give it the ability to know the terrain, rather than simulate it having site, I suspect no one cares. It'd just look competent without the number crunching lol. Imagine having an AI-controlled HV accompanying you in your HV, following in a set formation. Then you face off against a group of Zirax HV's. I'm having Battlezone 2 vibes here, with allies following me into battle... Perhaps this is something for Empyrion 2, though I do wonder if a sequel game is planned... Do people think Empyrion would see a bit of a resurgence if there was a major feature update implementing AI for HV's and SV's? As well as perhaps for player CV's too? I'd love to jump to a new system, ordering a second (third, forth...) CV to follow me. Only possible if you have friends currently lol.
