AI in Singleplayer
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:32 pm
Since I hadn't tried the recent patches, I decided for a quick tour of the SP campaign. I'm finding the PB6 AI to be ridiculously tough though, for one particular mission (so far). Perhaps I missed something stupid as I haven't played in a year or two, but after 6 hours of re-running the thirty odd minutes of that mission, I have to call it a day.
I am talking about the mission where you recover the Padishah from the carrier wreckage. It is as far as I have been able to establish impossible to finish.
As you roll out of the dropship, you have very little time to set up. It's barely enough time to build roughly two to three guntowers in the bottleneck area, just above the 2nd scrap pool from your starting position. Alternatively, you get build around six to seven turrets. Take any more time and the Scions will have taken the Padishah beyond your reach. So assuming you wasted no time doing this, secured the crash site and made your tug cross the lava to pick up the wreck of the Padisha's hovercraft, you then have to deal with combat on 2 fronts.
First wave
Homebase: Some Sentries and a spot of Warriors.
Crash site: Some Sentries and a few Scouts.
This still feels normal. My tank and the wing I started out with take a bit of damage. Remember that I still had no time left to build a factory to support the crash site with better tanks, so I still have no more than my starting wing (1 Sabre, 1 Scout) to back me up. The turrets at the home base get a little shot up. If I had build Guntowers instead, they would of course still have been fine.
Second wave
Homebase: Pairs of Maulers and Titans and some Warriors.
Crash site: A section of 4 Warriors + a few Sentires seconds later.
The homebase takes a pounding, but usually still manages (with some notable losses, which would hit me harder if I had opted to build Guntowers instead). At the crash site the Warriors overwhelm me and my already shot up tank and scout. I lose the Tug.
Third wave
Home Base: Pairs of Maulers and Titans and some Warriors.
Crash site: At least one Mauler, possibly more, and more Warriors.
The Homebase sometimes survives if I, during combat, managed to send enough Turrets to the nav points at the bottleneck. Had I gone with Guntowers instead of Turrets, being completely unreplacable for me until I return to the base, they would usually be gone by now. At the crash site I was able to survive the second wave once by sniping a Warrior. That was really the most I could muster up, as the 3rd waves kills even my still fully working Warrior.
The base's defensive line is almost or completely gone, I have lost my 2nd scrap pool every singly time at this point. I still hold one, but by the time I manage to make it back to my base, the recycler is usually close to being destroyed. Either way, the Scions are free to pick up the Padishah at their leisure since the 2nd wave passed.
Third wave, alternative
If I build fewer defences at the home base and get the Tug ready sooner, I have usually a better chance at surviving the 1st wave, and manage to trick/cheat the game by pushing the Tug up the elevated area above the lava, right behind the Scion Base. The Scion units then get stuck trying to reach it, either near the front of the elevated area or within their own base (since my tug is so close to it). I think that is how I used to play this map twelve years ago, before I obtained any real skill and just kept on using exploits. It's the best shot I have at the tug surviving, but as I pointed out it comes at the cost of me getting my defenses in order. It is still the best run because the Tug survives, but the base gets it before wave 3.
~
The bottom line is that the game starts throwing a LOT of advanced units at me before I really become able to mount a proper defense. Maulers vs, at best, a spare Scout. If I forgo defense entirely, rush the factory tree and build some Sabres instead (I never get more than 2 scrap pools), I am usually not able to organise them fast enough from across the battlefield.
So either I am missing some in-the-face kind of aspect about this map, or the PB6 AI throws too much at me. Any clues?
I am talking about the mission where you recover the Padishah from the carrier wreckage. It is as far as I have been able to establish impossible to finish.
As you roll out of the dropship, you have very little time to set up. It's barely enough time to build roughly two to three guntowers in the bottleneck area, just above the 2nd scrap pool from your starting position. Alternatively, you get build around six to seven turrets. Take any more time and the Scions will have taken the Padishah beyond your reach. So assuming you wasted no time doing this, secured the crash site and made your tug cross the lava to pick up the wreck of the Padisha's hovercraft, you then have to deal with combat on 2 fronts.
First wave
Homebase: Some Sentries and a spot of Warriors.
Crash site: Some Sentries and a few Scouts.
This still feels normal. My tank and the wing I started out with take a bit of damage. Remember that I still had no time left to build a factory to support the crash site with better tanks, so I still have no more than my starting wing (1 Sabre, 1 Scout) to back me up. The turrets at the home base get a little shot up. If I had build Guntowers instead, they would of course still have been fine.
Second wave
Homebase: Pairs of Maulers and Titans and some Warriors.
Crash site: A section of 4 Warriors + a few Sentires seconds later.
The homebase takes a pounding, but usually still manages (with some notable losses, which would hit me harder if I had opted to build Guntowers instead). At the crash site the Warriors overwhelm me and my already shot up tank and scout. I lose the Tug.
Third wave
Home Base: Pairs of Maulers and Titans and some Warriors.
Crash site: At least one Mauler, possibly more, and more Warriors.
The Homebase sometimes survives if I, during combat, managed to send enough Turrets to the nav points at the bottleneck. Had I gone with Guntowers instead of Turrets, being completely unreplacable for me until I return to the base, they would usually be gone by now. At the crash site I was able to survive the second wave once by sniping a Warrior. That was really the most I could muster up, as the 3rd waves kills even my still fully working Warrior.
The base's defensive line is almost or completely gone, I have lost my 2nd scrap pool every singly time at this point. I still hold one, but by the time I manage to make it back to my base, the recycler is usually close to being destroyed. Either way, the Scions are free to pick up the Padishah at their leisure since the 2nd wave passed.
Third wave, alternative
If I build fewer defences at the home base and get the Tug ready sooner, I have usually a better chance at surviving the 1st wave, and manage to trick/cheat the game by pushing the Tug up the elevated area above the lava, right behind the Scion Base. The Scion units then get stuck trying to reach it, either near the front of the elevated area or within their own base (since my tug is so close to it). I think that is how I used to play this map twelve years ago, before I obtained any real skill and just kept on using exploits. It's the best shot I have at the tug surviving, but as I pointed out it comes at the cost of me getting my defenses in order. It is still the best run because the Tug survives, but the base gets it before wave 3.
~
The bottom line is that the game starts throwing a LOT of advanced units at me before I really become able to mount a proper defense. Maulers vs, at best, a spare Scout. If I forgo defense entirely, rush the factory tree and build some Sabres instead (I never get more than 2 scrap pools), I am usually not able to organise them fast enough from across the battlefield.
So either I am missing some in-the-face kind of aspect about this map, or the PB6 AI throws too much at me. Any clues?