[http://sourceforge.net/p/ufoai/bugs/2382 Item 2382] imported from sourceforge.net tracker on 2013-01-28 19:30:37

The AI for aliens is too stupid for the current design of the Harvester. It is very very easy to "trap" all Aliens in 1 corner by simply placing 1 human near the front of the ship right next to it. All aliens in the Harvester then bunch up as close as possible to the strategically placed human, while all other humans circle around to the entrance and prepare for the soon commencing shooting gallery.

Either the AI needs to be made more intelligent (to make it realize it needs to leave at the back end to reach the humans at the front) or the Harvester needs to be remade to have also an entry/exit also at the front end (possibly an exit on lvl 2 to allow aliens to leave but not humans to enter).
===== Comments Ported from Sourceforge =====

====== stedevil (2010-03-05 13:19:17) ======

Real quick (and really really ugly) mockup of how it could look
====== stedevil (2010-03-05 13:20:18) ======

The "before" picture
====== stedevil (2010-03-05 13:22:15) ======

Pic of how easily AI is fooled
====== stedevil (2010-03-05 13:27:58) ======


====== stedevil (2010-03-05 13:29:43) ======

Added 4 pics, 2 showing how easy it is to bunch up the aliens for the easy slaughter and the other 2 a before and after for a possibility for the AIs to reach/shoot/kill the humans getting too close instead of just staring at the wall.
====== harper47 (2010-03-15 12:52:23) ======

Noticed the same thing: aliens simply won't leave harvester and tend to gather in groups to the position of the nearest human. This bug is applicable only to intact harvester missions (terror attacks), in "shot down" missions aliens ai is working fine.
====== stedevil (2010-03-15 13:12:20) ======

BTW another suggestion for where to open up 2nd level exits in the Harvester would be above the "wings" area. That would allow the aliens to walk around on the wings as well, making the AIs options quite a bit more numerous in how to get to/fire at the enemy.

I guess some quick modding and playtesting what works best should be done before the model is actually remade. :)
====== aduke1 (2010-03-16 22:57:41) ======

This is not really a 'bug'. But I can confirm that this behaviour is the outcome of the current AI code.
Teaching the AI that 'closing in' on a target can involve moving away from it is not too difficult, but can be *really* costly cpu-wise. Atm we are trying to speed up AI to solve some other problems, so we will definitely not see a solution for this prob in 2.3 :(
Thus prio = 4.

Also, 'leave-the-ship-at-all-costs' (and run into reaction fire) doesn't seem to be a clever tactic for the aliens...
I'm open for suggestions ;)

@stedevil :
The 'walking on wings'-workaround is clever :) But check if they can also jump off the wing (height). If not, I'd suppose them to step out, shoot and walk back in (to hide). *Very* hard to cope with...would probably require a redesign of the map.
====== stedevil (2010-03-18 01:22:33) ======

patch for farm harvester with "wing exits"
====== stedevil (2010-03-18 01:27:05) ======

Ok, made some cutting and pasting for a simple implementation of the wing escape hatches.

Didn't bother with "jumping off the wings" yet. Also, couldn't make up my mind if the exit doors should be visible from lvl 1 or lvl 2 (1 of each). Comments on what is best appreciated.

Also, didnt verify how AI behaves, maybe it's still ogling the walls most of the time.

PS Should this discussion be on the forums instead?
====== aduke1 (2010-03-18 23:12:38) ======

It's always better to have a working solution before going to the forums ;)
You should play that mission with the hatches a couple of times and check if AI behaves better.

Another solution that came to my mind is to simply turn the whole harvester by 180 degrees. That should solve the AI prob, but I fear that could also change the 'character' of the map. Not sure. You may want to try that as well.
====== aduke1 (2012-10-01 00:27:57.346000) ======

- **milestone**: 2.3 --> 2.3.x