I propose introducing three additions to the current squad management both for the increased quality of life improvements and increased utility of AI squadmates:
Quick change binds to a specific squad member.
I get we have the wheel but why can’t we bind quick change to a dedicated button? It should be rudimentary to implement and on occasion life saving. I want my AT soldier - shift 1, for example. My assaulter? Shift 2. Nothing unreasonable for PC gaming.
Order your squad to face a direction and get in cover.
How often have you ordered your squad to “hold” and most of them are looking at walls, at the ceiling or at the moon? Now imagine digging a trench or placing some sandbags and ordering them to hold and brace while paying attention in front. And they actually take cover behind it and face the assigned direction. Not run 5m in front of the entrenchment, dance a little jig and then face towards you - ass towards the enemy.
Anyone who played something like Conqueror’s Blade with get an idea what I’m talking about.
Quick orders for AI engineer squamates to build a structure.
Why can’t I enter the same place structure mode as if I’m holding a hammer and use it to order a squadmate to place an ammo box for example? It still requires your soldier to mosey to the object and hammer it down but it saves you the time to change, orient yourself, build, change, reorient and so on. Ad nauseum.
They still do. For a second or two. And for the low, low price of annoying my bombers by binding spot enemies to my mouse left click.
I’d still think they’re capable of HOLDING a direction for longer than seconds. Get them some ritalin, some counseling. Perhaps a perk to help combat the ADHD of bots?
Well mine have the attention span of a gold fish, they just go back to searching for cockroaches’.
And as for staying in cover, what a joke, set them a spot they all go, then move out of cover, even went as far to build a bot his own sandbag once, after he stopped moving, to build it, then have him more out of cover after i built it.
I agree, and have suggested such in the past as well. I’d also like to note that I think you should be able to tell your troops to use a MG nest. Now before you think “this would be OP”, consider it still takes them a moment to acquire their target, and have limited range when using it. On top of this, if they fixed smoke to make sure AI couldn’t shoot through it, it would be reasonably countered.
One of my biggest issues is trying them to cover me while I put in fortifications. Even when I put a MG nest up, there is no indicator for teammates to see it and jump on it, so I usually can’t get support from that either.
Digging your trench and trying to fit your squad in it after is a problem, so i order them to go there, they take position, and then i dig at their feet so they’re in cover
In all fairness it would be either overpowered or completely ineffective. I live and die by my emplaced machineguns in more games than I’d care to admit but quite often that involves shooting blindly and fishing for enemies that I can’t actually see. Firing in the general direction of distant muzzle flashes most often. I don’t see bots being effective past 50m on those things, and at that range they might as well be sitting ducks.
Perfectly valid as an option and something you would expect to be in the game regardless.
Totally unnecessary. AI is not for anything other than fast respawn. It doesn’t matter how much you try to improve them, they’ll still be a stupid ass cannon fodder. It doesn’t matter if they are looking at the wall or the enemy, they can only shoot something within about 10m.
Consider it this way - the AI squad is literally the only gimmick this game has going for it, it would require half an hour for anyone to implement it as all the functions are already in the game and it would look less silly than it currently does.
And if by miracle and by sheer chance, someone, anyone, enters those 10m the AI soldiers will at least die facing them rather than showing off their backside while admiring the ceiling.
Jokes aside they might even provide some defense in CQC against flankers, roamers or paratroopers. Entering a chokepoint that’s covered by 5-8 bots armed with automatics and already braced and primed should be at least unpleasant.
They worked fine in 2021, but then people cry they get shot a 100m, and they couldn’t zerg, so dull it down to 10m, now look at game.
Esp, in Pacific
Had going for it, yes it was what attracted me to game, with the squad bots, what was it. medal of Honor/brothers in arms, sort of game play i thought it be.
against real players with there bots, not just full bot squads.
also, the bots always suddenly put a foot on your buildings while you not yet finished…and when you want them to follow up instantly, they choose to wait, get confused or stuck in some places
Easy red still exist so the statement is wrong also.
People dont play this game because of ai squad.
If this was the case easy red games would have seen record number of players and brothers in arms seriies wouldnt have died years ago.
People play it because its f2p, thats about it.
Even if you deleted all ai soldiers lot of people would still play.
I’m not going to presume for everyone but I absolutely got this game because of the AI squads and the somewhat realistic (but not too realistic) mechanics grounded in history. Also that was and still is 99.9.9% of their advertisement.
Bots that are at best a fast respawn and at usual completely worthless, halfbaked and free kills; and the intentionally automatics heavy meta that favors having the more the merrier of said weapon types, usually of the paid premium variety so everyone who’s willing to dish out cash on some can immediately feel, and perform better instead of actually learning to aim and improving at the game is not something that attracted me. It’s making me uninstall again and cautiously give it another shot in a couple of years time. If ever. But I’m far too cynical to assume they’ll “fix” their business model. What I am is slightly hopeful that they can at least jury-rig the selling point of their game to not be a bad joke.
What it’s not making me do is to continue playing with the same bare-bones features, the same bugs and the same half-assed approach to development to everything that’s not an immediate monetary return.
I’ve no problem with the devs earning a living and even prospering. What’s more, I’m all for it. Just, at least, show us that you’re doing something to fix your shit. If your main distinction from all of your competition are the AI squadmates, and it basically is, make that a showpiece and a point of pride. Again, don’t keep it a bad joke.
Team Fortress, the many iterations of Counter Strike; oh, so, many mods and iterations of Armed Assault, private server or otherwise, Planetside 2 and more. Just to name a few completely free or f2p shooters that objectively do quite a few things better.
I’d simply like this game to get better. Even in small, reasonable steps, at least.
