Yeah, yeah, these sorts of topics are rampant, and they often times just go along the lines of “Just make the AI better”. I’m not here to do that.
First of all, I’m not a game dev, so I don’t know how exactly AI work, but I’m here to provide suggestions that to my knowledge aren’t overly complex.
I’ll start with an issue I find most annoying - movement.
The AI follow the human leader no matter what, which often leads to them just standing out in the middle of nowhere, or at most sidestepping while firing back at the enemy (usually to little effect). This leads to the rather premature deaths of your squad members, which is annoying to say the least.
Now, as to fixing this, I have a couple of ideas. Firstly, I believe a cover system should be implemented. Squadmates, upon being fired upon, will spot the enemy and move towards chest high cover. If chest high cover is not found, they will crouch behind knee-high cover. This should be done irrespective of the Player’s position (Unless the player runs too far away, in which case the squadmates should pursue). This could also be done with spotting marks, so that when the player spots enemies, the squadmates will prepare to engage targets in that direction. Additionally, if a player is on/around a point, the squadmates should automatically find cover and face the direction of the enemy spawn/next enemy point (Working for both assaulting and defending sides, cancelled when directly ordered to change position/perform any other action).
Next, something that everyone playing this game has experienced at some point - 180 quick-scopes
While they’re not exactly unrealistic, they certainly are annoying. A skilled player doing that is mighty impressive, but when the AI just decides that it wants to become the superior inorganic life form… It ain’t fun. In it’s current form it appears that once you fire at a bot that’s turned around, the AI has immediately spotted you, even without turning around. I suggest implementing a slightly random delay (maybe 0.5-1.5 sec) after the AI has turned more than, say, 120 degrees. Could help ease the frustration, without making the AI completely useless.
Thirdly, I shall discuss quality of life improvements. I believe a separate kill feed should be made for your squadmates, perhaps in the upper left corner, so it’s easier to know when your squad is being absolutely slaughtered. Additionally, it would be nice if units with more than 1 first aid kit could automatically heal and revive the player (Perhaps as a switchable option, or even a perk)
That’s my 2 cents on what the behaviour of AI should be like. I’m open to discussion.