A.I. Fireteam Update Feedback

[OGBattlefield3Player]

Hey everyone, my friend and I played for about 2 hours last night and I just wanted to give some general feedback in regards to a few different aspects of the new update. Keep in mind I also play with an Xbox controller.

I just want to start out by saying the dev team is seriously doing an outstanding job at bringing the urban combat of Fallujah to life. I've been following you guys since the original announcement back in 2006 and I really can't believe that the game came back and this is what it's shaping up to be after all of this time. It's already one of the most immersive tactical shooters I've ever played and I haven't even tried the campaign yet! The opening cinematic/documentary brought me to tears the first time I saw it due to the way you've interwoven personal interviews with real footage of the Marines and ISIS. It both terrified me and left me in awe of what the Marines had to accomplish in their mission.

The new A.I. update has really breathed an even deeper sense of immersion into the game. As someone who is into gaming solo on occasion, playing this game by myself was already awesome but it felt like more of a "survive as long as possible because you'll inevitably get overrun" type of scenario. Now with the A.I. teammates this is no longer the case, I actually feel like I have a fighting chance. I'm so thrilled that true vision of the game is finally being showcased. It can only get greater from here on out and maybe at some point you'll even manage to bring back another gameplay element from your original vision, destruction! One can dream haha.

Speaking of the A.I., the biggest flaw I noticed with them was their willingness to stop in doorways and clog up stairwells. Keep in mind that I'm only a civilian but with enough research into history and global conflicts even the most casual person will understand that stopping in a doorway in an urban firefight is a death sentence. Now of course, scenarios like these do in fact happen even when playing with real players due the chaotic nature of the game but the resolutions are usually simpler and involve someone saying something like "Don't stop in the doorway!" just to light a fire up the person's ass who's causing the blockage.

At the moment, this isn't something that can be told to the A.I. nor do I think the player should have to be required to use a command like that. The A.I. should be programmed (easier said than done!) to act as close to real Marines as possible, to the point where a player could actually learn something about clearing a house from them. Hopefully in future update they will more efficiently sweep and clear a room and stop in the corners of the room rather than thresholds in-between the rooms.

Just as an example of something I ran into, there was a T shaped stairwell entrance to a rooftop. The bottom of the T was the stairwell leading up to a roof and the top of the T was two adjacent doorways facing each other inside the second floor of the house. I went up, cleared the roof and made my way back down the stairs, both A.I. Marines were standing at the bottom of the stairwell and both were somewhat clipping through each other and facing the right-hand doorway with the left-hand doorway to their backs. To me it would have made more sense if one Marine was in the room to the left and one to the right, keeping the stairwell clear for the player, until they are called upon to rally up.

Onto the second issue that I ran into. The Grenade button on controller! Now let me start by saying I really like that I actually have to take a grenade out of my vest before throwing it. It forces everyone to actually cover the grenade thrower which is exactly how it's done in real life!

But what I don't understand is why the smoke grenade comes before the frag/M203? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a frag grenade in a handy pouch that has easy access so it's the first one that you grab? I actually got killed as I was clearing a house because I thought I was reaching for a frag and pulled out red smoke.

Other than that the game performed flawlessly. I run it at max settings, 4K, 60fps on a 4090 with an I9 and 64GB of ram . The graphics are phenomenal. I'm honestly very surprised at how well you guys managed to make a procedural environment look THIS detailed. I also REALLY like how one A.I. Marine will branch off with me if I'm team leader. It makes them feel like they are actually paying attention to the scenario at hand and thinking things to themselves like "Can't let team lead go off by himself" rather than the A.I. just acting like a straight up bot like other games.

Keep up the great work guys! I'll definitely be stopping back here from time to time to give feedback.

[AmperCamper]

Firstly, thanks for all your comments! Six Days has been a long time coming, and we're just getting started with our Fireteam AI update.

We have a series of improvements coming to Fireteam AI behavior that should address much of what you're describing. Things like responsiveness, especially, will be more consistent in their behavior.

Dedicated grenade key binds are a bit of a challenge on gamepad with limited inputs, but perhaps we can prioritize frags over smokes in the pulling order. I'll check with the team on this.

Also, please let us know what you think of the first two campaign missions! Welcome to the forums.