As it seems quite a few people don't like that neutrals are "smart" in battle, and I decided I don't want to disable this feature in a mandatory way (I really hate dumb enemies that can't think for themselves, it's one thing for zombies but everything else that doesn't have a rotten brain should be at least somewhat intelligent), the only possibility left is making it an option. Not sure if it's worth sacrificing one of the two unused slots in the game menu for this instead of more important options we might want in the future, but anyway...the question is, if such an option happens, what exactly should be disabled by it?
1. The AI moves randomly if it cannot find a target, to look for invisible units or avoid flyers ganging up on it all at once. (I think disabling this would severely break balance in favor of Sorcery, or anyone lucky enough to find Invisibility items. At the same time this tends to be the most time consuming and annoying feature in my opinion.)
2. The AI moves away from units if "avoid contact" tactic is selected instead of standing still and doing nothing.
3. The AI selects "avoid contact" tactic if the unit is flying and the enemy army is much stronger.
4. The AI selects "avoid contact" tactic if the unit is faster than the entire enemy army, and the enemy army does not have a significant amount of ammo left.
5. The unit moves backwards or forward before shooting or casting.
Or any combination of these. At the moment I see a very low chance this will be implemented, but it would be nice to know if it's one specific feature that's the problem or it's just the generic annoyance of not winning the battle/spending more time. Also include in your vote if you tried to play with movement animations off to make the game faster or not, and if it helped.
Also, if you feel something would be very nice to have in the game settings menu as a new option, do tell. I rather use those slots on something more useful that dumber AI, if there are better ideas. We have two unused slots afterall. (examining revealed that "Overland Spell Events" and "Summoning Events" literally does nothing at all. "Enemy Spells" and "Spell Animations" handle that stuff, they're probably obsolete options from earlier versions. So both can be replaced easily.) The existing new options are "Backup Saves" and "More Random Items" from me and "Revolting Raiders" plus "Monsters Gone Wild" from kyrub., as examples of what I think is worth a slot.
1. The AI moves randomly if it cannot find a target, to look for invisible units or avoid flyers ganging up on it all at once. (I think disabling this would severely break balance in favor of Sorcery, or anyone lucky enough to find Invisibility items. At the same time this tends to be the most time consuming and annoying feature in my opinion.)
2. The AI moves away from units if "avoid contact" tactic is selected instead of standing still and doing nothing.
3. The AI selects "avoid contact" tactic if the unit is flying and the enemy army is much stronger.
4. The AI selects "avoid contact" tactic if the unit is faster than the entire enemy army, and the enemy army does not have a significant amount of ammo left.
5. The unit moves backwards or forward before shooting or casting.
Or any combination of these. At the moment I see a very low chance this will be implemented, but it would be nice to know if it's one specific feature that's the problem or it's just the generic annoyance of not winning the battle/spending more time. Also include in your vote if you tried to play with movement animations off to make the game faster or not, and if it helped.
Also, if you feel something would be very nice to have in the game settings menu as a new option, do tell. I rather use those slots on something more useful that dumber AI, if there are better ideas. We have two unused slots afterall. (examining revealed that "Overland Spell Events" and "Summoning Events" literally does nothing at all. "Enemy Spells" and "Spell Animations" handle that stuff, they're probably obsolete options from earlier versions. So both can be replaced easily.) The existing new options are "Backup Saves" and "More Random Items" from me and "Revolting Raiders" plus "Monsters Gone Wild" from kyrub., as examples of what I think is worth a slot.
