Watching the beginning of the gameplay demo 2 of 3; I see one of my biggest gripes about Fallout and Oblivion is still clearly demonstrated in the game... Please improve enemy AI to prevent this... I love how you can put an arrow through an opponents head from a hidden location and the person next to them just goes into an alert stance and then just stands still rather then trying to take cover or try and find you... I thought the AI is suppose to be greatly improved this time around?

Yeah, it is pretty silly. I'm also curious if they will do anything to prevent "perching".

This topic has been done to death. Some of the suggested explanations were:

1. The entire conflict was scripted for the demo- it would not have showcased sniping if the enemies ran away.

2. The Radiant AI for that bandit made him freeze in fear.

Please use the search function for 82 pages of other responses

It isn't. :sadvaultboy:

The ai is looking around, in that they entered a state of awareness and are more keen to notice you, there just isn't an animation for it. The ai is fine, it's the lack of an animation for that middle place inbetween hidden and located. Which, mind you, is better than OB who didn't react in the first place. Now they ready up, admitting that their friend did just die mid-sentence due to the arrow in the back.

It's still a weak baby step, considering that in the older game, Fallout: New Vegas enemies actually responded by running around near where the corpse died, and will attempt to either flee or move towards where they think the attack came from.

Never fails to make me LOL, this argument. Reminds me of the people defending the giant falling in the E3 demo.
"You guise, the giant's spine was obviously crushed!"

Does this mean we will be able to wipe out entire rooms merely by sniping opponents one at a time?

I'm hoping it was option no.1 tbh - for one, there's the fact that they are bandits/other evil doers, and so would be geared towards combat. I could understand if they were doing nothing wrong (which would also be a great explanation for the shock, but I doubt it), but if they're criminals doing criminal things, surely they'd be used to attacks, or be even slightly on their guard to start with?
Plus, even if they were to freeze in fear, they'd at least turn around in the direction they thought the attack came from? I mean, if my mate got hit by an arrow in the left side of his head I'd at least look towards the direction that it came from, even if there was bugger all I could do about it. Or even if not that, I'd crouch down and try to see if my mate was alive or something. Just...something, as opposed to drawing my weapon and staring at the wall.

A good chance of that. :sadvaultboy:

If perching means getting onto a natural high point like a large boulder and pelting an enemy, that can technically be done in real life. Just saying.

Well, we'd all like to talk ourselves up..."If I were in that situation, I'd examine the area the arrow came from, and such and so forth..." but to be honest most human beings, even bandits, don't have the reactions of ninjas. Most of us would have said "HOLY SH*T, Stan? Stan are you ok? Sh*t what do I do now?" and then BAM, dead like Stan.

Actually I think it was a girl. The name would then be Stanita.

But in real life the enemy doesn't just run around the bottom soaking up damage.

get rid of it yourself.

If there's one thing the TES franchise has taught me about itself, it's that baby steps along with massive leaps into possibly wrong diirections is what you should come to expect. As long as enemies don't zero in on you like a smart missle or a pokemon trainer, while at least making an attempt at self preservation, I'm content because one can always argue that it was the bandit's first day on the job where something went wrong...

Don't cry yet, especially with all the tidbits of news we've had lately on how GOOD the AI seems. This really does feel like a scripted moment- this was a live demo, they didn't want it to be Jurassic Park, unveil the ride and no animals show up. I really believe every moment of that demo was scripted to show us the game and what you could do with various weapons. That exact moment was perfect for a hidden sneak attack, do you really think that was just coincidence? Buck up little trooper

Oh no, I am perfectly aware that it is a sound tactic. However, the issue stems from AI being incapable of properly countering it in most games.

Yeah, that part looks very silly.



That hypothesis is a terrible apologist excuse. Anyone seriously suggesting #2 should be laughed at and then ignored. Hopefully the game isn't so scary that my computer freezes in fear.

That again would depend, if you are in a good defensible position with clear line of sight then the guys on the ground should be running to take cover, I did perching quite a lot in Fallout NV, I'm not stupid enough to walk into a quarry full of deathclaws even with the best armor and weapons.

I'm excited about Skyrim and think it will be better than Oblivion (which I love), but AI hasn't been Bethesda's strong point, so I'm a bit worried that we will have goofy AI again.

It's not asking for the reaction of ninjas. Just a reaction that goes beyond drawing your weapon and staring the the wall for a few seconds/the rest of your life. Whether that's looking around for the attacker (which I'd expect from hardened criminals), or rushing over and bending down to see if their mate was alive (which would be more appropriate for civvies).

no let's please not do this again... i hesitate pleaing because it will just bump the thread but please.. let this die. or at least post in the 142 threads that opens word for word with what this one does. :facepalm:

The AI will not be perfect. It will be an improvement on Oblivion/fallout. period.

what your looking for is going to have wait til TES:VI

Just for the condescending facepalm I'm bumping this thread. :shifty:

In all seriousness though, I hope that the AI makes us think on our feet more. It was too easy to fool NPC's in Oblivion that stealth was comically easy.