AI Improvements Formations, Animations

For the next Halo game I think it would be nice if the AI were updated. So I have a few ideas I would like to share with the community.

-AI formations and Other Interactions

What if there was a large crowd of Covenant made up of Jackals, Grunts, and Elites and the Highest Ranking Elite told all the AI to get into a formation. An example of a formation is a Phalanx where a large triangle of Shield Jackals form. And behind the triangle or inside of it were Elites who are shooting over the Shields.

I would also like to see Marines using the Environment more. Such as taking cover in ditches or on rocks instead of them just walking around everywhere. Another example is that a Scorpion tank could be rolling somewhere and marines could be trailing behind it for cover.

Two marines could maybe pick up a Machine Gun turret and carry it somewhere and place it down together. Marines could also go prone and maybe there would be some sort of medical interaction where a Medic would attempt to keep a fallen marine alive and sometimes it would work.

I came up with another idea recently. I think that enemy and ally AI should be able to switch weapons according to what kind of battle they are in. Elites could have a long range weapon but when you engage them in a short range fight they will pull out a weapon such as an energy sword. This Idea should not be given to all AI. enemies with heavy weapons should not be able to do this and cannon fodder enemies such as grunts should be only given one weapon.

These are just some of My Ideas to improve AI I would like to hear all of yours! Tell us what you would like to see, what improvements could be made, and how you think it could make a campaign more enjoyable. If I like your idea I will post it here for everyone to see. <mark>Please post your own ideas!</mark>
Please be respectful in the comments below :slight_smile:

Ideas I Liked And Enjoyed Reading

Methew:

> I want to see Jackals slowly push up on your position while Grunts follow behind and/or to the side providing fire support. I want to see Hunters acting like shock troopers, working in pairs and enraging when one dies. I want to see enemy units use tactics more, aim better, fire faster, when Elites/Knights are around and degrade when they are not. I want to see Crawlers swarming in packs like actual dogs.

ROUG3:

> What I would love to see is AI behaviour changing depending on the difficulty. enemies on advanced difficulties will set up patrol formations and stronger defensive strategies as well as use cover more effectively… things like that.
> As an example, MC could be tasked with ambushing a covenant patrol, on normal this is simple because the group would just be walking almost casually as a group but on legendary the elite leader will have set up jackal scouting packs and lookouts and a group formation that would make it difficult to ambush.
> A meta game could also evolve from Sniping elite commanders, as to disorganise a group to make it easier to take out.
> It would add replay value for higher difficulties because you would be having a different experience depending on which difficulty you are playing on and I would much prefer changes like this to weapon damage increases and health buffs.
> Elites switching between weapons would be awesome as well. It would be funny if you could get noob comboed.

Great idea, emblem buddy.

That would be amazing! I really think this would aid gameplay in future modes like Firefight, Spartan Ops, or just campaign. But then, all allies would need a massive update to be able to figure out a Jackal shield wall.

More intelligent AI is always a good thing, I hate bullet sponges.

I don’t agree this this specific idea though, as a single nade could easily take out a jackal formation.

> More intelligent AI is always a good thing, I hate bullet sponges.
>
> I don’t agree this this specific idea though, as a single nade could easily take out a jackal formation.

It most certainly would not. It would simply bounce off their shields.

> It most certainly would not. It would simply bounce off their shields.

Facepalm

  1. If it lands at their feet it’s explosive radius would cause them to die.

  2. Even if it did hit the shield, it would bounce off and land right back at their feet.

> > It most certainly would not. It would simply bounce off their shields.
>
> Facepalm
>
> 1. If it lands at their feet it’s explosive radius would cause them to die.
>
> 2. Even if it did hit the shield, it would bounce off and land right back at their feet.

What the hell are you saying?

  1. They aren’t going to stand still. If a grenade lands at their feet, they move slightly back, and the explosion splashes on the shield.

  2. Does that make sense to you? It bounces off…and lands at their feet. If you threw a grenade at elastic, and it bounced, it would not go down. It would bounce up, or at a strange angle. Not directly to their feet.

Smarter AI would be great. But you forgot one thing: OUR ALLIES NEED TO BE ABLE TO DRIVE!!!

Do you guys have any ideas? Please post ideas…

> > > It most certainly would not. It would simply bounce off their shields.
> >
> > Facepalm
> >
> > 1. If it lands at their feet it’s explosive radius would cause them to die.
> >
> > 2. Even if it did hit the shield, it would bounce off and land right back at their feet.
>
> What the hell are you saying?
>
> 1. They aren’t going to stand still. If a grenade lands at their feet, they move slightly back, and the explosion splashes on the shield.
>
> 2. Does that make sense to you? It bounces off…and lands at their feet. If you threw a grenade at elastic, and it bounced, it would not go down. It would bounce up, or at a strange angle. Not directly to their feet.

  1. Game mechanics don’t work that way (especially considering the Jackal shield does not have the same properties as hardlight shield) and if you haven’t noticed, Jackals are notoriously slower now.

  2. True, but it’d land close enough to affect them.

Honestly, I can see the Phalanx working as a scripted behavior but as a standard behavior, it would fall short (unless there were a massive amount of Jackals deployed everywhere).

I’d rather see higher ranking Jackals have a strafe. Notice in Halo 4, when you shoot at a Jackal long enough with the Carbine, that slow freak starts moving with lightning fast speed. Now imagine giving it a plasma rifle… Skirmisher reincarnate, but with a shield.

That whole Marine idea is brilliant.

> > > It most certainly would not. It would simply bounce off their shields.
> >
> > Facepalm
> >
> > 1. If it lands at their feet it’s explosive radius would cause them to die.
> >
> > 2. Even if it did hit the shield, it would bounce off and land right back at their feet.
>
> What the hell are you saying?
>
> 1. They aren’t going to stand still. If a grenade lands at their feet, they move slightly back, and the explosion splashes on the shield.
>
> 2. Does that make sense to you? It bounces off…and lands at their feet. If you threw a grenade at elastic, and it bounced, it would not go down. It would bounce up, or at a strange angle. Not directly to their feet.

um what if it landed inside the formation so behide the jackles, easy over kill

https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst187294_Battle-formations.aspx

I had this idea 6 months ago on the Halo 4 forums

I would be open to seeing formations, but I wouldn’t like them to feel overly scripted (it seems pretty clear that the jackal formation in the Halo 2 E3 demo was nothing but scripting).

Would love to see when grunts panic they cling to elites’ legs or the elites kick them back towards the fight. It seems like the covenant have lost some of their personality from previous games (certainly nothing to match some of the brute pre combat behaviors.

What if Jackals were given more things to do with their shields. Instead of always having it straight in front of them they could hold them in different positions and if you thew a grenade at them they could try to hit it away with their shield.

> I would be open to seeing formations, but I wouldn’t like them to feel overly scripted (it seems pretty clear that the jackal formation in the Halo 2 E3 demo was nothing but scripting).
>
> Would love to see when grunts panic they cling to elites’ legs or the elites kick them back towards the fight.
>
> It seems like the covenant have lost some of their personality from previous games (certainly nothing to match some of the brute pre combat behaviors.

Agreed.

Ha, the Halo 4 E3 demo had that. Despite being scripted, it’d be funny to see it again.

You’re absolutely right.

It could be used as some sort of boss battle. Sure maybe the formation could be scripted but how the formation acts and moves might not be.

I think that the jackal idea would be good for a scripted moment. personally I think that scripted moments in halo games such as in Tayari Plaza add to the game. I don’t believe that there should be a lot of scripted moments or even fully scripted moments. The best scripted moments are dynamic at the same time. Some will argue that the halo 3 scarab sections were scripted but they were still unpredictable in some ways and offered many different ways to defeat the scarab. I believe that something such as a jackal formation could be dealt in a similar manner, maybe make the formations actions unscripted.

> I think that the jackal idea would be good for a scripted moment. personally I think that scripted moments in halo games such as in Tayari Plaza add to the game. I don’t believe that there should be a lot of scripted moments or even fully scripted moments. The best scripted moments are dynamic at the same time. Some will argue that the halo 3 scarab sections were scripted but they were still unpredictable in some ways and offered many different ways to defeat the scarab. I believe that something such as a jackal formation could be dealt in a similar manner, maybe make the formations actions unscripted.

Agreed.

The Scarabs were unique. You could lead them out of maps and to areas they’re not supposed to be.

The Lich, on the other hand, requires a combination of disruption (the Mammoth’s rockets) and a Ghost, or an extremely heavy object (i.e. Wraith) inside it, to be effectively released from it’s scripting.