Read by Council New Setting for Turret AI "Aim at: closest"

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    So, while watching my point defense turrets fire longingly after missiles that had missed my ship, I was brainstorming different ways to fix this relatively broken system. One easy way to do this would be adding a (potentially) simple new option for BOBBY AI modules: fire at closest.

    This wouldn't be a perfect solution, as turrets would still track missiles that missed their target, but it would prevent PD turrets from engaging harmless missiles at distances of several thousand meters.

    What are you thoughts on fixing PD? Are they fine as is? Does their lack of precision in choosing a target prevent them from being OP?
     
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    this is a good idea as you may or may not realize, but it also solves another problem. have you ever watched your turrets try to kill things they cannot psychically turn to face. well having them target closest will also fix that as well. see this is essentially prioritizing the targets based upon distance, which means turrets will behave logically and only try to hit things they actually can.
     
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    this is a good idea as you may or may not realize, but it also solves another problem. have you ever watched your turrets try to kill things they cannot psychically turn to face. well having them target closest will also fix that as well. see this is essentially prioritizing the targets based upon distance, which means turrets will behave logically and only try to hit things they actually can.
    Yup, like I said, not perfect. But turrets, from what I can tell, when they choose a target and are unable to fire on it, they switch to a different target after a varying amount of time.
     
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    well they were supposed to, but that's the problem since several patches back they don't, they will relentlessly try to shoot through your ships hull until either 1 the target is killed, or 2 you tell them to attack your selected. if you don't believe me, place some turrets on one side of your ship, then on the opposite side, and watch the one on the side that aren't facing the target. the ones on the opposite side from the target will try to shoot things on the side it cant actually shoot at. they are supposed to give up after a delay time, but it doesn't actually work.
     
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    I don't see a thread about distance to target for point defense. And it's not like anybody is having a worthwhile discussion in the ai setting megathread. This is my assertion that one small addition would make up for a large range of deficiencies in the current system.
     
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    My Solution: Target Priorities
    I propose being able to, in the BOBBY AI menu, create a list of "Target Priority Categories." That is, the turret will fire at targets in your first category above all else, and they will fire at the second category if there is no detectable target in the first, and at targets in the third category if there's no targets in the second, and so on. If there's no viable target in any category, the turret will do nothing. Maybe it will default to its 'C' position, if people want that (I would, but I get not everyone would). Not super important.
    Every Target Priority Category will have two components: a Category and a Tiebreaker. The turret will look at all enemies in range the given category (such as "Missiles" or "bigger than 100k blocks" or "closer than 10km" or "shields out") first, and if there are more than one, it will go to the tiebreaker (ex. Closest, Furthest, Biggest, Smallest, Closest to Reticule, Furthest from Reticule, Highest Shield %, etc.).
    There would also be a global setting for your AI to shoot at Enemies, Neutrals, and/or Friends (you'd want it to shoot at friends if you have a healing beam, enemies if you have guns, and neutrals if you're into piracy). There could also maybe be a toggle between "keep firing at chosen target until its dead," "keep firing at chosen target until its no longer in the given category and/or dead" and "Periodically rescan for targets" (rescan for target interval would be a serverside setting, with a time increment chosen based on performance)
    For example:
    Example Categories:
    • Any Target (ie, go to Tiebreaker)
    • Targeted by Player (Tiebreaker doesn't matter)
    • Target closer than X meters
    • Target further than X meters
    • Block count between X and Y
    • Block count bigger than X
    • Block count smaller than X
    • Missiles
    • Astronauts
    • Shield % Above X
    • Shield % Below X
    • Power % Above X
    • Power % Below X
    • Overheating
    Example Tiebreakers:
    • Closest Target
    • Furthest Target
    • Biggest Target
    • Smallest Target
    • Closest Target to Reticule (ie, where the turret is aiming)
    • Furthest Target from Reticule (away from where the turret is aiming)
    • Highest Shield %
    • Lowest Shield %
    • Highest Power %
    • Lowest Power %
    The key words here would be 'closest' and 'target'. Not only does this post (the first in the thread, which the entire thread is based on) cover the OP of this thread, it does so in more detail.
    I suggest you practice your reading skills.
     

    fire219

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    Cleaned thread up a bit. Control your tempers, people.
     
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    Cleaned thread up a bit. Control your tempers, people.
    I was responding to that ass-hat coming into people's threads with two word garbage posts inflaming tempers and being a general pot-stirrer. So kindly sod off and don't tell people to control their tempers, you sound like a disapproving step-mother, not a moderator.
     

    fire219

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    I was responding to that ass-hat coming into people's threads with two word garbage posts inflaming tempers and being a general pot-stirrer. So kindly sod off and don't tell people to control their tempers, you sound like a disapproving step-mother, not a moderator.
    You didn't have to be an asshat back. Don't stoop to their level.

    It's also generally considered a bad idea to tell a forum mod to "sod off", by the way. ;)
     
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    My mother says worse things to me over brunch. But yeah, his posts were already deleted by him, which makes me look like a much larger ass-hat. I've got hats on my ass of all colors and shapes.
     

    therimmer96

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    My mother says worse things to me over brunch. But yeah, his posts were already deleted by him, which makes me look like a much larger ass-hat. I've got hats on my ass of all colors and shapes.
    The posts were deleted by fire when he cleaned the thread up, you can't delete posts unless you're mod.