AI opponents (1.2.0)

[moisterrific]

What do you think of the new AI behaviours and difficulties?

 

[Cellsai]

Yes, but only at low levels. I like having the tense heavy blocking matches at high stages in Prize Fight, but they are excessive at low levels.

 

[Osterus]

The blocking becomes stupidly annoying at high levels.

But I think this is where +health skill points really shine. Just let the enemy pummel into you and charge up your blockbusters and unleash them.

Easy pezy.

Dunno about new players though... they will REALLY STRUGGLE LOL!

 

[Joanie]

It isn't too difficult (poll opinion might be bias because of a player's pride. Do I vote Yes if I dislike the AI and admit to being a baby or No, if I run on theonite.) but I don't enjoy the feel of the match. It's annoying. Maybe I'm not used to the new AI yet but jeez; the old 1.1.2 had finese and I liked comboing and juggling.

 

[Maelwolf]

It isn't too difficult (poll opinion might be bias because of a player's pride. Do I vote Yes if I dislike the AI and admit to being a baby or No, if I run on theonite.) but I don't enjoy the feel of the match. It's annoying. Maybe I'm not used to the new AI yet but jeez; the old 1.1.2 had finese and I liked comboing and juggling.

Yeah, I'd agree with this. It's not like the new AI is unbeatable, it's simply that the "strategies" needed to counter turtling are really boring. Pre-patch combat felt almost cathartic as you landed hits and won or lost based on your ability to combo and plan your specials.

 

[moisterrific]

The combat in the last version felt too easy. There was little to no challenge because you could easily win every fight (within reasonable FS difference) just by doing the unlimited combo trick. There was pretty much no need to even use specials or blockbusters, since the AI couldn't break free from non stop combos and continuous hitstuns.

Chances of losing a match in version 1.1.1 was very rare, since the AI was so passive the only ways you could lose was if you were at a massive FS disadvantage and/or elemental disadvantage.

Before 1.2.0. You could be at a big FS disadvantage and still win the fight because burst moves weren't working properly and there was no invincibility upon tag in. It's not really balanced or fun when you're just repetitively tapping and swiping to easily beat a team that's 5x stronger than yours.

 

[Joanie]

It's not about difficulty, it's about how unfun the current AI is. I think there should at least be some variety in their playstyles - like a Tank style (which is the current), Juggler (that goes for infinite juggles), Tag Team (they tag unpredictably rather than only at low HP), and such.

I don't mind playing against this AI but it gets boring and repetative. Which I think is the flaw: There's only one type of AI higher up. Spice it up a bit, you know.

 

[Maelwolf]

It's not about difficulty, it's about how unfun the current AI is. I think there should at least be some variety in there playstyles - like a Tank style (which is the current), Juggler (that goes for infinite juggles), Tag Team (they tag unpredictably rather than only at low HP), and such.

I don't mind playing against this AI but it gets boring and repetative. Which I think is the flaw: There's only one type of AI higher up. Spice it up a bit, you know.

Yeah, the current AI was just a poor choice to increase difficulty. It's similar to when some games dramatically increase a boss's health on a higher difficulty. Rather than be a fun challenge, it ends up just prolonging a similar fight and making it feel stale. A better choice here would be to give harder enemies better abilities, have the AI use abilities more often, increase their combo potential, and as you stated to offer a range of play styles. In addition, these steps should gradually be introduced, rather than jumping right into turtle mania. Completely defensive strategies simply are not much fun in most games, but especially don't fit in a fighting game. At the least it shouldn't be the go-to strategy for the AI to use with every conceivable character.

 

[moisterrific]

Only the high win streak AI and expert difficulty fight ones block attacks often.
Basic and advanced difficulty AI behaviour is essentially the same as 1.1.1.

I've noticed the higher difficulty AI tend to be aggressive so it's a good idea to block their attacks first and then counter attack. During the counter attack, you can do a full launcher combo then finish off with a blockbuster, special, or trip attack when they fall to the ground. The fights in 1.2.0 are significantly more fun and challenging than any previous versions since your chances of winning is no longer guaranteed at higher difficulties, due to the removal of the infinite combo juggle trick.

 

[Meowzers]

Only the high win streak AI and expert difficulty fight ones block attacks often.
Basic and advanced difficulty AI behaviour is essentially the same as 1.1.1.

I've noticed the higher difficulty AI tend to be aggressive so it's a good idea to block their attacks first and then counter attack. During the counter attack, you can do a full launcher combo then finish off with a blockbuster, special, or trip attack when they fall to the ground. The fights in 1.2.0 are significantly more fun and challenging than any previous versions since your chances of winning is no longer guaranteed at higher difficulties, due to the removal of the infinite combo juggle trick.

In my experience they still block a ton no matter the difficulty. I've lost a fair few matches due to time out. And now there's no Where to grind with the reduced rewards and removal of quick play

 

[moisterrific]

In my experience they still block a ton no matter the difficulty. I've lost a fair few matches due to time out. And now there's no Where to grind with the reduced rewards and removal of quick play

In lower difficulties you can throw them if they're blocking and they're less likely to break the throw.

 

[Meowzers]

In lower difficulties you can throw them if they're blocking and they're less likely to break the throw.

Yeah it's annoying to fight the guys that block consistently AND then break your throws!

 

[moisterrific]

Yeah it's annoying to fight the guys that block consistently AND then break your throws!

It's a consistent challenge and you can't just spam infinite combos anymore. If they're blocking, then just dash back and wait for them to attack, when they're running towards you just hit them or wait for them to finish their basic combo by blocking.

 

[Cellsai]

I was going to just let these threads just keep going, but now y'all are basically just retyping your responses to each other in two different threads. This thread is now locked.

Since this issue is more of a Feedback discussion (and the other thread is older), I'm going to leave the other thread open. Continue discussion over there please!

Please go here to discuss the new AI balancing.