There are other problems with AI bomber formations because every plane is treated as an individual.
1. Icons overlap and blend into one large red mass, making picking out any actual bomber very difficult.
2. Extreme lag and warping when near the bombers. Expect lots of unintentional rams and rubber bullet syndrome.
I set up the initial template AI formations and missions for Nef.
It be nice if the icon logic had exclude bomber option. I mean, even I can see a bomber. I was turning my icons off at the start of a pass because of what you are mentioning.
I'd break up the formations in to multiple inbound streams of no more that 20 or so bombers and space out the stream 4 mi apart. (I think that is close to the real group spacing in WWII).
That would allow AH's view culling logic to function most effectively and not render bombers too far away to worry about.
Ironically the warping you saw (well probably the more noticeable stuff) was slave bombers of a human player formation janking back and forth. In a pure AI formation, we never saw that. I'd recommend NOT using bomber formation mode for human slots. I'd test AI only formations with single human bombers slots.
Kuya, ironically I had reached out back in the day and offered to setup a perpetual, AI augmented BoB perma-scenario to just leave running in the AVA when ever no other event was needed to run. Like an AvA screensaver mission.
It'd have multiple varied AI bomber formations forever coming across the channel to different targets in London, on the coast, and airfields. At different intervals with both AI escorts and interceptors. Humans could spawn and join in either as escorts or interceptors at any point and participate. Even human bombers could jump in and ride along as the bomber mission launch times would be getting announced on the red side and you could get ready to spawn and join. Any time day or night. US or Euro prime-time. In a group or all by yourself.
The reception to the idea was fairly cool. AI is not the AvA's style I guess.
I had also been in the beginning of making a new AI arena to replace WWI: Western Front (which was always just intended as a tech possibility demo) area with a island hopping Pacific War AI arena but it was apparent the AH community would not accept AI content so given the insane level of effort involved I decided to exercise the better part of valor.
So in short Kuya, I doubt there would be much interest and it is a metric butt ton of work. Honestly I couldn't help. That was several years ago and I unloaded all that knowledge from RAM. I'd have to learn all over again and it be better for one of you guys to run with it.
cheers.
Trips
