After many fruitless attempts, I watched at Panzerblitz link, the coop games from our croatians friends.
You know what ? It is the kind of AI behaivours I have, when AI is not at its worst.
Except I tend to deal a bit more with 17 pdr playing as german, Unit I saw in the video are the same I have in my games.
a bit off topic, we have with this video a carricature of what can be a solo or multicoop game. An infamous bridge map, and players camping behind bridge with 88 and arty. The Sunday slaughter. It can be fun, I admit, but from time to time.
Here we can see, only brits in action, sporadically, and sadly from players point of view. However We can anyway notice, that despite brits are royal artillery inheritor at Afrika, Players about never suffer heavy shelling (Sometime smoke, thanks John Bull, you are too kind). When it happens it is from priests (limited to one/player). Problem is, too often, priests lockdown shortly after map entrance, so on big maps they are often out of range. Brits (4 experts) had built no 25 pdr howitzers. Remember here brits are supposed to be a kind bk royal arty inheritors. (there is a high demand for howitzer in AI file, but AI dont care)
Like for me, there is no m10 and some other things, but it is a bit less important. Roughly there is alot of thing AI dont do.
I will try to be short. jump to minute 63 (01.03.00). After one hour of camping players decide to attack. If I look at what they send, I think it is not the first time they play Afrika, and they know what will happen. The first assault will be destructive, but players force will be crushed at the end.
During the assault you can also notice the usual c15TA transport (in pair most time). Useless units but it is coded like that, at least this AI part is ok.
We can see only 2, perhaps 3 brits engineers (for 4 AI), demand is coded + 1000. Roughly I would say 8 engineers would be on the maps, but it seems not to be like that.
Only three or four HQ trucks survived the first assault ; 1 rank 2, and 2 rank 3
Off topic 01.08.30 to 01.08.53 you can admire the dance of the morrons by a armoured hq truck. It try to setup in an unsuitable area. Of course it cant, we dont know how long, perhaps from the start. In the process it produced nothing of course. It is why I say Brits AI in game is the most unreliable, never play with or against. But for that, Afrika is not responsible, and I know no solution to that except ; avoid brits.
Come back to the subject.
the second players attack will take place 15 minutes later. before that, planes scout former brits base and we can see ; no activity. The 3 surviving simply build units who run to attack players. AI simply dont replace nor repair.
Wake up ; AI have no more basic hq truck here, it is suppose to call and with the new basic hq trucks build rank 2 and 3 hq trucks to replace lost ones.
But it dont at all. And dont say it is intented like that please.
{pbg = SBP.CW.HQ, demand_type = DEMAND_Squad, demand_pref = 5000, demand_decrease = 5000, limit = 1, unit_types = {VEHICLE_HQ}},
{pbg = SBP.CW.ARMOUR_HQ, demand_type = DEMAND_Squad, demand_pref = 5000, demand_decrease = 5000, limit = 1, unit_types = {VEHICLE_HQ}},
{pbg = SBP.CW.INFANTRY_HQ, demand_type = DEMAND_Squad, demand_pref = 5000, demand_decrease = 5000, limit = 1, unit_types = {VEHICLE_HQ}},
It is from Afrika AI. I am not making anything up.
We clearly see AI fail, players launch the last attack after 15 minutes of peace, they kill the last 3 or 4 hq trucks and claims victory.
Roughly it is exactly what I have, on the best days, and sorry I dont call that a fully functional game.
On this video we can see only the emerged part of the iceberg sadly, but it is enough to understand their is a problem. From my experience german AI is broken too.
From a player point of view a broken AI is, in appearence not so different from an average usual one. I think our Croatian Players probaly believe it is normal, and intented, Of course it make things more easy. It seems they dont look for excessive challenge, and I dont blame them. Important is they have fun.
Now Pnazerblitz, a veteran player ; he watched the video and noticed nothing, but we will forgive him, he become old
.
More seriously if he noticed nothing strange, when he very well know the game, how do you want the average player can do better ? Add to that I know the solo / multicoop community is a silent one. it is not like the pvp one who harrass dev every day for the smallest details. Ok it is because pvp boys are perfectionist.
I m close to think it is possible most people didnt noticed there is something wrong. PVP first will not be able to notice anything of course.
You can pretend we are now 3, me and the two guy on the video, who idiot and unable to install a mod, but I m not sure it would be a constructive answer.
anyway whatever AI work or not, I will never blame the guy who worked on AI. It is the hardest and more touchy part of the modding work for what I know. I can possibly blame quality insurance. Of course if no one report to the AI dev there is a problem it is legit he considere all is ok.
PS ; edited to correct some misspelling.