This release was pretty exciting because I was able to recruit survivors from the very beginning. However, I've noticed some pretty serious issues with the AI. They use up all of their ammunition way too quickly, and for shots that are impossible. There have been too many times in which they spent everything they had on a wall (they can see through them?) or the ground. The same goes for grenades, except that its worse. The AI has a tendency to throw them a few metres in front which results in a lot of screen-shaking at the very least, or wounds at the very worst. In any case, maybe it would be for the best if the AI was given infinite ammo, because using Lost Key every few metres is a little bit tedious.
The AI also seems to ignore my orders and they never stay close to me by default. I do recall that being the standard sort of behaviour in the original campaigns. I've been playing the British one again, so it seems really obvious to me that the AI seems to be a step backwards in terms of ammo conservation, positioning and rules of engagement. Especially, rules of engagement. Just the other day, I was playing the second mission in the British campaign where you have to take out the marauders and recover a pickup truck. There were ten of us and we were sneaking down from the top of a hill so we could get closer to an area with the enemy hiding in the trees. I didn't even have to order the men to hold their fire as they would only light them up if I fired the first shot or we were spotted. They also reponded quickly to orders to get in vehicles. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the AI in this release as they frequently run around doing whatever they want (like shooting walls). Very unresponsive.
Could it be that the reason for the stupid AI is that I am using the COWar Mod and not just the Zeus AI addon as recommended in the first post? Or maybe I'm doing something wrong when it comes to squad commands?
Also, the car patrols and walking zeds mission doesn't seem to work as intended as the zeds can still sprint. Not sure about the cars though. I saw a one with a bandit at the wheel, but he was already dead by the time I found him. It was down by the coast at the docks, so they may have just spawned there and got shot as the trigger-happy survivors as soon as they spotted him. I have no idea if the AI is capable of patrolling in cars at this time.
Just one more little nitpick. The dialogue doesn't seem as good (and useful) as vanilla ArmA II. The AI only calls out targets sometimes, and it seems random. Most of the time, they're silent. They should probably say something if they're out of ammo too. I think the player character should also have a voice when giving commands. From what I understand, it's more to do with DayZ removing all of this for the sake of atmosphere or something, but what's so atmospheric about gunfights without battle chatter? Is it possible to bring it all back in? I'd really like to have something similar to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a9GJCEI-AAOn a more positive note, it seems that the frame rate is rather good for this release in comparison to 2018, and the map seems more alive with all the bandits and survivors frequently appearing, so that's definitely a step in the right direction if you ask me. Please understand that I'm trying to be constructive here and that the criticism is there because I care.
By the way, assuming that Custom DaiZy Factions isn't
too different from Halek's release, most of what I've covered could probably apply to that too (and maybe 2018). I can't say much about the original Factions because of the problem with nothing spawning on the map.
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