A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Every Ship is fitted with a very sophisticated A.I. module that takes care of many background operations allowing a very tiny crew to be able to manage even the largest ship.

Players can choose when the A.I. should also take care of piloting and components management.

Players can still give manual orders to a Ship with an active A.I.. Obviously, expect it to 'correct' these commands when they conflict with its decisions.

A.I. Levels

A.I. Levels can be cycled in Navigation Screen operating the A.I. button near each ship Fleet Reference Box.

Level 0 - OFF (off led) : Ship will never take any automatic action (i.e. will never move, attack, flee, etc.)

Level 1 - ON - MAINTAIN TARGET (orange led) : A.I. will act accordingly to selected profile, but after engaging a target it will never change it. It is possible, thus, to manually assign a target to the Ship and A.I. will take care of it at its best.

Level 2 - ON - SWITCH TARGET (green led) : A.I. will act accordingly to selected profile, and will autonomously choose its target.

A.I. and Orders

Orders are complex commands that can be given to a Ship, for example from the Orders Screen in the Management Panel. They are a complex sequence of basic commands, automatically executed by the A.I..

Take care, as in Navigation Screen some Command Hexagon icons actually give Orders and not basic commands, like DOCK or GATE. These commands are marked with an "A.I." marker.

Assigning an Order to a Ship will turn its A.I. on to Level 2.

Turning A.I. off will revoke any given order (but will NOT stop moving - like revoking an order from Management Panel)

A.I. Automatic Level Change

A.I. is automatically turned ON to level 2 when:

entering a new system (undocking, gating, etc.)

Player stops actively controlling the ship or a ship in the same fleet (this can also happen on client disconnection)

an Order is explicitly given to a Ship

A.I. Profiles

There are currently two profiles that can be selected:

Attacker - With this profile, A.I. will prioritize attacking enemies. This is the default profile.

Defender - With this profile, A.I. will prioritize damage repair and fleet support.

Selected Profile can be changed from Management Panel only, when the Ship is docked on a Base Station.

A.I. Settings

Each Ship A.I. behavior can be tuned with some Settings from the A.I. Settings Screen.

Available Options are:

Auto Escape (Min) = When attacked, if Hull Percentage is lower than MIN, the Ship will dock on the nearest Base Station.
Auto Boost (Min) = A.I. will turn on Boosters if available R percentage is more than MIN.
Shield Recharge (Min/Max) = A.I. will turn on Active Shield Recharger if remaining Shield percentage is lower than MIN, and stop when MAX is reached.
Armor Repair (Min/Max) = A.I. will turn on Active Armor Repairer if remaining Armor percentage is lower than MIN, and stop when MAX is reached.
Fleet Shield Recharge (Min/Max) = A.I. will turn on Interactive Shield Recharger if other Ship's remaining Shield percentage is lower than MIN, and stop when MAX is reached.
Fleet Armor Repair (Min/Max) = A.I. will turn on Interactive Armor Repairer if other Ship's remaining Armor percentage is lower than MIN, and stop when MAX is reached.
Fleet R Transfer (Min/Max) = A.I. will turn on Interactive R Transferrer if other Ship's remaining R percentage is lower than MIN, and stop when MAX is reached.

Behavior

A.I. continuously follow a software program to take decisions, checking a specific ordered list of conditions that depends on the chosen profile.

The following details are to be intended as an approximation of the real complex mechanism that drives A.I. decisions.

Actions are taken if every condition, implicit or explicit, are met (for example, a Ship is not going to attack someone if no weapon is fitted).

Attacker profile

Turn on Boosters if remaining R are more than "Auto Boost".
Dock on the nearest Station if remaining Hull is lower than "Auto Escape", and stop processing.
Turn off Active and/or Interactive Components to prevent shutdown.
Turn on Active Shield Rechargers if Shields are between "Shield Recharge" Min/Max.
Turn on Active Armor Repairers if Armor is between "Armor Repair" Min/Max.
If an order is present, execute it and stop processing
If under direct attack, fight back (Orbit + Full Attack), and stop processing.
If fleet mate is attacking, assist him (Orbit + Full Attack), and stop processing. Priority is given following fleet ship order (Leader first).
If fleet mate is under attack, assist him (Orbit + Full Attack), and stop processing. Priority is given following fleet ship order (Leader first).
If fleet mate needs Armor Repair, Shield Recharge or R Transfer, provide it (Orbit + Repair/Recharge/Transfer) depending on "Fleet" options, and stop processing. Priority is given to ships that are under attack and/or received more damage.

Defender profile

Turn on Boosters if remaining R are more than "Auto Boost".
Dock on the nearest Station if remaining Hull is lower than "Auto Escape", and stop processing.
Turn off Active and/or Interactive Components to prevent shutdown.
Turn on Active Shield Rechargers if Shields are between "Shield Recharge" Min/Max.
Turn on Active Armor Repairers if Armor is between "Armor Repair" Min/Max.
If an order is present, execute it and stop processing
If fleet mate needs Armor Repair, Shield Recharge or R Transfer, provide it (Orbit + Repair/Recharge/Transfer) depending on "Fleet" options, and stop processing. Priority is given to ships that are under attack and/or received more damage.
If fleet mate is under attack, assist him (Orbit + Full Attack), and stop processing. Priority is given following fleet ship order (Leader first).
If fleet mate is attacking, assist him (Orbit + Full Attack), and stop processing. Priority is given following fleet ship order (Leader first).
If under direct attack, fight back (Orbit + Full Attack), and stop processing.