better aggro AI

[keylocke]

as you well know, there are some combat exploits in rimworld that makes it so much easier to trick and defeat the enemy AI. i'll try to list them here :

1)check your enemy's targets, these colonists will act as your bait. you can run your bait near your other colonists as they shoot your enemies dead while they chase the bait. (joggers with personal shields make the best bait) : effective with most enemy raid types, as long as they target people who can actually outrun and survive their attacks.
2)shooting outside of enemy firing range : effective with sieges, sappers, evil ship defenders, raiders still prepping for an attack. you can usually annihilate them with snipers.

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suggestions for aggro :
-attacking a member of an enemy group would aggro everyone in that group.
-for aggroed siegers,sappers,evil ship defenders, and raiders still prepping for an attack : they will continue to chase you for as long as they have line of sight, before returning back to their initial positions.

suggestions for choosing a target :
-each colonist has a default "threat level" based on their current equipped weapon and relevant combat skill.
-enemies will prioritize closest target within their LOS(line of sight) that has the highest threat level.
-each time a colonist deals an amount of damage against enemies, this will increase their "active" threat level for that battle.
-each enemy has a "damage threshold". if that threshold is exceeded, they will reassess their current target. fellow raiders within LOS will also reassess their current targets.
-if enemy reaches their damage threshold and is being targeted by multiple colonists, that raider will attempt to fall back away from LOS of colonists.

edit :
-enemy should also reassess targets when "new" targets enter their LOS.

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i think these changes would increase the enemy difficulty without having to increase their quantity.

[Zokora]

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suggestions for aggro :
-attacking a member of an enemy group would aggro everyone in that group.
...

i think these changes would increase the enemy difficulty without having to increase their quantity.

Are you sure? When one of the raiders is attacked the whole group aggros and rush to the pawn attacking?

With this you can play ping pong. Just bring two snipers on the oposite sides of the enemy group an let one shot on the enemies till they aggro and then its the turn of the other sniper ... et voila ping pong. 

[keylocke]

i think you forgot to read the part i wrote about "choosing a target".

suggestions for choosing a target :
-each colonist has a default "threat level" based on their current equipped weapon and relevant combat skill.
-enemies will prioritize closest target within their LOS(line of sight) that has the highest threat level.
-each time a colonist deals an amount of damage against enemies, this will increase their "active" threat level for that battle.
-each enemy has a "damage threshold". if that threshold is exceeded, they will reassess their current target. fellow raiders within LOS will also reassess their current targets.
-if enemy reaches their damage threshold and is being targeted by multiple colonists, that raider will attempt to fall back away from LOS of colonists.

you cannot pingpong them.

most likely scenario, the raider group would divide into two and attack the nearest sniper or the nearest colonist with the highest "threat level". and since raiders often outnumber colonists, you're gonna end up getting screwed if you just sent 2 snipers.

you can't use these 2 snipers as "bait" either, since the moment any raider gets damaged beyond their damage threshold, they will automatically reassess their targets. so the typical bait exploit won't work either.

[Zokora]

Ah ok, now I understand what you want to describe.

[Hiztaar]

In fact the problem is not lying in the Aggro AI but in the AI at all.

When facing an enemy sniper, the reflex would be to take immediate cover and try to locate the attacker with the longest range weapon available. So that would lead to a sniper or long range battle (if long range weapon is available). During the battle, some raiders would keep cover while trying to come closer to the attacker while some would try to flank him and engage. Or the group would retreat and set a trapping situation to bait the sniper at middle to close range.

More usualy, AI does not use cover properly and just jeep rushing despite huge losses. They move in packs so rocket launchers or grenades are devastating. They all travel on the same paths or closely the same instead of spreading to flank the colony positions. They are not very smart in the end. On huge maps, it can be usual to have little "forts" so that we can fight far from home. Maybe raiders would try to capture defensive positions and set up a front-line.

During sieges, the AI is a bit dumb as there is no real vigilance around the camp. Raiders should send skirmishers to secure available access to their camp and have a better behavior in order to face the enemy and not to walk around waiting for death.