Opponent AI in sea battles never move unless attacked first

[Miracles]

Is this a bug I'm curious? Feels very weird they do not move at all until they get attacked.

Using realism mode.

[Ronin]

Is this a bug I'm curious? Feels very weird they do not move at all until they get attacked.

Using realism mode.

Weird... Mine do... Are they defending? If they're defending and the wind favors them they'll let you come to them.

[Steforian]

I noticed this too, kinda boring.

[spur390]

This happens to me all the time in shogun 2. It pretty much means I do the same thing in response- send my ships to the enemy flanks so I hit two ships with all my ships while their middle ones sit there twiddling their thumbs until they decide to fight.

[DeValiere]

Not sure it's a bug. But yeah, in FoTS they'll just sit there broadside ready - flanking is the only way to deal with it. Once they start to move it tends to be all over.

[Humble Warrior]

If you are on attack they`ll go broadside and wait for you to come, which makes sense. If they are on attack, they will come to you as I`ve seen- In that case I will start with my side facing them too. It`s good and requires you use brains on approach.

Once you catch up to them they will start manouevering.

[Miracles]

So it's not a bug? Kind of weird and against common sense you know being stationary makes them a sitting duck and ships don't go from full stop to full ahead in a flash...and what wind I mean they are with engine right?

[Humble Warrior]

So it's not a bug? Kind of weird and against common sense you know being stationary makes them a sitting duck and ships don't go from full stop to full ahead in a flash...and what wind I mean they are with engine right?

Well when I play it actually makes approaching the enemy really hard if they have their broadside facing me ready when I have to go to them with my broadsides facing away. I have to get close, then turn to get a shot. they get two shots for my every one shot. I don`t see what`s not common sense about that. In fact i`ve been blown up twice so far because I had to get close getting twice hit for every one shot I fired.

Well the speed of start and stopping is arcady that`s true, i`m hoping a Mod will fix that.

I`m in the early game, so will update this as I actually get into major ship battles.

[Lazarus]

As Humble says, it makes sense. It's a lot like defending land armies camping on hills - you're at an acute advantage over your enemy.

I find the easiest way to deal with this is to send in a fleet of Gun boat decoys (if you dont have the power to flank)

[Miracles]

It only made sense because ships go like a car in the game. Ships can't do full stop to ahead full in seconds....they need to burn coal or whatever there. Hence it doesn't make sense to have enemy ships at full stop all the time when u engage them. They should be sailing, moving and maneuvering...

[Kinjo]

Anybody else think the deployments are too far apart? it only adds to the pain if the enemy waits for you to come to them. I timed it one battle just to see how long it took for me to get into range almost 4 minutes! However coastal battles seem to be much closer.

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

Anybody else think the deployments are too far apart? it only adds to the pain if the enemy waits for you to come to them. I timed it one battle just to see how long it took for me to get into range almost 4 minutes! However coastal battles seem to be much closer.

Yeah, it's a bit of a pain.

[Humble Warrior]

Anybody else think the deployments are too far apart? it only adds to the pain if the enemy waits for you to come to them. I timed it one battle just to see how long it took for me to get into range almost 4 minutes! However coastal battles seem to be much closer.

I guessed there would be complaints like this. But I really like it. It`s really important for the longer ranged guns. Have everything too close and the battle will be over even sooner than already and you won`t even get a few shots in.

Hint: Use the `2X Fast speed` button until you are close.

[Lazarus]

I agree the starting distance is important, but where it really falls flat is the battle maps seem "long". I mean, geometrically. There's almost no room to maneuver around the enemy if he has more than 2 ships due to the "corridor" of water you're fighting in, and the fact that your guns are stretching 750 meters...

[aeoleron9]

Not to mention the AI always deploys all the way back towards the map edge, making maneuvers even more impractical.

Made a complaint to the official forums about this passive naval AI thing earlier. Maybe if more people report it CA will fix it.
http://forums.totalwar.com/showthrea...aval-AI-broken

[Kinjo]

I guessed there would be complaints like this. But I really like it. It`s really important for the longer ranged guns. Have everything too close and the battle will be over even sooner than already and you won`t even get a few shots in.

Hint: Use the `2X Fast speed` button until you are close.

That's silly why do we have to travel 4 minutes across the map just to have a fight against the redline. There is no room to maneuver and you can't encircle your enemy because they are setting on the redline. Hopefully they will fix the seascape so the battlefield at sea isn't shaped like a pencil. Playing as Tosa with a large amount of ships is where this design falls apart, what really sucks is if you have reinforcement ships and they enter right next to the Ai while your main fleet is on the other side of the tube shaped map.

I agree the starting distance is important, but where it really falls flat is the battle maps seem "long". I mean, geometrically. There's almost no room to maneuver around the enemy if he has more than 2 ships due to the "corridor" of water you're fighting in, and the fact that your guns are stretching 750 meters...

Yeah I would rather see more of a square sea scape like we had before instead of a very long corridor.

Not to mention the AI always deploys all the way back towards the map edge, making maneuvers even more impractical.

Made a complaint to the official forums about this passive naval AI thing earlier. Maybe if more people report it CA will fix it.
http://forums.totalwar.com/showthrea...aval-AI-broken

Thanks hopefully we will get back the square sea scapes.

[Cathal]

The size of the area is just way too big. Just reduce the range of the guns so it doesn't take over 2 minutes to meet up when you fast-forward.

[Kinjo]

Honestly I think it would be better if we had square maps like we do in custom battles, and reduce the deployment distance to 1/2-1/3 (or the same as they are in custom naval battles) so it only takes 1-2:00 minutes to get into range. I just laughed my ass off at Humbles comment "I guessed there would be complaints like this. It`s really important for the longer ranged guns." What could you possible do for 4 minutes? you sure in the hell are not maneuvering other then full steam ahead and pressing the little catch my ship on fire button.

[Humble Warrior]

Ok, I`m really trying to figure out what version of FOTS you guys are playing.

I just had one of my first biggish battles with a Warrior, a second battleship and a gunboat against two Kasaga Class enemy ships. I was attacking. They were at the back with their flanks facing me. They fired at me and I moved towards them, but when I was about half way towards them they started moving and also attacking me. We were moving around eachother, my gunboat being chased off.

I cannot see anything wrong here.

And as to far how far away they are, you are all just too impatient. Shooting begins almost immediately and you can even speed up time if you must.


But don`t worry, scream loud enough and CA will probably do an immediate turn around and screw it for you.

[Drtad]

I agree with Humble. If the naval AI is on the defensive why not park at the edge and start firing at your opponent with your broadsides before they get a shot off? And then they start moving as you try to flank them.

Seems like a smart move to me, though it can be annoying especially when there are only a few ships.