The original method just looked for non-firing targets, which caused
Sid to piss around a bit with the non-target transports. This new
method just targets the specific classes Sid is always going after,
cargo ships and bosses.
The way it previously was, in particular, Sid 100% refused to attack
fighting vessels and Phoebe and Ursula 100% refused to attack
non-fighting vessels. This was most notable with the Urusor mission,
where Sid would just become completely idle after disabling the last
non-combat vessel and would often just drift off into the distance
as a result (especially annoying in Classic difficulty as this
could make it very difficult to find the remaining enemies).
So now, instead these targets are treated as "undesirables", which
normally will be avoided but will be accepted after 30 frames.
This stops allies from idling around forever.
This rule has also been applied to a rule that didn't allow targeting
enemies beyond a particular distance.
I'm keeping it in Classic difficulty for now, but might add an
exception later.
I completely forgot about this stupid feature of the original game.
Nonetheless, it's a part of the original experience and thus has
been added back in, albeit implemented in a slightly different way
(the result is still the same). Because this is such a stupid and
badly designed mechanic, this is of course in Classic difficulty
only.
No, really, just added the whole thing. This took literally the
entire day. I'm soooo glad it's working now!
Also includes tons of other small fixes I didn't bother to keep
track of.
This is something I forgot about before: the executive transport
A.I. was changed by me at some point from "Normal" to "Evasive".
This change re-introduces "Normal" A.I. for this ship in Classic
difficulty.
Layla Marchant