itch.io

Hello! I've checked out the demo and below is some commentary I made along the way. Overall - I enjoyed tinkering with the Ai and I see a lot of potential, so do not get discouraged by whatever you find below: 

(Disclaimer - I do not comment on UI and visuals as I assume them to be placeholderish unless I feel a UX issue. Also - I have a bias due to using Unity Behavior Designer)

1. Currently, the tutorials provide a detailed description of what each button will do and open, but they do not show the actual screens they describe. Additionally, they go one after another without giving me a chance to engage with what they explain. 
2. It is a bit hard to interact with the workshop. I purchased a turret, but I am not sure if it was purchased. I go to inventory - there is the turret, but I need to press a greyed-out equip button to actually see it. 
3. I lack a progressive tutorial that walks me through buying different tank components and assembling them before going to the campaign. And that I need to first visit the AI editor before going to the campaign. 
4. I do actually love the idea of AI editing. Loved it since Dragon Age: Origins. Gives a much stronger "Me - smart" feeling when it behaves as intended. 
5. For the true-false, it actually took me quit some time to understand that it does not lead to true or false scenario. Instead what it does is it leads to "true", and if false - it leads back. So perhaps it can be presented in a bit more obvious manner. 
6. The instructions for editing the AI seem clear. 
7. "If Enemy" - does it mean seeing the target or seeing the target in range? Later on, I realized it takes into account the cone of vision and the vision range, but it took me a while to realize that, and it caused quite a bit of confusion.  
8. Lead target - will predict enemy position. The value used - what is it? Seconds? Also - "using it under Fire". Does it mean that If i want to fire with predicting the lead action should "geographically" be positioned under the Fire action? I think typically there is a parallel node used for simultaneous actions. 
9. It is a bit hard and scary to explore creating new nodes outside those already presented in the original tree. 
10. It would be nice to be able to select multiple nodes to move them, similar to, for example, Unity Behavior Designer. And creating node on rmb so I do not have to search for from where I can create a node. 
11. Ah, got it. So the conditions work a bit differently. They don't lead to true or false; they lead only to true, and if false, they go to a different action. Got it. 
12. Campaign 1 mission 1 - not sure what would give me an edge in the fight from the AI logic standpoint, considering it is an empty field, and it results in just hp-dmg trading 
13. Not clear how tanks select a target or how to make them prioritize targets 
14. Overall, for FTUE I suggest a gradual unlock of different nodes as the campaign progresses, not to overwhelm the player and to teach individual nodes 
15. Flee action behaves very unpredictably - the tank does not flee in the direction I expect, which is away from the enemy, and instead goes on a drive-by course. 
16. Do tanks shoot backwards? 
17. Tanks rolling each other over feels unpleasant, as it feels random 
18. Is there a way to copy AI? 

Overall - feels like a game with a lot of potential. I can easily see how various behaviours and AI nodes can lead to different strategies, and, combined with different map layouts, to different combat scenarios. There is also a decision to make - how detailed you want the AI settings and how much of the behaviour you want to set up from your end. Basically, with higher freedom of setting up UI, my engagement increases logarithmically while the complexity grows exponentially. So a right balance needs to be achieved. However, right now I would recommend focusing on conducting more detailed tests on existing logical nodes and comparing if tank behaviour corresponds with the one expected by players before proceeding with adding new logical nodes. Additionally, I would recommend focusing attention on making tank behavior feel smoother. At the moment, it quite often feels rigid. 

One more thing - tanks have a FoV. I strongly encourage visualizing it, as from the player's perspective it is hard to tell whether a tank sees anyone. So as a player, I see a whole map, and it feels close, so when my tank wanders around aimlessly, it makes me feel as if the tank is at fault while in reality the enemy is just to far or behind my tank.