'I'm warning you, there's dozens of us hidden in the hills' - What if there really were? Scouting suggestion.

[ppga]

As a bunch of looters tried to scare me off by threatening me with their hidden friends (spoiler alert, it didn't work), it occurred to me what if there were actually were extra looters hiding that my scout didn't see and laid an ambush?

When you spot other parties on the map the numbers and composition (infantry, archers, cavalry) are quite exact. Maybe Calradia has drones and satellite imagery, or maybe it might be better if the estimate was a bit rougher and improved with scouting, and there could be critical fails or something that allow you to get jumped (or jump) parties.

Apologies if this has previously been suggested, but I don't recall if it was.

 

[stevepine]

Really good idea.That would be awesome ... but it's exactly the kind of 'great / nice to have' thing that is to taleworlds the way that garlic is to a vampire.

 

[niekdegrijze]

it was discussed in a post called uncertainty principle:

https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/the-uncertainty-principle.447511/#post-9755959

i also recall a thread somewhere with a dev replay about this topic, but could not find it quickly

 

[LordDaem]

If they did implement it, it could become tiresome very quickly.

I can imagine it happening more often than they intend - and you end up fighting 100 looters every time ?

 

[JunKeteer]

My only fear is if they tied the engagement calculations (whether party/army runs or chases) with the battle simulation outcomes for AI. So the pursuer is always guaranteed 100% victory and running party always loses. And the only variable is the player or nearby 'magnet' armies joining mid-way.
Didn't scouting used to have a bonus vs fog of war or seeing details of the army composition vs what we have now with near drone/satellite knowledge of their full troops? And how that impacts how AIs decide?

 

[CaptainLee]

Yeah I'd much prefer a Heroes of Might and Magic system of giving general descriptives for numbers in parties so there's at least some chance of being unpleasantly surprise. By all means have better scouting give you more accurate info. As it is, how often really are you in danger of being defeated by any of the bandit types? What are their point other than free XP and loot? Gimme some risk/reward.

 

[svelok]

My only fear is if they tied the engagement calculations (whether party/army runs or chases) with the battle simulation outcomes for AI. So the pursuer is always guaranteed 100% victory and running party always loses.

Even if the AI's power estimation is the same as the simulated strength calculation (which I don't think it is but I'm too lazy to look), simulated battles include some RNG, so this wouldn't be a problem in and of itself.

 

[niekdegrijze]

Even if the AI's power estimation is the same as the simulated strength calculation (which I don't think it is but I'm too lazy to look), simulated battles include some RNG, so this wouldn't be a problem in and of itself.

As a player it would be nice to have to guess (within a range) the actual strength of the enemy and the army composition. A high level scouting perk should give you more details.
for the AI it could be a random deviation in strength assessment based on scout level. And a decision to engage or flee could be influenced by the party leaders traits.

If this would be implemented I think the AI should have to option to flee as well by sacrificing soldiers like the player can. Otherwise parties would disappear all over the map.

 

[JunKeteer]

Even if the AI's power estimation is the same as the simulated strength calculation (which I don't think it is but I'm too lazy to look), simulated battles include some RNG, so this wouldn't be a problem in and of itself.

Which I hope not, we don't have their formulations to really know. But even the simulations need a bit of tweaking; every time I simulate fight 50+ looters with a stacked party, it's always just a single T5/6 unit that dies and someone mentioned it had to do with how the RNG rolls the frequency so probability/hits for top tiers usually goes up or something.

As a player it would be nice to have to guess (within a range) the actual strength of the enemy and the army composition. A high level scouting perk should give you more details.
for the AI it could be a random deviation in strength assessment based on scout level. And a decision to engage or flee could be influenced by the party leaders traits.

If this would be implemented I think the AI should have to option to flee as well by sacrificing soldiers like the player can. Otherwise parties would disappear all over the map.

Yeah, just give a deviation%; no scout skills in party, maybe see AI parties within a 50% accuracy or round to nearest 10th or something.