The snowballing has thankfully been slowed, but I have noticed an overall problem with the AI when it comes to defending things. The problem is that the AI does not defend anything, ever. I have not once fought a siege battle as a defender in 30 plus hours because I never know anything is getting sieged, but more importantly, I have never been part of attacking and seen an AI lord at the castle/town to defend it.
Other problems, the AI Formation's stop the AI within the formation from properly defending themselves. Example, the AI formation on the other side of the inner gate, they do not move forward to block the inner gate after it has been breached, they don't guard their flanks when being attacked by units from the sides, they just stand there, in a nice little shield wall, and they die. Another huge problem is that garrisons are too small to defend any of these castles, and that the defense AI for the walls also doesn't work properly. Groups of archers facing walls where they can't shoot anything, archers not looking down to fire upon advancing enemies. No melee units on the walls near ladders and siege towers, so the attacker army gets to take the walls with almost no resistance before the defender melee troops can even get there. There is no situational awareness for AI units whatsoever. They will stay in formations and die, or literally run past enemies on their own walls to try to get to the pre determined archery locations, getting slaughtered as they do.
There is going to have to be a major overhaul of battle AI in general, since, IMO, large battles between hundreds of soldiers end in less than ten minutes, and Siege battles are impossible for the AI to properly defend in it's current state. Also Armor, Armor needs to actually matter, it currently does not seem too, making heavily armored units seem to die at the exact same speed as non armored units. Armor needs to actually matter and right now, it does not. That factors partially into battles being way too short and sieges being broken.
Other problems, the AI Formation's stop the AI within the formation from properly defending themselves. Example, the AI formation on the other side of the inner gate, they do not move forward to block the inner gate after it has been breached, they don't guard their flanks when being attacked by units from the sides, they just stand there, in a nice little shield wall, and they die. Another huge problem is that garrisons are too small to defend any of these castles, and that the defense AI for the walls also doesn't work properly. Groups of archers facing walls where they can't shoot anything, archers not looking down to fire upon advancing enemies. No melee units on the walls near ladders and siege towers, so the attacker army gets to take the walls with almost no resistance before the defender melee troops can even get there. There is no situational awareness for AI units whatsoever. They will stay in formations and die, or literally run past enemies on their own walls to try to get to the pre determined archery locations, getting slaughtered as they do.
There is going to have to be a major overhaul of battle AI in general, since, IMO, large battles between hundreds of soldiers end in less than ten minutes, and Siege battles are impossible for the AI to properly defend in it's current state. Also Armor, Armor needs to actually matter, it currently does not seem too, making heavily armored units seem to die at the exact same speed as non armored units. Armor needs to actually matter and right now, it does not. That factors partially into battles being way too short and sieges being broken.
