About Survivor Bots

VortexVentamy

I'm sure there have been many things said about survivor bots since the update, but I would like to point out some things about them from both the killer and survivor side.

First, I should mention I think survivor bots are a good thing. This post is just discussing some issues/changes I would like to make them better for both sides.

Killer Against Bots

From the killer side, I would like to talk about three things: first being bots should not have wall hacks, second being I should be allowed to exit if there are only bots in the game, and third bots need difficulty scaling.

In one occasion, I was playing Ghost Face and all but one survivor had died... that one survivor being a bot. We eventually went to shack and while undetectable she could still know exactly where I am going. Bots should not be able to have wall hacks, now to be fair I do not know much about developing a survivor bot but this feels like a glaring issue. I understand it would help them loop better, but even through undetectable? Additionally, do I really need to continue a game with ONLY bots? I understand that some killers may want to stay and get more bloodpoints, which is perfectly valid and I would do that as well, but sometimes I just want the game to end and move on to the next.

Note that this was one somewhat specific occasion, the first issue in most scenarios is not a problem. It mainly comes down to structures with walls or indoor maps where the survivor should not be able to see through or at least have some trouble seeing through. They are not suppose to be the best of the best bots. Which actually brings me to another point, which is bots need difficulty scaling.

For newer killers especially, bots may be a bit oppressive as they can be too hard to kill and practice with. My friend who is quite new to dead by daylight talks about how tough bots can be as he cannot keep up with them, talking about how good they are. I think there needs to be a difficulty selector with bots, mainly with customs but also in disconnect bots. The difficulty of disconnect bots could be based on MMR but that is the simplest thing I could think of. I will get into this more later.

Surviving With Bots

I do not have many complaints about bots as survivor. Getting a bot can be great! They're good enough, know what to do most of the time, and are sometimes reliable. There are small moments where I would rather they do the objective rather than open a chest at full health, but fair enough. However, in the past (and even now) they would misuse flashlights, either never using them or using them in an open area making them easy prey to the killer.

I would like to see the bots learn how to use items better in situations that are natural. A bot should not be giving free hits just to blind. While I agree it is quite humorous seeing them click the flashlight at the killer trying to blind while running away, I wish they would blind at spots where a normal player would try to blind.

I understand that most of this post was against the bots, but I also think that bots are good right now. With some tweaking I feel like they can be perfect for both sides.

Changes + Recap

I understand that developing bots is not an easy task, but these are the things I and probably many others would like to see in the future.

1. Bots need scaling on how good they are. A bot at a difficulty at 1 would not be as good as a bot at a difficulty at 10. This would allow low and high level killers go against bots and know what they are going against. For disconnect bots, make it based on the average MMR level of the lobby.
2. Allow the killer to leave the trial if there are only bots. In a live game where I want to go against survivors, I would like to go against real people rather than bots. Sure, some may stay for extra bloodpoints, (including me), while others want to simply go to the next game (which is also me).
3. Adjust how bots react to the killer. In games against people, there is no reason a survivor should see what I am doing at all times, so why should bots? Let them guess where the killer is going at times, making it a literal 50/50 on whether or not they get injured.
4. Let bots use items more realistically, with difficulty scaling in mind. If the bot has a flashlight, only blind in realistic situations like when the killer breaks a pallet or to attempt a rescue a survivor. However in lower difficulties let the bot be silly and blind in open areas. If the bot has a medkit heal in places where healing is good, at lower levels let them heal anywhere but at higher levels make them heal under pallets or in corners by windows. For toolboxes let them use it whenever, however at a higher level let them wait to use it for the last couple of generators or the last bit of progress on gens. Additionally teach them when to sabotage a hook.

Bots are a good thing, they can help those play games alone or replace a teammate that has abandoned them. I believe with adjustments and time, the bots can be perfect for players of all skill levels.

gjcmu2018

I would like to add something I've seen in a few survivor matches now with bots.

Giving up on hook during second stage.

I've had it happen 3 times now where I am on my to unhook a bot and they gave up on hook. I'm talking about when they have at least 2/3rd's of their second hook stage to go. I understand missing skill checks, but that means they missed 2 hook skill checks in a row.