AI in Flying Circus cant attack you below 50m

[jokash]

If you fly below 50m you are invulnerable to AI - cause it will never attack.You can fly straight,lazy circles.whatever,they are just incapable of attacking for some reason and will just do flybys next to you.This behaviour is also present in GB.I think it has something with do with AI unable to aim down (simulating cockpit getting in the way),but the result is very pronounced in Flying Circus.

Even worse is that AI will still fixate on you even though it cant attack.They will just do mock attacks then pullup when they are near but for some reason they dont fire or try to get slower and then shoot at you.

 

[Minstrel]

Nah, I get shot to shize in my 109 by Migs in BOM when I’m at treetops

[Catch]

 @LukeFF Will the devs be doing improvements to the FC AI or not?

[AndreiTomescu]

14 hours ago, jokash said:

they are just incapable of attacking for some reason and will just do flybys next to you.This behaviour is also present in GB.I think it has something with do with AI unable to aim down

hello jokash, 

i can swear to all Gods that in GB (dunno in FC) you can fly low like 10 meters, maneuvering like crazy, and the AI will shoot you very neat, making 1 pass, extending and then coming back for more, until you're done for. IMHO, it's a bit too insistent! but nah, in GB low doesn't protect you. sometimes i tried to make it crash due to low level, sometimes i managed, sometimes not.  

[Catch]

42 minutes ago, AndreiTomescu said:

i can swear to all Gods that in GB (dunno in FC) you can fly low like 10 meters, maneuvering like crazy, and the AI will shoot you very neat, making 1 pass, extending and then coming back for more, until you're done for. IMHO, it's a bit too insistent! but nah, in GB low doesn't protect you. sometimes i tried to make it crash due to low level, sometimes i managed, sometimes not. 

That may be true Andrei but blokes who have both GB and FC have often criticised the FC AI (in general) as worse than GB. I cannot verify jokash's particular complaint because, as a skillful ace, I would never resort to such a rouse as attempting escape by skimming the deck. It is certain death under normal circumstances. I would rather die as a gentleman and dook it out with panache and respect. But I have no reason to doubt that it occurs in FC should one be stupid enough to fall into that trap.

[jokash]

Its very easily replicated...quick battle,career,scripted campaign...just go below 50m,even as high as 30-40m and its like you submerged underwater.

Picture from quick battle doing a slow turn at 30m and 4 veteran enemy camels cant position to attack,worse still they cant even fly without crashing into each other.But they will follow you everywhere and do flybys above you

[AndreiTomescu]

@Catch :to be 100% true, this AI complains that i keep reading about keeps me from temporary giving those birds of pray from WW2 a rest and going back in time, to those Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. I crave for this, as I haven't been there since the Aces of Dawn times. I would go for the AI of Flander Fields, but since i've enthusiastically sustained the devs by having all 4 volumes of FC, i really would use them..... 

If it isn't much bother to you, if and when that time of going back to when it all started will come i will PM you for some guidance. On the old forum there was also another WW1 guru, STCatchov, i think, or something like this, but maybe he hasn't followed us here in the new land. Thank you. P.S. your writing style brings me much joy and entertainment. It's lovely, actually

[LukeFF]

16 hours ago, Catch said:

 @LukeFF Will the devs be doing improvements to the FC AI or not?

As always, if there is time it will be improved. 

[kraut1]

For each plane there is an AI file in which the MinSafetyAltitude0 = 50.0 .
Maybe this altitude is required to avoid accidents.
But for tests someone could try out to reduce it...

 

ww1-ai-files-not-changed.zip

example of AI folder structure:

Edited Wednesday at 07:59 PM by kraut1

[Catch]

8 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

@Catch :to be 100% true, this AI complains that i keep reading about keeps me from temporary giving those birds of pray from WW2 a rest and going back in time, to those Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. I crave for this, as I haven't been there since the Aces of Dawn times. I would go for the AI of Flander Fields, but since i've enthusiastically sustained the devs by having all 4 volumes of FC, i really would use them..... 

If it isn't much bother to you, if and when that time of going back to when it all started will come i will PM you for some guidance. On the old forum there was also another WW1 guru, STCatchov, i think, or something like this, but maybe he hasn't followed us here in the new land. Thank you. P.S. your writing style brings me much joy and entertainment. It's lovely, actually

ST_Catchov was an imposter, a cad and a vulgar agitator. Luke knows this. I know this. I disassociate myself entirely from the bounder and wish I'd never been him. 

Give FC a go. You have nothing to lose. It's not as bad as you think. Ignore the critics. We tend to focus on the negatives too much because we want perfection. Make up your own mind.

[AndreiTomescu]

ok.....i've just read some of his posts and saw that that guy was into WW1/FC.....didn't know him a bit.....peace&good skies to us all !

I will give FC a go. Thank you for the advice !

[Catch]

46 minutes ago, AndreiTomescu said:

I will give FC a go. Thank you for the advice !

Great! Let me know what you think Andrei.

52 minutes ago, AndreiTomescu said:

ok.....i've just read some of his posts and saw that that guy was into WW1/FC.....didn't know him a bit..

Lol just for clarity as I think there was something lost in translation. 🙂 I am Catchov. I am that guy. 😁 I was just clowning around. Peace Bro.

[AndreiTomescu]

OMG...you have a great opinion about yourself from a different universe. 🙂 Had to look out what "cad" means  🙂 

truth to be told text msg are less expressive. i'm a joker myself, sometimes an agitator, never vulgar, thou ==joking==, impostor pilot, obviously.....

still from the previous forum i think that you are the ww1 guru.  Agitating !!! 🙂 

[BladeMeister]

12 hours ago, Catch said:

ST_Catchov was an imposter, a cad and a vulgar agitator. Luke knows this. I know this. I disassociate myself entirely from the bounder and wish I'd never been him. 

That guy was a complete tool. Avoid him at all cost!!!

 

S!Blade<><

[jokash]

20 hours ago, LukeFF said:

As always, if there is time it will be improved. 

I don't mind the the usual narrative of only circles AI in FC,(sure i would like better),but the low flying thing bug is kinda game breaking and ruins the whole impression.I also know for a fact that AI does it in GB also so maybe fixing it in FC will fix it there aswell.

18 hours ago, kraut1 said:

For each plane there is an AI file in which the MinSafetyAltitude0 = 50.0 .
Maybe this altitude is required to avoid accidents.
But for tests someone could try out to reduce it...
 

How do i get these AI files? Extract from somewhere?

[kraut1]

26 minutes ago, jokash said:

 

How do i get these AI files? Extract from somewhere?

They are extracted from the Scripts.gtp.
The WW1 ai files are already attached in the zip that I had attached.

I have put them in a JSGME compatible folder structure named:
WW1-AI-Mod-for-tests

WW1-AI-Mod-for-tests.zip

Currently nothing is changed.
If you want to try out you can edit the ai files.

It is as usual a JSGME compatible Mod:
https://forum.il2-series.com/topic/1272-jsgme-guide-and-manual/

 

Edited Thursday at 02:32 PM by kraut1

[GiftGruen]

On 2/18/2026 at 2:43 PM, jokash said:

Picture from quick battle doing a slow turn at 30m and 4 veteran enemy camels cant position to attack,worse still they cant even fly without crashing into each other.But they will follow you everywhere and do flybys above you

Well. This is normal AI behaviour in FC and has nothing to do with height .-)

[Catch]

1 hour ago, GiftGruen said:

Well. This is normal AI behaviour in FC and has nothing to do with height .-)

Aye. If only FC had been standalone. 

[jokash]

On 2/19/2026 at 3:31 PM, kraut1 said:

They are extracted from the Scripts.gtp.
The WW1 ai files are already attached in the zip that I had attached.

I have put them in a JSGME compatible folder structure named:
WW1-AI-Mod-for-tests

WW1-AI-Mod-for-tests.zip 131.81 kB · 0 downloads

Currently nothing is changed.
If you want to try out you can edit the ai files.

It is as usual a JSGME compatible Mod:
https://forum.il2-series.com/topic/1272-jsgme-guide-and-manual/

 

I will try to mess around with it...though there are several entries for it

MinSafeAltitude0  = 50.0
    MaxSafeAltitude0  = 100.0
    MinSafeAltitude45 = 80.0
    MaxSafeAltitude45 = 150.0
    MinSafeAltitudeVP = 300.0
    MaxSafeAltitudeVP = 600.0
 

example for Airco DH.2

[jokash]

They definatelly are more eager to kamikaze your plane,and will ram you if you let them.Otherwise they still mostly make flybys.No attack with guns.They do go lower i think.At the start of the fight they dove down and one ore two pulled like 10m from the ground,was really cool to see.

Edited Friday at 07:46 PM by jokash

[jokash]

This the advice that AI chatbot gave me when i asked him about AI leader wingman collisions...apparanetly you can upload luascripts to chatbot and it will translate what each text does in IL2 GB

 If you want wingmen to stay farther away during attacks
You can safely adjust:
Increase:PursueWingmanDist
•      (e.g., 250 → 400)

AirTargetToLeaderCriticalDistance
•      (e.g., 4000,6000 → 6000,8000)
Decrease:WingLeaderLagCorrectionK
•      (e.g., 1.0 → 0.6)
This will make wingmen:
•     spread out more
•     attack less in sync
•     avoid crowding the leader
•     approach from wider angles

If you want, I can help you tune these values for:
•     tighter formation attacks
•     looser, more realistic WW1‑style attacks
•     more aggressive or more cautious wingmen
Just tell me the behavior you want to achieve.

Edited Friday at 08:17 PM by jokash

[MaxPower]

I can confirm that my go to tactic to escape being hounded by fighters when flying something else is to skim the deck.  It serves to make ai attacks much less effective, possibly including my own gunners.  They'll chase me to my home airfield where I'll just land right in front of them while they look on and give me a thumbs up out the window... then they try to strafe me on the ground, the bastards.