Paradoxically, when the AI has an optical sight on their weapon they will ignore distant targets which they were previously happy to shoot at. I have done some testing and these seem to be the maximum engagement ranges:
- Iron sights: 700-800m.
- Reflex sights (ACO): 300-400m, despite these sights making acquiring a sight picture much easier.
- Magnifying scopes (*RCO): 500-600m.
Two suggestions for improvement
- ACO-type and RCO-type should both increase the effective range of the A.I. RCO more than ACO.
- Maximum engagement range should be a function of caliber and barrel length*. Yes, an AI with RCO ought to be more effective at 500m than one with iron sights, but both should engage targets they know about up to the max lethal range of their weapon. The decrease in effectiveness should be done with reduced accuracy/reduced certainty about target location.
- These actually are taken into account. From the testing I have done TRG-21 and Mk. 20 (both 5.56) have lower max engagement ranges than Katiba and MX (6.5). However, I am saying that they should be the only determiner of max engagement range.