|
Artificial Intelligence 8.1 Artificial Intelligence 8.1.1 Aggressive Mode When a character approaches any of the enemies, say within 20 yards (differs between animals) in game distance, the aggressive mode will be turned on and the animal will attempt to attack the character. If the animal runs into the character, this will be defined as being hit (bitten or clawed). They will follow a straight line path towards the character and stop at walls. It will follow the character for as long as the character is near it. The only way to break it out of an attack once it begins it to damage it or move out of range. The AI will be purposely be unintelligent since they are merely animals. 8.1.2 Passive Mode If the animal has not been provoked then it will be set in a passive mode where it aimlessly wanders around. Once a threat has been detected nearby then it will then go into aggressive mode. Every animal starts off in passive mode when the level is loaded. 8.1.2 Specialized Character AI Each animal will have the general AI mentioned above. However, each animal will be given unique characteristics and behaviors. 8.1.2.1 Victim Victims will be manually placed by us, the developers. Their default behavior will be to stay in place while in a crouching position. They will keep track of what's happening inside a predefined bounding sphere. If they detect that an animal has come too close they will be programmed to run away in a direction opposite the direction of the approaching animal. They will mainly be used as a diversion the player can use to lure animals away from him since the animals will be programmed to chase the closest person to them. 8.1.2.2 HedgeRat HedgeRats will be the most abundant enemy in the game. Because of its large population, these animals will be continuously being respawned in levels. We will make sure they spawn outside of the view of the camera so the player doesn't just see one appear out of nowhere. It's field of vision will be large since it can hear well with its big ears. Passive: These creatures will aimlessly wander from point to point at a very fast rate. They will calculate their next point immediately after arriving at their current point and then move again right away and at a quick pace. Aggressive: Upon seeing a human to attack these animals will charge straight for them and make a jump at them a from just a few feet 8.1.2.3 Hawke Hawkes will be the second most abundant animal in the game. Since it is one of the weaker animals along with the HedgeRat, it will be set to respawn periodically, although at a lower rate since they are more powerful that HedgeRats. Since it's the only flying creature we have it's behavior will deviant slightly more from the basic algorithm. It will always remain in the air unless it is killed, then it will fall to the ground and disappear. There will be a predefined constant that defines the maximum height it can fly along with how low it will fly. Passive: There will be a large invisible bounding sphere around the Hawke. Each time it moves it will pick a point within this sphere to move to. If it falls within its global movement boundary then it angle itself in the direction it's about to travel and them move to that point at a medium pace. Aggressive: The Hawke will have a very large field of vision (this will probably be another bounding sphere. If a human travels within this sphere then the Hawke will go into attack mode. Since it will most likely be much higher than the human it will be programmed to take a straight-line path down to where the human is to attack it. The Hawke will have two attacks to choose from: it can either ram you or use it's long snake-like tail to whip you. 8.1.2.4 Turtear The Turtear will be the first animal encountered that is too powerful to be set to respawn. They will be manually placed in the levels that they appear in so that once one is defeated it will not come back. Passive: In passive mode the Turtear will be down on all fours similar to how a turtle would walk. It is extremely slow in this mode. It will be programmed to rotate about, looking in several directions, then finally it will choose a place it wants to move to and move their slowly. Sometimes it will not move at all and just stay frozen in one place. It's field of vision will be medium-sized. Aggressive: As soon as it senses a human nearby the creature's behavior will change radically: it will get up on its hind legs and charge directly at the player at a much faster pace than it would normally travel in passive mode. The animal's attacks are to just ram into the payer, swipe at him with its claws, or just bite ferociously. Basically, if it gets close to you, you are taking heavy damage. 8.1.2.5 Tarkion The Tarkion is perhaps the most fearsome beast in the entire game. Its senses are top-notch and will detect a human from extremely long distances. It will also be very stealthy and not make much noise, along with trying to stay out of the player's vision. Its only disadvantage is that it can only attack from close range. However, when it does get an attack in it will leave the player severely damaged. Tarkions, like Turtears, will be manually placed on the map in small numbers and will not respawn. Passive: The movement of the Tarkion will be erratic when in passive mode. Sometimes it will stay still in one place, other times it will scurrying from one point to another similar to a HedgeRat, while at other times it will pick a point very far away and travel to it at a brisk pace. Aggressive: When you are detected by the Tarkion it will try to keep its attacks as stealthy as possible. This means it will not do the traditional straight-line attack directly at the player. It will attempt to run out of the player's view then take a straight-line path it can no longer be seen. Once it gets close enough it will cause devastating damage to the player, much like the Turtear. 8.1.2.6 Whaguana Since Whaguanas are one of the more powerful creatures the player will face they will be carefully placed and their numbers will be very low. Passive: Will randomly pick a point a certain distance away from it (this will be like the radius of its movement) and move very slowly to that point. In between movements it will pick one of several animations to display, such as swinging its tail around or shooting water out of its blowhole. Aggressive: Will slowly move towards the player until in range for an attack. Since this creature has some fairly long ranged attacks it doesn't have to get too close and can start attacking unexpectedly from a distance. It's long range attack involves shooting a ball of water at the player from its blowhole. It will be aimed at the position that the player was at during the time of firing and will travel in an arc due to gravity. The creature's closer range attack involves whipping the player with its tail. This will involve the creature getting close enough for its tail to be able to reach the player. When in range, the Whaguana will do a rapid spin (which just involves it rotating 360 degrees at a fast pace), hopefully hitting the player with the length of its tail. |
|
| Copyright Firedragon Designing 2008. All rights reserved. | ||