I've recently come back with rights to the dev server and have begun working on some rather large projects, one being (what I am also featuring right now) a near-finished product of my baddies project I started quite a while ago.
The above video is Era veteran, The Guy, and I testing a semi-wide-scale battle. The lag you see is the result of our less-than-spectacular dev server, but for the most part remains smooth.
Baddy Features
I tried to focus solely on a bit of realism with these baddies. I didn't want them to feel like a pumpfest of lead while they mindlessly chase after someone with a knife. A few things are quite apparently from the video:
-Baddy strafing and distance keeping
This holds true when they aren't flagged in the code to be a melee-based baddy. This video has no examples of a melee baddy, but I'm sure you have a general idea of how it'd work.
-Baddy threat
The baddies will not seemingly have a vendetta against the first person they see as was the case of other baddies in the past. Those doing more damage will be considered more dangerous targets, and will be switched to accordingly.
-Baddy line of sight
You may have noticed they do not attack until you are seen. This is intentional.
-Baddy damage sources
In the past, I've had a gripe with systems that seemed to work well for all typical damage sources like guns or melee, but then seem to disregard non-conventional sources of damage such as explosions. Most, if not all, sources of damage are accounted for this time around.
Some Non-Apparent Tidbits
-Friendly and easy-to-use setup
These baddies are highly customizable with simple variable changes. NPC Speed, bullet spread, ammo type, etc. are all options to set.
-Reflex
This was a neat idea I had to add another level of baddy difficulty. The reflex variable is essentially a pause in the baddy's reactions to your movements so that it doesn't seems so gung-ho and robotic.
So, what do you plan on doing with these?
That's just it, they're flexible enough to implement in nearly any system. I've been focusing primarily on quests with neat stories and fun gimmicks, and some lifelike baddies were key to helping this come true. There are many ideas that I, and others that I collaborate with, have come up with. My proposition for the new gang system involves these guys as well. However, that will come later once I get more of that developed and out of the way.
Anyway, I've been working hard to provide you guys a fun environment. And that's what I find so much fun. So I hope you guys dig it and I'll keep you all posted.
03-20-2012, 07:48 AM
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