View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0004289Valley 1Bug - OtherOct 18, 2011 6:38 pm
ReporterToll Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version0.505 
Fixed in Version0.526 
Summary0004289: Skelebot Dwarves often miss their first shot
DescriptionIf a Skelebot Dwarf comes running head-on, the first shot they make often (if not always) miss you. See the screenshot for an example.
TagsNo tags attached.
Internal WeightFix ASAP

Activities

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 29, 2011 8:32 am

administrator   ~0014593

One of the things about programming action game AI: you have to make enemies miss. In any FPS game, there's no reason that every enemy could not shoot you perfectly from any distance any time you are in range with LOS from them. You'd barely be able to walk a foot. Same thing will Billiards simulations: the opponents could make incredible runs every time and never let you play at all. Also the same thing largely goes for racing games, but to a somewhat lesser extent.

This is very different from strategy game (or board game, or card game, or puzzle game) AI, where the challenge is actually to make the AI as good as a human. This bears noting, because literally to hit you every time all I have to do for the dwarf skelebot is say "when range equals this, fire" and it will never ever miss you when you're around. That would be incredibly cheap and frustrating for players.

Therefore, instead, there's a "when the range is within this offset, fire" logic, which means that sometimes they will miss like a human would, and you can avoid their fire if you jump at them from certain angles, etc, etc.

Anyway, hope that makes sense -- with this game the challenge is mostly the opposite of AI War, when it comes to the simple enemy-level AI: rather than trying to make it act optimally at all times, the trick is making it act sub-optimally in a believable/fun way.

Toll

Sep 29, 2011 8:39 am

reporter   ~0014595

I definitely see your point, but it's not that he "doesn't always hit", it's "he more or less always misses". I just did a test where I had a Skelebot Dwarf run back and forth and I stood still. Out of ten shots, he missed ten times, and they were all misses of the same magnitude; roughly one "square" away from me.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 29, 2011 9:15 am

administrator   ~0014602

Hmm... okay, yeah, I may need to make one adjustment for when the target is standing still in particular.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 18, 2011 6:38 pm

administrator   ~0016757

Okay, at long last:

* Skelebot dwarves no longer miss their first shot if you're standing still in particular.

Thanks!

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Sep 29, 2011 8:18 am Toll New Issue
Sep 29, 2011 8:18 am Toll File Added: Screenshot_2011_09_29_14_17_01.png
Sep 29, 2011 8:32 am Chris_McElligottPark Internal Weight => New
Sep 29, 2011 8:32 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014593
Sep 29, 2011 8:32 am Chris_McElligottPark Status new => closed
Sep 29, 2011 8:32 am Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Sep 29, 2011 8:32 am Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => no change required
Sep 29, 2011 8:39 am Toll Note Added: 0014595
Sep 29, 2011 9:15 am Chris_McElligottPark Internal Weight New => Fix ASAP
Sep 29, 2011 9:15 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014602
Sep 29, 2011 9:15 am Chris_McElligottPark Status closed => confirmed
Oct 18, 2011 6:38 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0016757
Oct 18, 2011 6:38 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status confirmed => resolved
Oct 18, 2011 6:38 pm Chris_McElligottPark Fixed in Version => 0.526
Oct 18, 2011 6:38 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution no change required => fixed