Monster AI adjustment feedback
This will be my feedback on the new Monster AI behavior, I am aware this is still a WIP but I would like to emphasize points that I find great about these new changes, how things can be improve.
Firstly I would like to say, I find these changes very good. This is a great direction it is nice to have monsters that do not feel very static. Monsters seem to have multiple sets of behaviors and skills this again is never to attack the development but give feedback from a players perspective.
First we will talk about some of the behaviors I’ve encountered, I will go ahead and name these behaviors, the pros,cons, and how I feel like these behaviors can be improved/expanded upon.
Alerting Behavior
This behavior is shared by many monsters some examples are bandits, merman, vadons, wolves and many others. These monsters when attacked will rally additional enemies to attack you, this makes you have to consider the situation in which you pull a monster. Some appear to have longer pull ranges than other. This is very similar of how wolves operate in RO1.
Pros to this behavior:
- Allows for mobbing
- Forces players to make commitments in their choice of pulling
- Excellent for parties and tanking as you gather enemies quicker
Cons to this behavior
- This can cause frustration to lower level players
- Limits the soloability of the monster in question
How this can be improved or expanded on
Radius/Range Tweaking
- Tweak the radius/range that this can effect can pulling behavior can occur, some locations such as wolves or merman can leave swarms of them on you. Wolves can pull from a very long distance.
Linking System
- Expand this system into a linking system opposed to impacting actors into an area keep the same behavior in place but have Priorities for each, maybe out a set of 6 wolves, 2 of them are linked to each other and the other 4 are linked together. This allows for dynamic alerting behavior that gvies players choices to pull monsters in clumps without the fear of pulling all 6.
Sight, Sound
- Consider the usage of Sight, Sound True Sight/Sound systems, Sight would be actor being seen, Sound would be approaching too close to the monster regardless of its facing direction will aggro the monster. True Sight/True Sound would mean that no matter what buffs you have you can not avoid the monster. The reason to consider these systems is because this opens up the ability pool to allow for magic or items that allow you to avoid confrontations by choice.
Example 1: A Monster has vision of his ally but does not have vision of you, attacking the merman facing away from you
Sound would be the normal alerting behavior, Monster is aware that its ally is being attacked and comes for its aid.
Monsters considering their situation
Some monsters that exhibit this that I have faced are Pukui’s, bunbuns, Rats
These monsters are designed currently to consider if they can win the fight and will run away if brought to a low HP, winning the fight forces the player to engage closely witht he enemy but does not punish the player for not following up. Some monsters will Kite you such as Merman and keep their distance while unleashing attack.
pros
- this behavior is good for low level monsters as it awards the player for being persistant
- this forces the player to pay attention and give chase when the monster is ont he run
cons
- This behavior is currently very buggy due to collision rules
- If placed on higher level monsters the player is rewarded for just weakening the monster
ways you can expand/Improve this behavior
Injured/panic status
- When injured the monster will have a short burst slowdown that gradually goes back to normal kind of like a hitstun this would allow less collision checks with terrain where the monster de-syncs and the player loses the kill, Kiting enemies would slow down allowing melees to finish the gap closing leaving them still leaving them at a disadvantge but not creating a impossible to deal situation.
Monster Skills
Some monsters have too much consideration for each other but I do not feel like this should be the case, there have been many situations when fight something in the pukui family mass healing each other, this creates a very frustrating situation on crowded places like on the beach near the lighthouse in the hode region
Collision checks for objects
Allow fleeing monsters to ignore some collision checks on objects such as fences
monsters can seemingly float on top of these types of objects and cross over them while fleeing, while this is immersion breaking this can be less frustrating than the monster de-syncing and going back to its respawn.
Possibly have them become aware of unwalkable terrain and have them change directions when near large inclines or game objects
Some ideas for AI patterns,
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Roaming types; Monsters that can roam most of the map, Fishes, Chonchons, MVP’s
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Speedy; Monsters that will buff themselves with a movement speed increase at random when out of combat like chon chons’
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Blood Aggro: Monsters that have high range aggro distance on injured players, Wolves come to mind
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Slave Summoners: Monsters that will summon temporary combat slaves to aid them, MVPs
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Magic aggro: not like the cast sensor that Rhoda’s have when you target them with a ranged attack but in general casting magic around certain monsters causing them to aggro you. Porings, Marins and magical looking creatures that could be good contenders for this behavior
Conclusion
I don’t have too much to say, these are amazing changes and I can’t wait to find out how you continue to expand and improve, I hope some of these ideas and feedback can be helpful. I may have missed some other new monster behaviors, its clear many have gotten new skills, blinds, bleeds and other enfeebles I think this is the right direction.
Zadoras and culvert mobs need to be high re-assessed as they are literal deathzones, Wolves, Bandits and Cat bandits and aggro chonchons are a very strong contender.
Thank you again for all the hard work and dedication you put into this project!