Fintail Gladiator Prototype Update: New AI Opponents

Fintail Gladiator Prototype » Devlog

4 years ago by MrJBRPG (@MrJBRPG_GameDev)

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Game Prototype Update: NEW AI Opponents

[Haha... That's simply a test level to demonstrate path-finding to target player. However, that will not be part of the latest demo.]

Latest files are available for download on any PC platform.

From an earlier post about the Opponent AI, I knew there are a lot of possibilities with potential behaviors. After making the general AI more modular and customizable, I came up with 3 opponents based on distinct behavior:

Opponent 1: Basic Flipper - Flips and then stands still for short period

Opponent 2: Flip and Flee - When close, will evade from player for short period, making it difficult to chase.

Opponent 3: Speed Spinner - Spins wildly when going fast or about to hit unsuspected players.

How was that achieved? It is all thanks to the three basic behaviors for each opponent as states for Finite State Machine (FSM):

AI STATES	Current	Future
Seek	Seeks closest available player, will either traverse through solids with pathway or go directly at player without any obstacles in the way. Default behavior when not close to the target.	Will implement local avoidance for other obstacles, whether it be spikes, urchins, or other hazards
Flee	Currently a behavior that simply makes a random point opposite of the opponent fish's direction. Happens when close to player. Can be toggled on and off.	Will implement a random point away from target should its tail blade face towards seeker. May consider smoother ways to reach vulnerable body with local avoidance.
Attack	Implements command move and timer. Strongly encourages customized attack patterns. Response to attacking when close is pretty much instant. Can be toggled on and off.	Will allow further customization of attack commands and conditions.

Additionally, it comes down to a good deal of planning through flowcharts, which influences more organized code, leading to these structured behaviors.