Karl Jones wrote: [..]
"Dumb-bots" -- this is a smart idea, I like it.
I have had similar thoughts about various kinds of bots -- an ecosystem of intelligences, some entities dumber, some entities smarter.
Intelligence is not necessarily a survival trait. Consider us, for example: if we nuke ourselves to extinction, the survival value of our big beautiful brains drops to zero. Would be interesting to mix various kinds of bot-intelligences, just to witness their interactions.
Yes, you want to maximice survival traits for competitive bots. This why some bot coders try to implement cowarly on older bots. But Its dificult and often need a extensive waypoint system.
And you can mix different brain styles so the result can be different from a "robotic beavior". A good idea can be to have a army of soldiers with a intelligent sarge, then you may kill the sarge, and the whole squad will become chaotic idiot. Having only 1 intelligent bot*, and 30 dumb ones can save some CPU, too.
Taken to an extreme, one could build a first-person equivalent of genetic algorithm modeling, where entities represent ideas (e.g. gas-engine turbine design) ... iterate the entities through many many generations ... entities evolve ... the long-term survivor represents the entity best adapted to it's environment (i.e. most efficient gas-engine turbine).
Another idea can be to add strategic ideas to FPS games.
I think about threnches. A mod about WW1, with bots hidding on holes waiting to move forward, mover left-move right, or runaway cowarly. A bit of RTS alike code can add something to a threnches combat.
Anyway I think actual bots are intelligent enough. No need to add more AI. Can be much more fun to add ASS ( artificial sstupidity ).
Also, I like the idea that Art Imitates Life ... therefore Art should have dumb entities, just as Life does.
Even smart ones become dumb somethimes. Often in a funny way.
I want bot to act like stupid people, lazy sharnigans that waste time walking here and there. I also want to make bots cowards, so runaway to avoid attack, and make bots very evile, so camp the player on dark areas.
Consider the Scientists -- cowards who run at any sign of danger. How about modding scientists into weapons ... say, remote-detonation bombs?
Hummm...
Consider the lowly Cockroach entity -- it has AI to avoid light. I made a modified cockroach which explodes when you step on it, how's that for crafty camping?
Or a friendly headcrab that follow you and help you,but heal sucking your blood. Something similar whats on Half-Life1 design, but whats not in the final release (I think).
Another idea can be to add a spoon as a weapon. Then jail the player where the only exit is to carve a tunel alien infested ;D
I also want this bot to chat in a obnoxius ways, say... over-celebrate frags, and blame lag for being a losser.
Funny.
Also, when they get *really* scared, dumb-bots should wet their pants. And the effect should include a slippery wet zone on the floor ... transient, so the whole map doesn't turn to slippery urine ... but seriously, this could cause all kinds of entertaining chaos for players -- surprise appearance of low-friction zones during a firefight ....
You can even start a disccusion that may result in all foes killing each another. Say... "Where its my weapon? Its you joe, AGAIN!". Something similar can be scripted.
Will use the most ridiculous weapon because its dumb, not because some random choice.
I submit that the most ridiculous weapon is a banana -- only an idiot brings a banana to a gunfight.
spoons are my 2th option, and are usefull to carve tunels
a giant monster may use other foes has "ammo" to trown at you
His accuracy will be poor. He will try to "score" being cool, and fail. Will to jump over lava, and fail.
Funny. Also, if he gets a chance, he will push players over the edge. This should be relatively easy to hack, in the code where the TalkMonster (I'm not sure about other entities) says, I'm too close to the player, I must back off -- right here, give the player a bit of a push, in the opposite direction. I don't know how to check for a ledge, but any push could have all kinds of violent, amusing consequences ....
hehe..
This bot will forget the level. Will become lost and will act exactly like a stupid guy being lost in the forest. Even will ask for help.
Tricky. I think he doesn't actually "forgets" the level -- rather, he thinks about his path in a deliberate way, which appears forgetful. Perhaps he uses his own "info_node_dumb" entity, rather than the regular nodes? Or he uses both?
I need a maze the size of a football stadium and a bunch of idiots to analize that.
Maybe idiots may try to hidden, then follow you quietly. Who knows?
I suspect he needs more clever code to appear genuinely stupid. Making a persuasive mimic of stupidity may require surprisingly intelligent code.
Naaa..
But you can start with a intelligent bot, then add realism and stupidity.
- limited vision - bad accuracy - bad weapon selection - etc..
Cool idea, keep us posted on further developments.
Karl Jones
I am planning to wrote some docs about. Drawings on swf. Also to read a few AI books to collect ideas. I will buy the HL2 game, and with the release of HL2SDK may try building some ideas.
see you later
note: *strictly that its mobs (muds style slang) not bots (=player alike)
_______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
