A conversation Cakespear and I had last night about the AI for Zombie Swarm.
Sumo: so whats up with ZS
Cakespear:
Cakespear: arr
Sumo: how many states are there in total?
Cakespear: 10
Sumo: have you completed any of the states fully?
Cakespear: ZombieAImaster v1.3DEMO, ZS folder
(viewing the AI application)
Sumo: are those circles for show?
Cakespear: No
Cakespear: Their sounds
Sumo: i know that
Cakespear: zombies react to them
Cakespear: They turn yellow and follow the sound
Sumo: but im wondering if the "sound circles" are actually coded
Cakespear: yes, try shooting at a wall near some zombies, theil turn YELLOW and walk in the direction of the sound
Cakespear: Or maybe i missunderstoood you
Sumo: i was saying
Sumo: do you need those circles; like is the sounds "circles" just some code and your using the circles as show?
Sumo: or do you just do an overlap of any zombies on the circle?
Cakespear: Oh, i get you now
Cakespear: The circles have to overlap Zombies for them to be able to hear them, they don't need to be visible though, i just made them barely visible on purpose
Sumo: and invisible objects don't contribute to significant lag, right?
Cakespear: Its just 1 sound object, but it changes size and attributes to it every time it is created
Sumo: oh that's good
Sumo: its looking pretty good so far
Cakespear: As you notice their of different sizes but its the same object
Sumo: so how many states have you completed out of 10?
Cakespear: And if the Zombies loose sight of you, they will still chase the last location they saw you
Sumo: really? wow
Sumo:
Cakespear: Check for your self, its guaranteed
Sumo: yep
Sumo: only annoying thing is that you cant kill the zombies and they will eventually trap you
Sumo: so im guessing "sight" overrides "sound"?
Cakespear: Also, if Zombies find themselves stuck( constantly ramming into walls ) , chasing sounds or players, they will try to 'get loose' by roaming for a little while and then returning to the previous State. They do this 3 times before giving up, but it can be changed to any number.
Cakespear: "guessing "sight" overrides "sound"?" Correct
Sumo: how many states have you fully completed?
Cakespear: That would be 4 out of 10
Roam, Investigate, Chase and ChaseLastLocation
Sumo: cool
Sumo: at this rate you'll be finished soon
Sumo: im glad you joined this project. I feel like this one will actually be finished this time. AI is always my downfall
Cakespear: I think pathfinding states are next
NextNode, Return
Cakespear: Im happy to be aboard, thank you very much
Here's the master AI application that cakespear was showing me:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4459105/Zombie%20Swarm/ZombieAImaster%20v1.3DEMO.exe
if you get stuck in the zombies press "T" to get out of them.
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