Well I don't know if my logic is correct, I expect it to be wrong in some form or another or perhaps wrong all together.
But I was, as you implied, using a brute force technique to get some varying degrees of dynamic encounters with enemy AI.
I know their are a 1000 ways to skin a cat, but that just seemed the logical/easiest way to go around it. But hey, if it works, it works.
Quote:"As with most A.I systems today, Alien Isolation most likely has an event based architecture, similar to event sourcing in CQRS with a pub sub layer over a public message bus, possibly also employing fuzzy logic. Player interactions produce events that are picked up by publisher module, and registered domain elements, like the Alien A.I, subscribe to those events. You get a cleaner architecture that doesn't rely on procedural gunk, but more importantly, you can easily slap on a suite of unit and integration tests on those domain subscribers and the publisher."
I don't understand any of the technical stuff, but looking up the term "CQRS" on google for a minute. It's to my understanding that it works something like a Database?
About this snippet... "You get a cleaner architecture that doesn't rely on procedural gunk, but more importantly, you can easily slap on a suite of unit and integration tests on those domain subscribers and the publisher."
(In Bold) : I would think if you want good AI, the movement should be somewhat random or pseudo-random to give the feeling that your facing against a real-player/entity (procedural gunk as you call it). Sometimes he will sometimes move to the right or perhaps to the left. Maybe he will not see you and search elsewhere or deduce that you are hiding inside a locker and open it and skewer you.
(Underlined) : With the "suite of unit and integration tests on those domain subscribers and the publisher" is that a part of the game development or code? I'm not sure to what this means.
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Can you still post the link to the particular blog?
I'm going throw them slowly, looking at ones that might have what your talking about...
So far this is the closest I could find, not sure if it's the right one...
I have a question. Playing through Amnesia it seems to me that encounters (the thing you dread the most) happen with certainty at scripted times and sometimes happen at random in certain scripted areas. Like taking the bend in a turn at a dark hallway (not fair!). But have you guys ever considered dynamic encounters?
Playing through amnesia for the first couple of days were the most intense and scary for me. This is because I convinced myself, thanks to the brilliant game design and immersion, that I could get into trouble at any time, any place. I also believed that I could provoke an encounter with unintentional and uncontrolled actions on my part. For example dropping a vase and making to much noise. Losing sanity and breathing to loudly. This made the environment seem 'alive' in sense, and the notion and also the possible consequences of it, frightened me so much, because I was constantly in a mode of fight or flight and it would never stop.
But when I realized that it was mainly scripts, I felt more at ease. One reason is that my brain was able to gain a sense of security in certain areas and situations. Two because it made the enemies almost feel 'restrained' where before I perceived them to be omnipotent and almost omnipresent. Before I would be horrified if I even did something to re arrange the furniture I later realized that few things had consequences.
One last mention about dynamics that I as a player I observed generally in games. When it comes to scary situations the brain does not like the feeling of fight or flight and like any physical tension it seeks to relieve it. So while playing I have noticed that my mind likes to form these mental safety constructs made up of patterns it infers about the game world. An example: The entrance hall at the beginning of the game where the lab, archives and wine cellar are. After so many times of moving back and forth through that hall to complete the quests, I couldn't help but start to have a sense of security and ease when at that hall. The pattern of safety was established and not even the untrue belief of a dynamic environment was enough to return me to fight or flight. It was no longer scary then, and that carried over to the later experience of the subsequent levels.
The same phenomenon occurs when you are at the height of fight or flight. As is in the archives when you are moving through dark hallways and rooms. The tension shoots up so much that you are compelled to run into a room for no reason at all and barricade yourself until the tension comes back down. Here my brain starts to construct this pattern of relief when exploring the world and after a while it lessens my fear when entering an area that is strange and unknown. Because my mind has trained me that no matter what situation, I can always release the tension by running into a room and barricading myself. I would go so far as to say this is probably the only 'weapon' in the game that you have and removing it and teaching the player's mind that you cannot construct these patterns of safety would make what would be a very scary experience almost unbearable.
If you took the time to read this I appreciate it. These are just observations from a humble player and as a huge fan, I look forward to the reveal of the secret project.
Quote:Thomas - September 16, 2012
Two comments on this:
- We tried more dynamic encounters in Penumbra and our take away is that they are very hard to control and get right. While they can increase tension because you are never sure when it will hit (even as a designer) the actual encounters are really hard to to consistently engaging. The player lack a good hiding spot, the running might last for too long, etc. All of these break down immersion and while they do not mean dynamic is bad, it is important to have in mind that it comes with problem. When we used a more scripted approach with short time spans in Amnesia, many of these problems went away.
- The major problem is that we simply have too many enemies of the same kind and with similar behaviors. This is why you are able to get the patterns, because we repeat it too much. Had we been better at hiding the patterns I we could have fixed much of what you say.
Still I find more dynamic systems interesting, and I am sure some kind blend of the approaches might be really nice.
Anyone know if their is a "search" feature anywhere on the Thomas Grip's Blog? Can't seem to find one anywhere.
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