I'm in a creature AI phase right now. It's actually a bunch of code that I haven't really touched in awhile, and as with all such code I have had to spend some time getting familiar with it again. I still only have a relative handful of skill options, so I haven't really dug in-depth into complex AI behaviors. And a lot of what I have in place is still placeholder or rough initial prototype stuff. Digging through it has revealed a few bugs though.



For example, I equipped a few of the semi-unique test mobs (they're big) with the Flame Shotgun spell, and it has revealed some interesting behavior. Flame Shotgun targeting is a cone, and all destroyables in the cone are added to the target list, so any mob that uses it on GC stands a pretty good chance of mowing down whatever trees, bushes, and random buddies happen to stand in the way. However, I still have AI code in the controller to distinguish friend from foe, and that code path will actually prevent a mob from attacking an ally, even though my initial intention was only to discourage such. Consequently, it is possible for two mobs to fire off a Flame Shotgun in GC's general direction, hit one another, and consequently 'get mad' at each other. They will then switch targets, path until they are directly adjacent to one another, and then deadlock as they each attempt to murder the other but can't because the glitch in the controller prevents it.

I fixed the glitch, but it has revealed deeper issues that have me convinced a general refactor is in order. So that'll probably be my task for the next few weeks, in between work and stuff. Also, spring and all that the arrival of spring entails (lawn stuff, garden stuff, house stuff, you know... stuff.)