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AI
Pathing |
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One of my jobs at Zombie is to setup the
AI (Artificial Intelligence) paths.
Every level with AI needs pathing, more paths = more realistic
AI movement.
Well placed paths are important so that the AI doesn't get
stuck on things, and can navigate to all areas of the map.
This process takes time to do because you have to play the
game over and over again to make sure all your paths work
correctly.
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AI
combat |
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 Once
AI gets to a place they can use as cover, I have to set up
combat nodes.
These nodes have details to tell the AI if they should stand,
crouch, or lie down. The nodes also tell if they can shoot
over, shoot to the left or right and if they can throw grenades.
I set up these nodes when I am working on the AI pathing.
There is one of these nodes on every piece of cover in the
game. |
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Allied
Scripting |
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When a game has Allied AI teammates, it
makes it a lot harder to script.
Allies have requirements to talk with the player, and act
as if they are a team. In Shadow-Ops Red Mercury I had to
script the Allies.
I would use scripts to tell them what I wanted them to do,
where to move, what to say, and what animation to play.
It was a lot of work but it paid off in the end. The Allies
in Shadow-Ops were great, They performed like actors on
a stage.
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Boss
Battles |
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 I
scripted the final battle in Shadow-Ops Red Mercury. It
was an attack helicopter that you had to fight on top of
the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
I came up with an idea to set the paths of the helicopter
like a clock face 1-12 with three levels, high medium and
low. By doing this I could script the battle like HeleGoto12H,
HeleGoto1M, HeleGoto2L, ShootAtPlayer.
I scripted 6 different paths for the helicopter to follow
then set it up to randomly pick a path.
The helicopter became very unpredictable, even though it
only used 6 different paths. |
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