ToEE's AI

Sure, from memory it was basically:

Code:

def san_start_combat( attachee, triggerer ):
	leader = game.leader
[COLOR="Red"]	if ( (attachee.map == 5093) and (game.global_flags[954] == 1) ):
		obj.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 20)[/COLOR]
	elif ( (game.quests[67].state == qs_accepted) and (game.global_flags[963] == 0) ):
		game.counters[0] = game.counters[0] + 1
		if (game.counters[0] >= 2):
			for pc in game.party:
				if pc.type == obj_t_pc:
					attachee.ai_shitlist_remove( pc )
			game.global_flags[963] = 1
			leader.begin_dialog( attachee, 1 )
			return SKIP_DEFAULT
	return RUN_DEFAULT

with red being the relevant bit.

IIRC, it actually broke the entire file (or I assume it did), because the following san_first_heartbeat script from the same file stopped working after the strategy thing was added:

Code:

def san_first_heartbeat( attachee, triggerer ):
	if (attachee.map == 5093 and game.global_vars[960] == 3):
		attachee.object_flag_unset(OF_OFF)
	elif ( (game.party[0].reputation_has(35) == 1) and (attachee.map == 5121) ):
		attachee.object_flag_unset(OF_OFF)
	elif ( (game.party[0].reputation_has(35) == 0) and (attachee.map == 5121) ):
		attachee.object_flag_set(OF_OFF)
	return RUN_DEFAULT

[edit]

'from toee import *' and 'from utilities import *' are invoked at the start of the file.

 

Yay, it works. Only now, the mobs with changed AI seem to go to *no* AI (they return to their original coordinates and just stand there) after they kill a target, for reasons I can't begin to fathom.

Thanks though, at least it's half-way working.

[edit]

Seemed to fix it with a 'return RUN_DEFAULT' after the AI change script.

 

@SA, have you ever hit the wall with the number of AI commands possible per strategy.tab entry? For some reason a wizard entry I was doing arbitrarily stopped working after 15 different (and unique) spells, but I'm not sure if that was 'the wall' or if I just stuffed something up or if ToEE just got pissy about it at random.

 

Here is a nominally complex AI/start combat script for Deggum that I have been working on. It's not some major insightful thing, but it's more complex than I've attempted before (and it actually works, lol). It operates on the basic principal of there being three directions (at least - this would seem to me to be the bare minimum) that a reasonably intelligent spellcasting NPC should be able to go: normal casting, healing, and melee. IMO, currently very few NPCs do all these things well together.

*Thanks to Sitra and Livonya for most of the nuts and bolts behind all this.* I'm mainly just posting this here as an example of an 'intelligent' AI that works for anyone interested down the line.

First of all, spellcasters imo don't do the above three things well together because:

1. They should use five foot step to move out of AoO range when casting spells or drinking potions. You can add this AI to the start of their strategies, and they will then use five foot steps before casting/drinking, but then they will also use them with melee, bizarrely. This manifests in them wasting every second turn executing a five foot step (when they are carrying out their melee attack AI instructions, which is usually after all spells have been exhausted): they do that and nothing more one turn, then attack the next, then rinse and repeat.
2. Because of 1, you can't really include five foot step in an NPC's strategy who is going to be a caster and a melee-er. Without that though, they are especially vulnerable to dying when low on HP and casting healing spells and/or drinking potions, because they will just happily stand there and do that right in front of the guy/gal who is about to kill them for it.

So what do we do? Well, we give them different strategies to employ under different conditions using SA's attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, xxx) script. For our purposes here, I'm assuming Deggum limits his aspirations to his normal casting repertoire, melee attacks, and healing himself. (I'm also assuming that, being an evil asshole, he is not really concerned with healing his bodyguard bugbears, but that could be scripted as well.) So Deggum has to know when to do what though, so we keep track of his AI changes and spells cast with variables that are incremented at the appropriate time in his san_start_combat script (the script that runs at the start of every NPCs turn in each combat round). The variables we will use are 735 (to count his healing buffs) and 736 (to count his normal casts). The AI's we will use are 'Deggum Casting (225)' (this is his original AI entry renamed), 'Deggum Healing (443),' and 'Deggum Melee (444).' As we know, for an AI to be changed via script, it has to be referred to by line number, so we name the scripts with the line number so we know which they are. The latter two are new AI entries appended to the end of strategy.tab. Furthermore, Deggum has 2 'Cure Light Wounds' spells memorized and has 2 'Cure Moderate Wounds' potions in his inventory, so he is capable of taking 4 healing actions on his own behalf. He has 10 other normal spells memorized, so we will count those up to 10 as well so we know when to tell him to abandon that strategy. (Being a cleric 4/wizard 3, he actually has 6 other cantrips/whatevers memorized, but these are not worth casting. He casts two buffs on his heartbeat prior to combat.)

Here's the script:

Code:

def san_start_combat( attachee, triggerer ):
	if (attachee != OBJ_HANDLE_NULL and critter_is_unconscious(attachee) != 1 and not attachee.d20_query(Q_Prone)):
		if (obj_percent_hp(attachee) <= 50):
			if (game.global_vars[735] <= 3):
				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 443)
				game.global_vars[735] = game.global_vars[735] + 1
			elif (game.global_vars[736] <= 9):
				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 225)
				game.global_vars[736] = game.global_vars[736] + 1
			else:
				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 444)
		else:
			if (game.global_vars[736] <= 9):
				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 225)
				game.global_vars[736] = game.global_vars[736] + 1
			else:
				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 444)
	return RUN_DEFAULT

I'll go through it line by line.

Code:

	if (attachee != OBJ_HANDLE_NULL and critter_is_unconscious(attachee) != 1 and not attachee.d20_query(Q_Prone)):

If Deggum is not dead, unconscious, or prone, do the following:

Code:

		if (obj_percent_hp(attachee) <= 50):

If Deggum's health is under 50%, do the following:

Code:

			if (game.global_vars[735] <= 3):

If Deggum has cast 3 or fewer healing spells and/or drank 3 or fewer healing potions, do the following:

Code:

				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 443)
				game.global_vars[735] = game.global_vars[735] + 1

Change Deggum's AI to 'Deggum Healing (443)' and increment the healing variable.

Code:

			elif (game.global_vars[736] <= 9):

If instead Deggum has already executed 4 healing measures, and if he hasn't exhausted all his normal spells, do the following:

Code:

				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 225)
				game.global_vars[736] = game.global_vars[736] + 1

Go back to his normal 'Deggum casting (225)' strategy and increment the normal casting variable.

Code:

			else:

If Deggum has exhausted all his healing and normal spells, do the following:

Code:

				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 444)

Switch Deggum to his 'Deggum Melee (444)' strategy.

At this point we have scripted it so that Deggum will take 4 healing-related actions (spells or potions) on his own behalf if his HP are under 50%, and if he has used those all up, he will go back to casting spells. If he has used all those up, he will go to melee.

Code:

		else:

If Deggum is not under 50% HP, do the following:

Code:

			if (game.global_vars[736] <= 9):

If Deggum hasn't exhausted al his normal spells, do the following:

Code:

				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 225)
				game.global_vars[736] = game.global_vars[736] + 1

Switch Deggum to his 'Deggum Casting (225)' strategy so he casts his normal spells and increment the normal spell casting variable.

Code:

			else:

If Deggum has used up all his normal spells, do the following:

Code:

				attachee.obj_set_int(obj_f_critter_strategy, 444)

Switch Deggum to his 'Deggum Melee (444)' strategy so he can fight.

Code:

	return RUN_DEFAULT

The normal run default script thingie.

So at this point we have scripted it so that as long as his HP are above 50%, Deggum will cast his normal spells provided he has any, and he will shift to melee once his normal spells are exhausted.

Note that according to the script, Deggum will shift to healing measures at any time his HP are lowered below 50%, so that could happen anywhere or nowhere along the way. But he won't mix melee and normal casting (with the exception of things like AoOs). We don't really want him to, as he's supposed to be a powerful spellcaster. Also remember that when casting normal and healing spells, Deggum will take five foot steps to protect himself if necessary. When in melee, he won't.

I've given Deggum a fairly intelligent (I hope) normal spell progression in his AI strategy as well. It is:

1. five foot step
2. cast Mirror Image on himself
3. cast Bless on himself
4. cast Spiritual Weapon on a nearby opponent
5. cast Hold Person on an opponent with low will
6. cast Magic Missile x3 on a damaged opponent
7. cast Enlarge Person on himself
8. cast Bull's Strength on himself
9. cast Inflict Moderate Wounds on a nearby oppponent
10. attack closest (this is a failsafe so he doesn't just stand there if something goes wrong, but ideally he should never melee attack using this AI.)

In this fashion he has no reason to run around in battle exposing himself to AoOs until he gets ready to fight with Enlarge Person and Bull's Strength after his other spells are used up. Being enlarged, he can then cast IMW on a nearby opponent without actually entering their reach area, which is a bonus for him. Then he can melee accordingly as well.

Deggum's healing strategy is fairly simple:

• five foot step
• use potion (his 2 CMW potions in inventory)
• cast Cure Light Wounds on himself x2
• attack closest (failsafe, see above)

His melee strategy is supremely simple since his dexterity is atrocious and he has no business running around the battlefield provoking AoOs:

• attack closest

~

Possible drawbacks I can think of with all this are that if somehow the variables get incremented improperly, Deggum may discontinue casting spells while still having some available. No doubt there are others I haven't thought of as well.

We should really add some contingencies like this to all the healing potion chugging bugbears out there who die needlessly due to AoOs. _O:

 

I've observed over a fairly long period of time now that 'target friend hurt' is unreliable. NPC healers who use that AI won't always do anything about injured allies. Might have something to do with distance, but a lot of the time they simply ignore injured friends. When it works however, it seems to 'clump;' they go around healing like mad. Or not at all. Or they may start doing it reliably once they get jump started, but often it's tough to get them going.

There are no real alternatives here, so the NPCs I've modded to use this AI will be sticking with it. I just wish it worked better.

 

Maybe partial charge, Marc? I don't know if it does anything but it is in there.