Dungeon Master Forum

Well, since there many situations in RTC that make tough monsters become helpless sitting ducks, obviously there should be some AI improvement.

But then, George already removed some interesting AI bits because some complained the monsters were to clever and thus to un-DM.

So, just in case George reappears some day and would be willing to fine-tune the AI a bit more, which way RTC players would like the AI to go?

I certainly would be glad if the somewhat broken escape behaviour was repaired and monsters were enabled to lurk behind corners.

I'm happy with the overall AI except for the bugs and one fundamental flaw as detailed elsewhere.

So, fix the bugs:

* Monsters go to sleep for no apparent reason
* Monsters often stay 4x4 on a tile despite your side flanks being exposed and a clear path available -- I thought they are supposed to out manoeuvre you?

And fix this design flaw:

* Monsters in the back row that ONLY have a close range attack should not attack the party if the front row is blocked.

And monsters often being unable to escape a closing door if on a tile next to the party, that one is the most important fix required imho.

All I have to say on this topic is:
The AI in RTC should be made as SMART as possible. I think that there should be a "intelligence" variable associated wth monsters per type (to allow for dumbing them down). George would be kind to do something about this.

Could someone outline a few of these 'sitting' duck' scenarios for me? I am currently making my 1st RTC dungeon and would like to minimize some of this.

Would it perhaps add to realism to have certain monstes behave in different ways? For example, a Mummy is just a bunch of bandages, with no apparent thought to it other than "kill destroy death death death", but something like a Beholder, or the Dragon, might be much more cunning and try stuff like hiding round a corner in wait for you .

@PaulH -- see this thread:

http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... =4&t=27924

Totally agree with Ameena that monster-dependent intelligence would be best.

I think Thief AI is pretty good as it is - run up, yoink, aaaaaaaaahhh (runs away), then later - hmm, can I yoink something else...
Even if they are little sods for doing so .

An "intelligence rating" for each monster with a default rating for each type of monster would probably be the coolest feature. I suppose it's almost impossible to implement, but one can dream and make a wish-list, right?

what features would we like RTC to have for AI?

Is there anyway in RTC to make monsters move as party just like the original DM ?

I have just finished DM on RTC , and I have to thank everyone that was in the development of this great job .

To me I will recommend RTC over any other clone of the game .

I only noticed four differences from the original

1- I couldn't throw the heavy objects ( large stones )
2- The line of food ( and water ) may decrease until it becomes zero ( which gives a stamina damage ), this is not like the original where the food line doesn't become zero ever ( I only need water to train my champions )
3- In a place in level 9 ( 5.23,9 and the surrounding area ) the monsters are stopping and don't follow you , and in level 11 , the two nights of ( 0,4,11 ) will follow you for some distance and then stop as if there is a line they can't pass
4- The monsters don't attack as groups ( worms and mummies )

Thats it , and without those 4 side notices , i wouldn't ever know that it is a clone

It is a great work my friends .

3 - actually this is as DM, they will be invisible monster blockers. There are many parts where monsters are stopped from roaming too far.

well, pretty much everything in this forum has been done, except the 4x4 where monsters in the back row kill ones in the front row. the ai monsters will have is endless, they can do pretty much anything we want. I have run into troubles a bit, like monsters caught on the same tile face the wrong direction attacking each other, it does get a bit messed up, but we can have 4 different monsters on the same tile now, the monsters have ai alignment, they know who is friend and who is enemy, quite a change to previous ai. monsters can be TOO smart now, hehehehe. they can move out of the way with attacks, can duck behind walls, can join the party, leave the party, can be commanded, oh there is so much we can do with the ai in RTC, it's only the beginning.