Dungeon Master Forum

category: difference from dm/possible bug?
type: artifical intelligence

Description:
Although Trolins now appear to behave more like in DM, they still don't pursue you very often. I have been facing Trolins in plain sight that I would have assumed would chase me, but they've just wandered off. Is this intended?

In level 3 I found that the Trolins seemed fine, and it was the mummies twice that I noticed behaving in this way, turning away ratehr than attack and pursue. So it sounds like a random number that is generating just below what it should.

To back this up, the rock monsters in encountered on level seemed to not follow up if I retreated, while the ones in the closed room on level 4 were fine.

Were these monsters behaving in this way the first time you met them, or after having a go at them? If the latter then I'm not surprised as both are easily scared and if you've already taken a chunk out of them in combat then they'll disengage and try and run away from you.

For me, the rock monsters were as you described, I think. On level 3 I was punching quite fast then retreating, while on level 4 I was trying to lure them to the door so only hit them a few times first.

For the mummies though, I was standing right infront of them after killing Trolins in The Vault and Creature Cavern, and they just looked at me then wandered about, so I hadn't touched them.

I assume that the general AI routines are the same for most monsters, so I took the time to watch a muumy's behaviour on level 2. I've included a map of the area I was using so hopefully this will make it clearer:

<img src="http://www.resonant.freeuk.com/ai_map.gif">

I entered the room at (B) and the mummy was at (A). It turned to face me but did not walk towards me and rotated on its tile. I fought a screamer facing me from the south. Once dead I stepped forward one space closer to (A) and the mummy finally began to follow. I backed towards (C) and he continued to follow albeit extremely slowly. When the mummy was at (B) I moved to (D) and he stopped pursuing me at this point and only followed again when I walked back to (C). Once the mummy was at (C) I moved to (F) and the mummy subsequently only moved back and forth between (C) and (E). He stopped once on (D) and turned to face me but then turned away again and continued to move between (C) and (E). He tended to stay for a long time at (E) doing nothing too.

I'm not sure if this behaviour matches that which you explained to me in your email George - it seems to be different. I guess the problem is either the mummy is not looking far enough ahead, or it's moving in a random direction which is away from the party.

This was tested in v0.09.

This gets even more irregular... On level 3, trolins aren't behaving consistently, and seem to be very afraid generally. One trolin was three tiles away and directly in my line of sight. I didn't attack him, and he just wandered off a lot or rotated on his own tile. I left the game running and it took him about 5 minutes to decide to come after me. Another trolin wouldn't cross an open door even though he was only 1 tile away from me.

Mummies vary - sometimes they come after you, sometimes they may walk about for several minutes and leave you alone before deciding to come after you - and that may only be one tile away.

Rock Piles seemed to move too quickly - sometimes quicker than trolins!

I've just started the dungeon again using the latest v0.09 update, and noticed something with mummies:

They still suffer from the heebie jeebies and do not attack very frequently. However, if you take a chunk out of one, he will continue to pursure you, albeit slowly, but <b> <i> will never attack you again!</i></b>. I haven't tested this thoroughly, but the two mummies between the 'step inside' point and the large room shown in the map above exhibit this behaviour. I even chopped a mummy, then went to sleep in front of him and left the game for five minutes. On returning, my party still hadn't been woken, and when I woke them up he was still standing in front of me.

Clearly this is giving far too much of an advantage to the player...

Just to semi concur with this mummy thing - I'm on a harder setting just finished level 2 so the end room had lots of mummies. I tried to simulate this hit and run, and was being attacked as normal (btw, screamer intelligence is fine - they move, they attack...same with wasps - so whatever the settings for others, they should maybe be moved more in line with these creatures)

Anyway, I then got two dithering mummies in the corner...so i whacked one, and it didn't follow, but faced me..so after taking on a few others, I whacked it again ..now it came after me..and yes, did nothing. No attacks whatsoever! By this time i had done 27 damage to it with two blows. So I just let it stand at my side while I killed everything else. It got bored when I moved away and was running round the corner, so I stood infront of it..nothing! So I finally got bored, hit it (7 damage) and it died...so I was wondering if the not attacking bug was maybe tied into the fear rating? Somehow it's not attacking, but forgetting to run away on low health?

Fixed for V0.10