Does this forum support threads in multiple pages? If not we should perhaps continue this discussion in another thread, I'm already getting some slowdown in loading the page.

-Remi

Whoops! [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
Seems like I got that answered.

-Remi

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Hey if you'd do that you'd make me real glad! I always wanted better AI but up to now I couldn't find anyone who could do it...

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Agreed, though don't forget the standard soldiers, their pistols are instant hit as well. That's BTW one of the oldest and most important reasons why the whole Korax project started on Hexen of all possible games... Hexen is the only game I ever played where given the right circumstances (like enough place for maneuvering and enough ammo), you can beat ANYTHING, even an army of hundreds of monsters at once, if you are good enough (indeed, that's where the idea for making an army of hundreds of monsters came from).

Oh, did I ever tell you about the army of the hundreds of monsters or does only Camper (and I think Kendrome) know about it? It needs a real boost in terms of AI, it'd need the ability for monsters to

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>march and fight in formations (when 10 Ettins attack you in Hexen, they'll hinder each other as each wants to get to you on the most direct route. with the new AI, they should either flank you from both sides or make a half-circle and advance thus, or something even more complicated, like walking in mainpuli to allow for shooting monsters in the back rows)<LI>never target the player with a projectile when there's another monster in the way<LI>I also want to have some officers who have an even more advanced AI and actually truly command around the other monsters and when you take those out the given unit will fight less efficiently with less advanced tactics</UL>

How about that? [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

As for the speed system, I guess it will have to be rethought, like making the max for the mage 7, the Cleric 13, and the Fighter 20 or so. This way, when using SHIFT you still get faster with the fighter, and also, with the Mage, to ever reach the original Hexen speed, you'll have to use either the Boots of Speed or the Speed Spell. I'm not sure whether it's a sound idea, it's just a thought to discuss.

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I'm not doing any such thing, just as I'm not fumbling around with the models Kendrome makes or the textures Sylon paints... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] being project leader (which is a lot of work rather than a "boss" position), webmaster/webdesigner and game concept designer would be already more than enough tasks, and additionally I still hold the position level designer becuz no one else is doing this right now... at least I won't have to do 2D art in the future, thanx to Sylon.

To add another point which doesn't sound as good but is true nevertheless, I'm not much in programming. I wrote tons of Basic programs for the Commodore C=16 and +4 when I was 13 (which was a LONG way ago), among them a full text adventure game (which back in '91-'92 was still what you got as commercial games as well), but I never got around learning a modern, structurized language. I started with Pascal for DOS back around '94 or so but stopped after a short time. Currently I'm working with HTML and JavaScript on a daily basis and it includes modifications in the source code manually all the time as WYSIWYG editors are often just too stupid, but it's rather a passive knowledge. The only thing that can be said in my favor is that I've still a lot more idea about how programs work than Camper assumes (and tells all the time)... :-))))))

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If I think of the fact that Hexen95 already requires a Pentium with a VERY fast PCI card (it was choppy on a Matrox Mystique but went like a breeze on a Diamond Viper 330) to do nothing more than the DOS version, just a 4x higher resolution (640x400), JHexen is not as bad in comparison. It has a lot of extra features and a full range of 3D effects to make the game look better.

Anyway, I'm at a loss how to speed up the game except for creating ares with few visplanes and a low amount of 3D objects, which kinda defeats the purpose... best solution would be a decent MD2 support that doesn't work this slow (w/o MD2 objects, jHexen is pretty fast).

As for the amount of postings on one page, I set it to the minimum (15), stupid UBB can't go further down. OTOH if we wouldn't type up such long postings, 15 posts would load a lot faster... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Actually, it might really be an idea to cut longer replies into 2-3 postings, or indeed to start new topics all the time... anyway, I find UBB stupid and cumbersome, but there isn't much of an alternative unless someone can get me an NNTP new server (OH YES!)... [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote You called?
I was trying to figure out exactly what you were talking about, and I'm not entirely sure what you want an opinion on. If it's how the beserker mode should work, I think a percentage should be added onto the health (ie if the percentage is 100% and you are at 100 health, then you will be at 200), and when you go back to normal, that same percentage should be taken away (ie if you are at 150 health, then you would end up with 75)
Hopefully thats what you wanted an opinion on. Oh, and I think that percentage can be fiddled with, or maybe even depend on the strength of the spell.

Oh, and I don't know why anybody should be complaining about speed of these forums, I'm reading these forums while downloaded the latest beta of Windows XP while on a 56k modem. Talk about slow dc:

I guess you just have more patience than us... when I have to wait for a computer even a second, I get nervous and always have the feeling that I've been robbed, that this second has been taken away from my life against my will... [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

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Well, making simple AI additions shouldn't be hard. I could make a new variable to the moster object which defines which state it's in. From there I can make some new states... like forexample that the monster thinks about running away from the player if he's low on health... and other stuff like that. Although there's only one huge downside with all this. Hexen got the worst pathfinding AI you can ever get. That will really limit the expanding of the AI... and I won't be taking the task of writing a pathfinding AI, I don't think I could write any good one.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Oh, did I ever tell you about the army of the hundreds of monsters or does only Camper (and I think Kendrome) know about it? It needs a real boost in terms of AI, it'd need the ability for monsters to march and fight in formations (when 10 Ettins attack you in Hexen, they'll hinder each other as each wants to get to you on the most direct route. with the new AI, they should either flank you from both sides or make a half-circle and advance thus, or something even more complicated, like walking in mainpuli to allow for shooting monsters in the back rows) never target the player with a projectile when there's another monster in the way I also want to have some officers who have an even more advanced AI and actually truly command around the other monsters and when you take those out the given unit will fight less efficiently with less advanced tactics

How about that?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Eek! Well, some of those things will be hard to make. And monsters walking in formations, would that be suited for a game like this? Most of the combat situations are afterall in close quarters. A team AI is something I really want to make though, I'm so annoyed seeing new FPS's with their pathetic AI and seeing no team AI at all. It would be nice having AIs yelling for help to eachother or having a team leader giving out orders and working out specific strategies to crush the player.

Shitto, something on starts on TV starts now I have to see. I'll finish this reply later.

-Remi

[ August 16, 2001: Message edited by: Tzar Sectus ]

As a starter, there is one thing to do with all monsters' AI: rip out the Maulotaur's from the Heretic source code and implement its movement patterns (to a certain extent) into the AI of all common walking monsters.

Why? Though Camper says the Mauloaur's AI isn't any higher than the rest and it looks better only because he is preprogrammed to move around all the time, the fact is that the result I see on my monitor is that while a Weredragon or an Undead Warrior never realizes he's firing at you behind a corner or a dead end where his projectiles never come through but yours do (only from weapons #2 and #4), you can't trick a Maulotaur into such a dead angle to finish him off easily. I've seen it many times when playing Heretic that once I got a Maulotaur into a dead angle, after a shot or 2 he was already out of that corner and charging me from another direction.

Also, what about D'Sparil's beast? Hey, imagine you blast our pepped-up Centaur Leaders a couple of times and they've still got several hundred HPs but they are now in a red fury and run and punch and fire at double the rate than normally... [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]