Full AI Feedback from Core Team (in one place)

[LeeBamberTGC]

ZAK:

• Enemies can climb steep slopes and sometimes run away: https://github.com/TheGameCreators/GameGuruRepo/issues/2247
• Enemies stand down when they shouldn't: https://github.com/TheGameCreators/GameGuruRepo/issues/2248
• Enemies can attack you through walls: https://github.com/TheGameCreators/GameGuruRepo/issues/2249
• Unclear if you are inflicting damage on an enemy: https://github.com/TheGameCreators/GameGuruRepo/issues/2237
• I think it would be good to have more variables exposed to tweak the AI. Not necessarily for the end-user, just to make some presets of soldier AI and experiment for what feels right. That way we wouldn't be limited to Get Close, Flank and Stay Back and a few other settings. That would also allow some more of the team to try out some different settings to feel for what's right, and allowing Lee to focus on the AI bugs and new functionality.

MACIEJ: AI Issues

• The time it takes for the AI to react and start shooting is too long.
• Sometimes enemies reload after 1 shot
• AI stacks on top of each other when running to their destination: https://gyazo.com/b66afc1c7200a6f024ccd25cb39e53f4
• AI won't shoot the player until they get to their set position
• AI walks and flanks through walls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty-cj0GNThw
• AI sometimes runs away infinitely: https://gyazo.com/242554dfd122a7794908434da4933231

AI Improvements

• Add randomness to each behavior so it seems less robotic e.g. behavior timings, movement, movement speed, position etc.
• Ability to take cover and randomly peak to shoot the player
• AI should be more aggressive when the player is reloading
• Better player feedback when the AI is shot
• When player has low health, AI should have their accuracy reduced to give the player a chance, this will make the player feel like they got out of a hard situation. Makes the gameplay more fun and rewarding in my opinion.

RICK: AI issues

• No muzzle flash off enemy guns
• Ragdolls are too robotic
• Tracers and Particle effects would add a lot to battle experiences (see Far Cry 5/6)
• Enemy ran into the water - navmesh issue?
• No velocity on impacts/explosions - would make a big difference
• Enemies not aggressive enough, too easy to get up close to and kill
• There are potential Navmesh related issues (characters getting on to objects and areas they should not)
• Same enemy bullet sound repeating
• Is there a very slight delay between shooting and killing enemies?
• No way to set more complex objectives (find x, kill y, destroy z, get to win zone) - this will come when we do RPG/Puzzle
• Repeating voice overs - a more complex system for what enemies say is needed

FEARLESSWEE:

• Gamefeel has always been sorely lacking in GG, with very floaty and "static" feeling combat. The very first rule of gamefeel is "for every input and output, there should be a strong visual and/or auditory indication." So for example, when you receive damage, having the camera flinch, having blood spots appear on screen, and a short pain grunt from the player helps communicate that hit. If you hurt an enemy, they should equally show a strong response to that damage. It should even apply to the weapons themselves; for every bullet you fire there should be a strong visual indicator of where that bullet went (a tracer that shows the path the bullet took, and a puff that's actually impactful and visible beyond 2 feet to show where it landed) and a strong auditory indicator (an audible sound of the bullet "thunking" against the material).

3 biggest improvements the NPCs would need

• They flinch for EVERY hit, even if a flinch animation is already playing. Cancel the current flinch animation and play a new one, with either no or very quick blending. Ideally they should have both a "minor" flinch which doesn't interrupt their combat abilities and is blended over any animations they might currently be playing (as being able to so easily stunlock them removes challenge), and a "major" flinch animation which is essentially as it is now, where it interrupts combat, but can only be triggered by strong weapons like the sledgehammer or shotgun.
• More visible and obvious blood puff/spurts when hit along with a "flesh hit by bullet" sound, right now you get this weird floaty red jelly "blood" splatter which is barely even visible even up close, and it doesn't render beyond a few feet from the camera, which is ridiculous for such an ugly effect that surely couldn't be so expensive to render than they have to be so heavily culled. * The blood puff should be more quick and responsive, and designed to be far more visible and impactful; right now there's no feeling of "energy" behind the weak floaty blood puffs, which makes your weapon feel kinda weak even if the damage is high.
• While this may be considered somewhat subjective, I think bullet tracers and more visible puffs on surfaces for both the player and enemies goes a looong way to adding visual feedback to gun-based combat. It becomes more clear where bullets are coming from and going, and helps put some visible weight behind bullets the player is firing towards enemies which indirectly helps the gamefeel against them. Right now it kinda feels more like you're pressing a magical "button" that hurts enemies, or using a laser tag blaster, rather than firing harmful projectiles at them. I know I'll get the inevitable "realism" counter-argument that some people in this community love to shoot down gamefeel discussions with, but video games are meant to be fun, not realistic, because real life is kinda boring. (If it wasn't, why would we want to escape reality with video games to begin with? 🤣 ) Not to mention, video games should be FUN first and foremost; the gamefeel shouldn't be sacrificed for the sake of "realism".

NOTE FROM LEE: Will go through actual issue reports on AI first, then remove any from the above list before tackling this one as there are duplications, and new issues will need to be created for the ones that need more explanation and agreement,

[LeeBamberTGC]

NOTE: Marked this as POST EA so we can continue to peel ideas from it to make new issues for AI after March. Plenty from the lists done, ready for March release.