Randomised patrols: Part 2, Experience with randomised patrols in RavenShield Options

[tomshackell]

Hello,

A while back I posted giving some experience with randomising in operation flashpoint:

http://www.blackfootstudios.com/forums/ind...ost&p=69493

Well recently I modded RavenShield to do a similar thing, to make the enemies move in random patrols. I thought I'd post my experiences with it, in case anyone was interested. And to once again blow the "Pro Randomisation" trumpet

Our group has been playing RvS cooperatively for years ... and that was the problem. RvS spawns enemies somewhat randomly, but we'd learnt where all the spawn points were. This made the game far too predictable for us.

However recently I discovered an unofficial SDK for RavenShield and thought it was time for some random patrols. What I did was pretty simple. The map is filled with 'path nodes' for controlling the AI movement, so I had the tangos do the following:

1. Wait a random period of time, between 5 and 90 seconds.
2. Pick 4 path nodes at random from all the nodes on the map, and then take the closest node of the 4.
3. Walk towards that chosen path node.
4. When they reach the target path node, go back to step 1.

At first I had them just pick a node at random from the whole map, but that meant that they tended to criss-cross the map too much. Taking the closest of 4 tends to keep them in the same area, but occasionally they will wander further. There were a few other tweaks needed to prevent clustering, and to ensure hostages were still being guarded - nothing complicated.

The effect was enormous, suddenly rear guard became a real position ... something that mattered ... previously it was something that someone got assigned ... but they'd largely ignore the duty and just face forwards with everyone else. We quickly found that if we did that with random patrols it wasn't long before we had all been shot in the back.

It also meant we never took a room in quite the same way twice. Different numbers of enemies, different positions. We could play the same room 20 times and get 20 different scenarios. Much much more interesting.

Once again such a simple mod has totally changed the way we play. We're playing more as a team, with better coordination and keeping 360' cover at all times. We're also not ploughing through levels like we were. There is no "magic path" through the level any more, and every play through presents a unique challenge. Once again, randomisation has brought our gaming to a new level.

[galzohar]

I have to say I've been having similar positive experience in Arma 2 with UPS and UPSMON scripts. Not to mention those scripts also make AI communicate your position to eachother and figure out flanking maneuvers, and they can actually tell the difference between different kinds of terrain (so AI will *try* to avoid just running around in the open).

I honestly don't really play missions without this anymore. Missions without those scripts are either too easy or load up on way too many enemies to compensate for their stupidity.

This post has been edited by galzohar: Jul 28 2010, 06:03 AM

[V2_Bloodline]

GB MUST HAVE!!!

[V2_Bloodline]

...and random spawning areas too, please.

@Tom: For your "enjoyment": http://speeddemosarchive.com/RainbowSix3.html