Zetheros
Developer
Hey Exanimates,
We're wrapping up the new combat AI now, we ended up making some pretty important core changes. The AI prediction is all new and more detailed. It's now based on what's actually happening with the physics rather than assumptions about how actions behave. This is less prone to error and also more future proof as we introduce more weapons, grips and fighting styles. It should be less easy to exploit the AI with simple tricks like unconventional attack angles.
We only just got the new combat AI up and running, so we're still tuning it, but it looks promising already. The AI feels smarter and more aware, which immediately makes it more fun to fight. With the more detailed prediction and tactical data we should be able to train the AI much more effectively, which we will continue to do with more testing and feedback.
With all this testing we became increasingly aware of problems with the sometimes massive procedural greatswords, they can hit the ground and sometimes attacks don't flow well and come out weak or at awkward angles. This is pretty much just physics, and why in the real world greatswords are generally swung from above the head and in broad circular motions. We decided to tackle this real world problem with a real world solution and try giving greatswords their own dedicated motions based on this idea. This turned out really well, these ponderous huge weapons now feel very fluid to use, the motions look great and more realistic.
We've also made a few more procedural weapons, and we're now very close to having replaced every existing arena weapon with a procedural one. We've already started introducing all new weapons, and from now on we'll be doing more of that.
We are very nearly ready for a new beta patch with new AI and a lot of new weapons now, and we're keen to be properly testing and tweaking this.
Have a great week!
-the BM team
We're wrapping up the new combat AI now, we ended up making some pretty important core changes. The AI prediction is all new and more detailed. It's now based on what's actually happening with the physics rather than assumptions about how actions behave. This is less prone to error and also more future proof as we introduce more weapons, grips and fighting styles. It should be less easy to exploit the AI with simple tricks like unconventional attack angles.
We only just got the new combat AI up and running, so we're still tuning it, but it looks promising already. The AI feels smarter and more aware, which immediately makes it more fun to fight. With the more detailed prediction and tactical data we should be able to train the AI much more effectively, which we will continue to do with more testing and feedback.
With all this testing we became increasingly aware of problems with the sometimes massive procedural greatswords, they can hit the ground and sometimes attacks don't flow well and come out weak or at awkward angles. This is pretty much just physics, and why in the real world greatswords are generally swung from above the head and in broad circular motions. We decided to tackle this real world problem with a real world solution and try giving greatswords their own dedicated motions based on this idea. This turned out really well, these ponderous huge weapons now feel very fluid to use, the motions look great and more realistic.
We've also made a few more procedural weapons, and we're now very close to having replaced every existing arena weapon with a procedural one. We've already started introducing all new weapons, and from now on we'll be doing more of that.
We are very nearly ready for a new beta patch with new AI and a lot of new weapons now, and we're keen to be properly testing and tweaking this.
Have a great week!
-the BM team
