AI tweaks

[VanillaPudding]

The AI lately has been a bit rough and I think could use some tweaking back towards what it was.

- It tends to lock onto invisible targets without much reason and will not break from them unless killed

- Creatures with listen/spot far below what would be required (according to handy rogue inspect target) are making spot/listen checks at large distances / rear arcs even when they shouldn't be able to at all, even in close range.

- Some factions are triggering their own traps (Ettercap hunter, Bandits that were in a lower alley random)

- Most importantly, Summon control has been damaged. Even if you tell it to stand ground and use the tool, it often just runs wild to attack random creatures. Alternatively, it sometimes just begins to follow you around and -will not- attack anything.

[Vlaid]

Expanding on the listen/spot thing about NPCs....they are randomly being scripted to follow after stealthed PCs until they will make their spot/listen check even when their spot/listen is far too low for them to be able to tell there is someone there to try and detect.

[Blue41]

Earlier today a PC and I entered a difficult random in the sewers- he went in invisibly to heal and support while I led the charge. I got knocked below negative hp twice- on the second time, he healed me up, but some of the spawns targeted him (still invisible at the time) and chased him for a bit before critting him to death. I'm not sure if he became a target once I was dead or if he brushed too close to them, but thought I'd bring it up.

[Bouquet of Roses]

I did some testing with Caster a while back, would be happy to do more, if need be!

[VanillaPudding]

Would like to hear more about this invis/stealth stuff but with less conclusion jumping. There were some changes to this area associated with curbing darkness exploitation, but knowing what was done I find these descriptions a bit over the top and speculative. Happy to swing the pendulum back if indeed it has gone beyond the intent

Well, using the examine mark utility that rogues have, it displays a range of their spot and listen, etc. I've been targeted many times over by creatures that are on the lowest end the spectrum while I have 25-35 over their detection in either category. It is definitely not all creatures or all the time, but it happens enough to be quite noticeable. I understand the stealth mechanics fairly well I believe, and in many cases I should even have a bonus against their spot or listen due to rear arcs and distance from them.

As for invisibility, they tend to just lock on somewhat randomly and do not like to change targets afterward, as was described above by Blue41.

 

[Apocryphal Misconceptions]

I don't have an active account so this is several month's old experience but it no doubt still applies:

It's usually the intelligent NPCs that lock in on stealthy targets. In my experiences it only happened when there was a mob of NPCs. Kobolds (very frequently), Wild Orcs (frequently) and Goblins (only the war mobs, with Storm Troopers etc. in them) would engage // lock a target while invisibile. Like VP, I had a tool to discern that the spot and listen was too minimal to detect my hide/ms. It doesn't happen anywhere near as often (or at all) with the less intelligent NPCs (vermin, beasts, animals).

In my experience: If I am stealthed and invisible (stalker sorcerer for example) then this only happens at bump-range. If I was only in stealth (30 hide ms, no source of light, outside in the caves) then NPCs with far below 10 detect will just start to follow you around, even from greater distance. Or at times they run between you and their own main mob of NPCs in a repeating cycle. The Kobold Marksman has a very bad habbit of doing this. Eventually they would just start to attack me if it happened long enough.

I thought they might beat the listen vs. ms check but in a lot of situations that was pointedly impossible. [[EDIT: but didn't attack me, because they only heard me but didn't see me (hide vs. spot). ]]

This is unrelated to the 'floaty eyes effect' (the spell c/c) that sometimes triggers to intelligent NPCs.

Same happens if you walk by some of these NPCs while just invisible. They can follow you because they heard you. Once they follow you, you can't shake them off again except by transitioning. It's why I think the main issue relates to a listen script" that is in place for intelligent NPCs.


It might be easiest to test this with a mob with Kobold Marksmen in it since those can react and start to do this from miles away.


 

[Apocryphal Misconceptions]

If you turn invisible when chased by a NPC, it is completely random whether they will cease to attack or not btw. Usually if they are not right behind you, they'll stop. If they're on top of you though, they won't always.

[Stranger]

There is an additional bug where if you transition while being chased by an NPC, then apply invisibility on yourself outside of that NPC's sight, they will behave as if you were not invisible at all. They will chase you across any distance until killed or despawned. This is most noticeable in the hardcore prelude wherein there are many interiors connected to the same zone of hostiles—significant backtracking, in summary.

I have not opened a report thread because this strikes me as something unavoidably related to the NWN engine.

And the hardcore prelude's pretty neat as is.