Question of the Week: What improvements and/or features would you bring to AI in game?

For Followers:
(other than attacking after I swap weapons & not doing nothing when I fight)
Different combat settings (aggressive, defensive, passive, knockout only)
Patrol (pace from A to B)
Lively (walks around your base, talks to other thralls, emote, sit, etc)

3 Likes

-Thralls should attack any unit that we are locking on - Nothing else needed.
Lock on disabled? Well, no auto attack for you. Players with sheathed weapons will not allow thralls to kill on sight.

-Thralls should step back if the player is trying to push them for more than two seconds.

-Horses should have a toggleable ‘‘passive mode’’ which makes them not to engage in combat to die a honorable death

  • Aggro sistem reworked: When fighting bosses, players take aggro priority, and bosses will only engage thralls if the player haven’t attacked them in the past (x) seconds.

  • Thrall patrol: Select patrol option in your thrall’s radial menu and select one spot. The thrall will now patrol between his guard spot and the recently selected patrol area, attacking any hostile unit nearby.
    Must be on land claim.

  • Kinscourge switches to his long range attacks (blood explosion and sword dash) way too often. These hits are the most likely to be dodged/ignored, leading to free player attacks. People will tend to stay away and just wait for those. Both attacks should be used less often.

  • (not exactly AI but oh, well) Hrungir the frost channeled attack takes to long to strike, almost never hits unless you really are not paying attention

  • Mammoths/elephants are too helpless when attacked from behind - give them the 1-2 feet stomp combo (but not the 360) from thunderfoot.

  • Thrall teleport- will walk considerably faster when away from the player, and only teleport if outside render distance. Will teleport behind the player, if there is elegible terrain to so (1 foundation wide behind the player)

  • Then players crouch, thralls also crouch. when we draw weapons, so do they.

  • Roaming patrols: black hand, cimmerians, skeletons, there should be roaming patrols of these. Same with boss dragons, for instance. Ofc this would lead to dragons roaming around unsuspecting bases, just make it so they won’t walk near land claim.

  • More boss attack variety: most bosses have way too little attacks, it lacks some variety. We need more AoE attacks like Thag! Make so rotbranch releases tendrils on random areas (properly telegraphed) or rockslide summoning a giant rock from the ground!

  • Hold postion: thralls will stand where they are and only attack if something gets within their range (great for archers)

  • Thralls should not use orbs unless its the last thing they have in their inventory.

  • Thralls and pets will stop attacking if their health falls below 10%, trying to survive. Mindless deaths look and feel weird.

  • Specialized pets: bigger animals should have more hp than endgame thralls, like elephants, rhinos, and so on. Feline pets should be unstoppable lunging machines with lower health but higher damage.
    spiders could focus on debuffs like poison, weakness, and so on. GIve us a reason to use pets!

2 Likes

I have to ask the community of any of these Questions of the week have you all gotten any of the suggestions you all have given in the game? Or is is just a random question for the fun of it?

So if this is real and it is possible to get what is asked for the features I would like Funcom to bring is unbroken AI, less bugs in how the AI reacts to things around it, less bugs in how they move when a threat in the area. A fix to the bugs that make them unable to switch weapons with out a work around. Oh maybe a fix to the bug that they fall in to the never never land below the surface of the world or wonder off on their own to never be seen again.

I would like the bug where they walk right in to the Lava and stand here while they melt like the wicked witch fixed, oh oh oh and last one they do not stand on a mountain and jump off or ride an elevator and take a nose dive to their death. Really nothing special or new just AI bugs fixed will be a good start for me.

They wouldnt ask of they didnt care.

1 Like

Here’s your answer :wink:

2 Likes

I ve read several opinions about the thralls system and i really enjoy them all. Still the thing that i wanted to exist in the game, to have it’s own AI, is dogs. I believe that the best friend of all the animals in human kind is a dog. I really enjoy the existence of horses and i am grateful they exist in the game. Even if i do not use horses i really enjoy the fact they exist. Still… I would love to return in my house - base, whatever you call it, and hear my dogs barking. I would love to open my door and see my dog running on me (for treats :joy::joy::joy:) , swinging its tale for games. And if i deside to take my dog with me on my journey, not to count as a follower. Even if our game is barbarick, some tenderness wouldn’t harm :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

3 Likes

Are you sure? Did you ever do the barking dog thing in Skyrim, the one where you have a dog following you around 24x7, loudly barking every 5 seconds or so. Man that was annoying.

3 Likes

I just did see this and was very happy and did make sure to welcome him on steam. Made my day!!!

2 Likes

To repeat what others have said, I would like for thralls to switch weapons depending on what am wielding. If I am holding and attacking with a knock out weapon then they should as well.

What I mean by a knock out weapon is any weapon that deals 1 hp damage but high concussion damage. That way modded weapons can be be taken into account as well.

Also the ability to give “stances” to thralls.

  1. Aggressive: attack anything that moves
  2. Defensive: only attack when they are attacked.
  3. Assist: only attack what I am attacking.
  4. Protect: only attack when I am attacked and only the thing attacking me.

And give followers commands like attack-move to a specific point within line of sight. Or attack what/where my cursor/crosshair is pointing.

I think that is all.

2 Likes

Need to tell the AI to somehow “backup” from a stuck spot. For example, when I enter a door into a 3x3 shack, the AI stops right at the door blocking the way out. I managed to barely find a spot i could tell it to stand guard. It’s almost a bug beyond being unfortunate.

The AI needs to traverse all stairs, not just player built. The grey apes get stuck on stairs, for example.

4 Likes

It’d be far better (and probably simpler) to be able to control what weapon thralls attack with separately from what the player is armed with. Whether that’s a “stance” or “command” or “battlecry” doesn’t matter. I routinely equip my thrall with a truncheon and myself with something lethal, and it’d be annoying to be forced into using a truncheon in order for my thrall to do the same.

4 Likes

Ohhhhh i love this wish list!
AI perception- so we could sneak around or past AI
Chores- to be able to tell my blacksmith to always keep X number of reinforcements on hand if the materials are there, maybe tell a fighter to move bars from a smelter to the blacksmith or a chest. have them collect some resources for us (or kill someone else’s chore thrall for those resources!)
Manage their own inventory a bit (if they have healing items and their health gets low use them)
Climb and swim instead of teleporting
Have an option to have them get out of our way in tight spaces.

2 Likes

FWIW, I feel completely opposite to that: the last thing I need in a situation like that is to fiddle with the radial menu and would much rather have the thrall follow my lead :wink:

2 Likes

Could be a nested command like the emotes

I don’t think its just the AI. I think how we play needs a overhaul with it.

From ps4 side of things. I got a d-pad, left and right to cycle items… up to use, down for quick map, or hold for emotes.
Keep radial, but its more for building. And Switch few of prompts So we can equip 2 weapons and swap on the go. (think Nier Automata)
Combat is quicker, more enaged, and AI is able counter, parry, lure and block… with out feeling cheap.

I think alot of Enemy NPC Units. (humans) need more attacks.
They are fairly basic do to using weapon sets they have on. So each one needs a jump/leap with a weapon. A wide arc swing. A roll into a weapon poke. Side roll into weapon poke.
(not a normal roll that follows are roll rules) Knife throw (low damage, but does small status like sunder or poison, doesnt spam it)
We players, do not have access to these moves, there just for AI.

Most fights involve luring them out, and watching them run Point A. to Point B. (us being B.) They basically bunch up on us like its Atari days… (I dont mean that in a bad way)

It be nice if they were abit more random. Instead of a swarm of bee’s, there would be some (not archers…) who would try and go around, or taunt. or even run back and get help.
Or whistled. (So like Darfari could whistle, and then a hyena would spawn near them)

Several of Bosses AI’s are really well done. A few could use some new moves. (as mention before… Dregs boss could spit acid in air and have it rain down on player afk, or hiding down stairs)

Large Monsters… look… Monster Hunter and Dragons Dogma have spoiled me on good large scale AI.
Dragons do a decent job. Croc is… pretty sad? He could use 2 or 3 moves to make it more, Great Jagras fun?
Spider is basiclly hit and run… or Tank it, and we play it like old style of MMO were we stand still and trade blows till once of use dies. (with rolling… XD)
Spider (boss ones) Could use Charge, a (in place) Stomp that leaves them open. Which in turns lets you heal or get some hits in.

I hate pointing out Monster Hunter… I would love to see larger scale enemies more fun play with, then being trap it in a rock or ledge, or let a thrall tank it as I hit it for 5-10mins.

Or maybe its damage they do, that ruins part of trading blows.

In General, I think alot of enemy units need more moves, And many of them can be AI only. (not for thralls or pets) This way they always have a advantage over us.

I get that some of that breaks part of realism… if Hyena could do leap attack, or does a bite that arcs(so it it hits 90 degrees in front of it, instead of normal bite) Part of realsim is gone with that.

Its video game… it needs more video gamey stuff going on.

Some more side notes.
AI Archers (not thralls) could melee with Bows. Instead of wasting time doing the sword spin animation. Which basiclly stops them from being canon fodder targets.

Two handers could spin and semi chase. (Again… not realstic… but video gamey)

Rhinos could swing head side to side, This would make attacking front at that moment dangerous, but leave back end open for a bit. (they pretty much just hover on you… and its boring)
dig head in ground and toss a rock (cause your on a ledge, triggering no melee mode)

Gorillas, Could swing wildly, instead of trying stand on me and swing. they could toss rocks and branches. (not in manner a Archer shoots arrows over and over… )

Thrall wise… on Ps4, so no testlive. Look… my answer is fairly simple.
Its a Video Game… Let me open menu, click my follower. And BAM. They are now next to me, instead of up top hill looking like a moron. (out of combat of course)

One of my biggest issues with Pets and thralls is having baby sit them non-stop as a go about map, cause they for what ever reason can’t walk over small ledges, like to walk off ledges… get stuck in a rock, between 2 trees…
Again, I get realism rules you guys n gals love so much… I just want a no-penalty method of getting my pet/thrall back to me, with out having look over my shoulder every second to make sure there not stuck like a moron.

Maybe more like Pawns of DD, were they can’t go to far from you, and they will teleport if they get to far from you.

1 Like

Quick commands!

Once you’re in the thick of it, it does you no good to be able to order your thrall around, if you have to call up the radial menu on them. In the middle of a fight you shouldn’t have to run around trying to align the cursor with your thrall as they move around. Give us at least a few commands that we can issue with a key-binding, like ctrl-f1 for “STAND DOWN! I NEED THAT NPC ALIVE!”.

  • Switching between aggressive and passive needs to be something we can simply yell out from wherever we are, not something we have to go tap our thrall on the shoulder to tell them.
7 Likes

I’d love that, but it’s not just a PC game. Ask @Croms_Faithful what it’s like to play on a console, where you literally have to use the controller.

3 Likes

Seconded. And as a follow-on, us console users cant solve problems with mods. Not a critique of what anyone has said here, but a general observation.

4 Likes

oh boy…

For thralls:

  • Different behavior stances and they act accordingly, ie. aggresive (attack anything on sight), defensive (defend only if the player gets attacked), passive (won’t attack)
  • Patroling, I would love to have this option to set my thralls to walk around the base, just for immersion.
  • Flee from danger, If they are week enough they would run away IF you comand it.
  • Weeker thralls, smarter thralls, they block if they get aggro, they dodge, they avoid damage, they fight back. lower the amound of HP they can get and the damage they can deal to compensate their now higher intillegence.
  • Thralls won’t throw all their weapons (if i equip them 10 javelins, they will keep at least 1) and they could have a chance to recover their ammo.
  • Thrall emotes, When they are guarding, they can be set to play an emote ( such as sitting, sleeping, etc)
  • Dancer dances, you can set what dances they perform
  • Dancer dances effects, every dance has a different effect on the player and the friendly thralls (ie. mitra reduces corruption, set increases damage, ymir increases defense, yog increase hp, darketo increases stamina, jhebbal sag increases hp recovery)
  • There are lo longer archers or fighters, they are just thralls and their fighting style depends on the weapon you gave them
  • Thrall weapon training, they train with the weapon type they use and they grow stronger with it.
  • Thralls won’t die, to avoid the “i spend hours leveling this thrall and he died” problem, thralls have the same curse than players and cannot die at all, If one of them drops down to 0hp, they loose their gear and respawn short after
  • Bearers helps you to gather materials if you equip them with the right tools
  • Horses counts a mount, not as a thrall, they don’t follow unless you ask them.
  • Command to make your follower and mount to go back to your base.
  • They don’t block entrances anymore
  • They sneak when you do, just for flavor (would be nice to have propper sneakng mechanics though)

Enemies NPCs

  • They patrol their territories and fight anyone or anything invading their lands.
  • They sleep
  • They have different tactics and abilities than the player (Similar to the kinscourge)
  • They will try to protect their allies and won’t let you take them as prisioners, some of them may even try to kill the captured thrall
  • They can heal themselves
  • New asagarth is neutral and they have merchants
  • More corrupted creatures spawning
  • New corrupted creatures, bear, boar, rabbit, snake, scorpion, some humans, etc.
  • Flee from combat when in danger

Bosses NPCs

  • They need to act like bosses, not as simple creatures. give them minions to summon, and faster movements
  • No 1 hit kills, make them faster and consistent but avoidable, by blocking, dodging and running.
  • More AoE attacks
  • They flee from combat if they can’t attack
  • They can’t be kited too far
  • Their normal attacks shouls be weeker, but with stronger abilities
  • Lower their HP
  • OR, if possible adapt bosses for every player engaging them. More players fighting the same boss means a stronger a thougher boss.
  • Boss phases, would be nice to have to (in example) cut their legs first in order to damage the boss, or to use the enviroment to make the fight easier. i can imagine fighting the arena champion, (in example) first we need to destroy an altar of set that granted her power, then we need to make her waste her energy and attack when she is recoverying, perhaps we could make her damage herself if she attacks and fall into a trap, at the end we can only kill her before she goes berserk.

This is what i can think of right now…i might have some more ideas later

5 Likes

True, but if they want the follower commands to be great rather than ‘meh’ then that problem has to be solved - the radial menu isn’t really an option there.

2 Likes