Calling all units,
Welcome to the 58th edition of our biweekly newsletter! Today, we will introduce yet another highly anticipated feature, the upcoming Suspect AI in Ready or Not.
Please note that what is presented is a work in progress, and final results may look or play differently from what this newsletter represents.
Introduction
Our AI Design team is always looking for ways to enhance the gameplay loop, making the game feel even more realistic and challenging. Today’s newsletter will discuss the Suspect AI systems and how we aim to throw a spanner in your perfectly laid-out plans.
Join us as we speak about the suspect AI system and how our AI Designer, Bradley, tackles the challenge of making suspects behave more naturally toward player actions.
The Gameplay Loop
At its core, Ready or Not thrives on immersing players in a realistic, challenging, tactical first-person shooter environment. However, this comes with challenges:
‘How do we make the gameplay loop feel stable and challenging while still remaining fair?’
The answer to this is quite complex, and to properly immerse the player, we are exploring many ways that AI can interact and react to certain situations.
Suspect AI: Freedom of Movement
Many FPS games with enemy AI may set an 'optimal' combat distance when fighting the player. This makes AI (AKA ‘actors’) in those games have potentially undesirable behaviors on some levels, such as leaving rooms with the player at awkward moments.
In Ready or Not, though, we strive to give our AI freedom to improvise and re-approach situations and face players with the challenge of controlling that chaos.
"Something I think [Ready or Not] has an advantage over others in that department is we're able to embrace chaos. In traditional shooters, linear ones anyway, when level designers place down actors in a scene, it's generally with the intention that they work within the area they're placed in. In RoN, we only care about this in precombat, where we keep them constrained to the general area they spawn in.
Once the AI is alert, their interaction with the area will dictate how fights feel. So, for instance, in the Agency map, it's not uncommon to have more drawn-out intense gunfights in the lobby due to it having multiple interconnecting entrances and covers for the AI to attack from. Conversely, if you push into the hallway past it, they often duck into one of the rooms to flank you or wait for you since they can't find a good spot to take cover. Honestly, I really like that I can lean more into "chaos" in the game."
However, Bradley also describes the following new system intended to address crowded or empty AI spawn areas, allowing for an optimal gameplay flow on each given level:
"One thing we did recently is add a spawn grouping system. This will allow us to ensure specific parts of the map don't get too crowded or possibly too empty by setting a min/max desired number of characters to spawn within a certain group. This lets me do stuff like set a bunch of possible spawns in an area, then limit the group's max number to like 2 guys. So there could be ten possible spawns, but we won't have to worry about 10 guys in there."
See Below: Neutral AI moving in a set area before player interaction
Suspect AI: Decision-Making
“Suspects have unfortunately been seen as targets you have to stun or kill because they'll inevitably shoot at you once they become aware.”
One of the challenges we are tackling is to ensure that suspects behave more naturally. Based on player actions, we want to ensure that the suspects will act accordingly. You blow a door open; some suspects will act surprised and cower, and others may hold their ground. This aims to reinvigorate scenarios; players will never know what to expect when tackling obstacles.
Below: AI surrenders after being stunned.
Use of Force
In line with the above and some other scenarios, a suspect might not act aggressively. Based on what a player does, suspects may choose several actions, including surrendering, cowering, retreating, grouping, and, of course, showing aggression (to name a few).
But what happens when a suspect simply does not open fire? In moments like these, you have to consider the Use of Force Continuum - shooting a non-hostile suspect will have consequences. Proceed with the utmost caution and attempt to de-escalate using less-lethal methods. Though, of course, some situations cannot always be avoided.
“You shouldn't be shooting suspects who haven't shown aggression. So situations where a suspect does not open fire can potentially be more stressful - who knows if other suspects are on the way while you're trying to get him to comply!”
Below: AI Fake Surrender GIF
Conclusion
This concludes our 58th briefing. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news!
Are you a content creator on YouTube or Twitch looking for new games? We have you covered; Ready or Not has officially partnered with Lurkit to elevate gameplay! Make sure to follow us here:
https://www.lurkit.com/games/ready-or-not
Over and out,
VOID Interactive
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1144200/Ready_or_Not/