Hey, wow, hello to the maybe 3 people that play this game!
I said a while back I am improving the enemy NPC. And I am! But he won't be the handsome fella I showed in a post a few months back. Still a lot of animation and rigging to make that all happen, so for now, it's the bobble head baddies you know and love.
So, in the meantime to prepare, I have been updating how the bad guys hunt you down! Have a look below.
OLD BAD-GUY LOGIC
The enemy "knows" where the player is at all times, heads in a straight B-Line for the player. This is boring and predictable.
While they constantly scan for obstructions, if one was encountered, their only options were to either randomly turn left or right and hope they doesn't get stuck.
NEW BAD-GUY LOGIC
Uses the built-in navigation that ships with Unreal (the game's engine)
Can intelligently maneuver the landscape, takes roads/paths instead of walking up the side of a steep mountain.
DOESN'T immediately know where the player is, they start with a search area where the player is suspected to be. They then head to a random spot within that search area. If the player isn't found, they pick another location in the search area to check. The more they search, the smaller the search area becomes, and the closer they get to the player.
If an enemy sees and shoots at the player, that shot alerts nearby enemies to abandon their search and come aid the firing enemy soldier.
They wear cute little hats now! :D
All this will release in the next update!