Duck and Cover

I want a character to stop attacking the player and suddenly run away (along a set of waypoints). So how do I get him to quit pounding on the player and do that? Anyone know? Is it possible?

[TBC]-PaladinHeart wrote:I want a character to stop attacking the player and suddenly run away (along a set of waypoints). So how do I get him to quit pounding on the player and do that? Anyone know? Is it possible?

It's pretty tricky, actually. Sometimes it will work, others it will not.

Here are some steps I came up with when MV asked the same quesiton long, long ago along w/some improvements:

• Have the enemy character's Player Index change its Aggression to "0".
• Have the enemy character's Player Index Change to WayPoints, and the Move Priority set to "10".
• Make sure that the characters that you're wanting to have do this aren't set to the "Aggressor" Nature, or "Squeeler" (since they act as Aggressors once they've tripped an Alarm). You may want to consider setting them up as Cowards.
• Make sure that the enemies are armed w/ranged weapons. The longer their range, the better, since they won't feel compelled to close the distance between themselves and the player in order to attack. It will also keep them from vaccilating back and forth between advancing on the player and running away.

Cheers,

OTB

OnTheBounce wrote:Here are some steps I came up with when MV asked the same quesiton long, long ago along w/some improvements:

*sigh* Had to go an open up those wounds, didn'tja? :p I think part of my problem was that I was using Deathclaws as test subjects. Maybe they're all hardcoded to attack no matter whert? Dunno. I keep meaning to try the whole idea again, though...

Thanks for the tips OTB. I think I did most of that except for setting him to "coward" and the long range weapon. The coward bit will be helpful (he keeps turning around and wants to come back for more...), but I can't give him a gun since one of the previous objectives was to steal it, so it wouldn't look too good if I gave him another one :)

I have it all figured out now though. I will let the player decide. More EXP and bullets now (whatever they did not steal from him), or a special encounter later which would yield more EXP and goodies. I will try and have lots of leaders, etc.. who will run away and/or surrender, who will yield better stuff later in the game :) I think it makes a story much more interesting too.

Max-Violence wrote:*sigh* Had to go an open up those wounds, didn'tja? :p

Yep, had to let the sepsis flow... (Feel free to puke. It's okay. Really. )

Max-Violence wrote:Maybe [DCs are] all hardcoded to attack no matter whert? Dunno. I keep meaning to try the whole idea again, though...

Well, they have nothing to attack w/but their claws, so the AI wants to move them closer to attack. I noticed when I was testing this a while back that that riflemen would run away, but spear-armed opponents would end up charging. It would seem that DCs are a poor choice w/the st00pid AI we're saddled with.

[TBC]-PaladinHeart wrote:I will try and have lots of leaders, etc.. who will run away and/or surrender, who will yield better stuff later in the game I think it makes a story much more interesting too.

Undoubtedly better. Having someone to spare and then letting that person come back later to save the PCs a lot of heartache and/or puncture wounds is always a goodness, which I grok in fullness.

For instance, you could have someone that if the players let him/her go, they come to a fortified gate later on and the person who is on duty passes them even though the forged documents they are carrying wouldn't pass muster if the eye in question were a skeptical one. But since that person owes the PCs a favor...

OTB