Sandbox SmallAlienSetup

From CryWiki

Small Alien Setup

Overview

This document will cover correct practices for setting up Alien AI for the game Crysis.

In this tutorial, I have assumed basic skills with flowgraph and basic knowledge of editor functionality, such as how to place objects and create area shapes.

Index

Troopers

Types of trooper

Place troopers in the usual way from the Archetype Library.

Trooper_MOAC

A trooper that fires ice shards.

Trooper_MOAC_hangar

A Trooper_MOAC with some behavioral tweaks for internal situations

Trooper_MOAR

A trooper that fires an ice beam.

Trooper_MOAR_hangar

A Trooper_MOAR with some behavioral tweaks for internal situations

Trooper_Sphere_CarChase

Not used

Trooper_Unresponsive

Used for situations where the trooper should not react to the player (for example cutscenes).

Smart Object Types

TrooperDoorway01

Allows the trooper to enter a doorway

TrooperDoubleBounceLeft

Allows the trooper to bounce between two walls

TrooperHangOnCeiling

Allows the trooper to hang on to the ceiling.

TrooperHangOnCeiling5

Allows the trooper to hang on to the ceiling at 5m.

TrooperHut3m

Allows the trooper to jump from the ground to a 3m high platform. The platform must have an associated nav area setup.

TrooperHut5m

Allows the trooper to jump from the ground to a 5m high platform. The platform must have an associated nav area setup.

TrooperJump12mLong

Allows the trooper to jump a gap of 12m.

TrooperJump6mLong

Allows the trooper to jump a gap of 6m.

TrooperJumpOff

Allows the trooper to jump off cliffs.

TrooperJumpOff10m

Allows the trooper to jump off cliffs away from the edge.

TrooperJumpOff2m

Allows the trooper to jump off cliffs close to the edge.

TrooperNavSingleBounceWall

Allows the trooper to bounce off a wall. Used for navigation only.

TrooperSingleBounceWall

Allows the trooper to bounce off a single wall. The trooper can stop and fire along the wall while on the wall, so make sure you point the smart object in an appropriate direction 

TrooperSmallRock1_5m

Allows the trooper to jump and hang on to a flat horizontal surface and behave like a turret, firing continuous, precise streams of ice shards at the enemy.

TrooperVaultLTV

Allows the trooper to vault over an LTV

TrooperVaultOverFenceHigh

Allows the trooper to vault over a high fence.

TrooperVaultOverFenceHighLong

Allows the trooper to vault over a high fence. Start and end point are further from the fence.

TrooperVaultOverFenceLow

Allows the trooper to vault over a low fence.

TrooperVaultOverFenceLowLong

Allows the trooper to vault over a low fence. Start and end point are further from the fence.

TrooperDoorway5m

Not used

TrooperHut1_5m

Not used

Correct Smart Object Setup

Navigation smart objects are used to get from one place to another. These have entry/exit points. For navigation smart objects to function correctly, they need to be set up correctly. A red link on a navigation smart object means it will not function correctly.

Correct

Wrong

All circular points on the smart object should remain clear of obstruction.

Any objects used for alignment should remain flat to a visual surface, adjacent to the circular points. The above is for a “bounce off walls” smart object – the guide object is flat to the wall, while the guide spots remain clear.

For example, a door smart object should remain aligned to the doorframe.

Jump spot smart objects

This is NOT a navigation smart object. The trooper can access this point from anywhere close, by jumping to it.

Smart objects with box alignment spots should be aligned so their most important face is aligned to the appropriate visuals.

For example, the below is a trooper jump point. The trooper will land on top of the smart object, and therefore the top of the object should be aligned to the solid upper face of the target visual object.

Notes:

If multiple jump spots exist on the same surface, the trooper will select the closest one, and ignore the others. That means, if you surround one jump spot on all sides with others, the first will never be used.

Consider using multiple height layers when setting up an area for troopers, and prevent their firing lines overlapping.

Also worthy of noting. This smart object has no entry and exit point, so it will not be used for navigation, only as an attack point.

Bounce off walls smart objects

The bounce on wall smart object can also be used by a trooper as a spot to land and fire at the player. So, when placing these, consider that the trooper will be faced in a certain direction, and therefore aim the trooper in a direction dangerous to the player.

Jump to ceiling smart object

Jump to ceiling smart objects should be aligned as shown. The entry spot is aligned to the floor, and the hanging spot aligned to the ceiling.

Vault LTV smart object

The same applies for objects with a more complex boundary on an object. The below shows a “vault over LTV” smart object. It should be aligned to the important faces of the target object. For ease of use in this case, the smart object can be aligned directly to the Crysis LTV and rotated into position.

Nav area setup

Nav area setup for troopers is pretty much the same as human AI setup in nav areas. However, they don’t use AI point hide points, they can go on roofs, and they can enter/exit nav areas using smart objects.

As normal, carefully place a nav area with a height on your desired area, as shown above. The settings should something like as below.

Next, place some normal Human Waypoint AI points on the area, and regenerate links.

Now, correctly place down some appropriate entry/exit smart objects – in the overview picture previously, we use TrooperHut3m smart objects.

Scouts

Types of scout

Scout_MOAC

A scout that fires ice shards.

Scout_MOAC_Ascension

A scout that fires ice shards. Used in VTOL based levels.

Scout_MOAC_High_Health

A scout that fires ice shards. Increased health in the archetype

Scout_MOAC_Warrior

A scout that fires ice shards. Used in the endgame Warrior fight.

Scout_MOAR

A scout that fires an ice beam.

Scout_MOAR_Invul_to_AI

A scout that fires an ice beam and is invulnerable to other AI fire.

Scout_Unresponsive

A scout that does not repond to external influences.

Scout_Unresponsive_MOAC

A scout that fires ice shards. Does not repond to external influences.

Scout_Unresponsive_SO

Flight navigation setup

Firstly, place an AINavigationModifier in your level, around the area in which you want your scouts to fly.

Next, set up the area correctly, using the parameters below.

Next, regenerate the flight navigation in your level, and your scouts should be able to fly around.

Grabbing, moving and dropping troopers

A scout can carry up to 4 troopers at a time. These troopers and their scout must be placed in the level as preparation.

Firstly, the scout needs to be setup so it doesn’t get distracted while it is grabbing the troopers.Use the below node.

Next, the scout needs to grab the troopers. The scout must grab troopers one at a time. Therefore, link the _succeed_ outport of the node to the _Sync_ input of the next AIGrabObject node, so they are triggered sequentially. A single grab flownode setup should be as below – the scout assigned to the grab node and the trooper EntityId fed into the objectId port.

Note: The scout grabbing troopers should be done out of visible range of the player.

After the scout has the troopers, you need to send it along a path. So, first, you need to create a path. Use the AIpath object, found in the rollup bar/AI. Make sure your path is in the air, and its route nice and clear.