76 réponses à ce sujet

[kevL]

       ---~oO__Oo~---
ode to Special Abilities tab
       ---~oO__Oo~---


rule of thumb: nothing works as advertised except the Ability itself. (not even Uses)


And, i find, if you want a decent CasterLevel (for npc spellabilities) + Charisma modifier to take effect, don't
ActionCastSpell(bCheat).

ps. might be the same for caster npc Spells tab

return;

Modifié par kevL, 25 septembre 2011 - 10:33 .

[kevL]

holy moly,
I set up Blacky with a full complement of spells (offensive) and temporarily hard-wired his AI to cast, cast cast. He's 20 hd and casts at 15 CL (not sure how the engine figures that, but the SaveDC's are adjustable w/ Charisma). When my 16 Cleric goes in w/ no buffs he gets totally discombobulated! ( not that buffs are going to help once i Get the preliminary casting sequence valid )

Pain, i haven't set this up with CSL - because, as you can imagine, I've got my hands full with fixing and amending spell charts and descriptions and targetting UI's and spell lists. So far,

with the latest Category "Determents" implemented it feels well over half done. Depends on where i'm gonna draw the limit ...


*if (hp < 100) Power Word Kill*

somewhere round there i guess.

[kevL]

- implementation of ~75 dragony Offensive Cast spells completed at a basic-intermediate level ( finally )
- emphasis on Wizard spells ( necromancy / enchantment / others )

• powerwords
• leveldrains
• deathspells
• inflictwounds
• determents
• bigbys
• banishes
• assays
• summons
• fears
• dispels
• mindcontrols

- spawn script done.
- userdefined ( heartbeat / endcombatround ) done.
- primary AI script done ( compiles to 65kb )

- scripts for Breath / Buffet / Swipe all seem robust


- advanced options for switching targets, pushing cast frequency, and 'going in for the kill' in place.

- Aura of Fear ( dragon ) works and have tickled the NwN2 default SaveDC vs. dragon abilities away from that big ol' kludgy table some might recognize into a nice little formula : based on hitDice : as also ranges on wingBuffet & tailSwipe

Lots left to do but i think I should parse out a package specifically for Tholapsyx of the OC next ...
or tango w/ short term buffs. Morale, what a relief getting 2500 lines of code tucked in the belt,

Modifié par kevL, 31 octobre 2011 - 08:41 .

[Quilistan]

Keep up the work. A good Dragon AI will certainly be crazy welcome. I have avoided using alot of dragons (currently only have one) because they just don't fight well with the OC. We used to use them alot with NWN1 with Jassper's(sp?) Ai (if anyone remembers that).

I can't wait to play with this, my hope is to see a much more dynamic dragon fight!

[kevL]

ya, thanks,

I've been playtesting in an open field and the combat results are (trying not to say spectacular) greater than the sum of the parts. As in, say, i'll be kiting a dragon with my pet on its tail and suddenly it will stop and *schwak* the pet, then keep the chase on. There's even a little section here for Behaviors, so that before perception is engaged, it will taunt animation or random Breathe or Buffet - anything so it doesn't just stand there (going, duh ) ...

So i took the scripts back into the OC, Fiery Canyon to see what Tholaps would do with them - she's using them, but from a Save she went down in 3 rounds. Then I engaged the Pia at 250% and she wiped my party in three rounds ... except Sand, who scampered back to the zone. (yeah Sand! ) currently am trying to figure why the OnClientEnter of that zone doesn't seem to be firing .. no biggie (found it! kaldor you sly dog . Would like to replace her .Uti with a slightly better variation

( there's a problem in that Tholaps uses a custom faction, tho )

which reminds me i Haven't worked in PowerAttack or Knockdown feats yet .... While I can't give an ETA i should start thinking about a beta version for the Vault, let you pw-modders work it to taste because there's lots of comments (//and has-been code) and it shouldn't be *that* hard to weave yer way through it all,


.. now if i could just figure out why she breathed for 388 pts.
because the math is really simple:

int iDam = (iHitDice / 2) + 5;
iDam = d10(iDam);

where iHitDice = 34. Should give a mean of 121, max 220 .................

[painofdungeoneternal]

I set a var on any target who has knockdown applied, with a delay to remove it after it's ended to fix the fact it's not detectable - this lets the AI know when it's applied or not.

[kevL]

ok, noted P.

I'll add that var ( on failed saves ) to Buffet & Swipe too ..


'course, dragons might enjoy kicking a guy around when e's down, hehe (which reminds me, is there a way to test for Critical and then have it instantly do a Knockdown as well?)

[kevL]

holy crap




i gotta re-think a few things ...





like SR & effect_type_sanctuary,

Modifié par kevL, 03 novembre 2011 - 05:58 .

[kamal_]

Good, that's what dragons should be. Even a single one is supposed to be a serious threat to an entire city.

[M. Rieder]

They should also be versed in the arts, popular culture, manners, proper dinner placement, and wine pairings.

[Vaalyah]

I hate that dragon, I really hate that dragon. And you are trying to make her even tougher? o.O Darling, sometimes, you just scare me! :-D

Modifié par Vaalyah, 03 novembre 2011 - 07:21 .

[Shaughn78]

How does this work in an underground setting?
As a builder if we are hoping to take advantage of this later on, how much area should be set aside for our dragon liar of death and destruction?

[kevL]

I'm not sure how this'd work underground; my first thought is use the idea of an outdoor area with a black skydome to make it seem like underground. The red dragon (scale:1) takes up 2x3 indoor tiles. Completely. It takes up half a megatile outdoors (1x2). I say you'd want to triple those areas at least ... while indoors you might get some .. roof problems.

Blackies are smaller, 'bout third the size.

Bronze, even bigger.


Vaal, i'm trying not to make Tholapsyx tougher. I'm simply fixing and re-implementing scripts that she comes with stock ( for the most part ). If you want her tougher see my .sig She's a 34 hitdie creature, show her some respect!!

Now that I've danced with Tholly a few times i got her moves down ( dip, turn, twirl ) ..... time to introduce some unpredictability.


- and what the heck are wine pairings

[M. Rieder]

kevL wrote...
- and what the heck are wine pairings

Well for people, it is what wine goes best with what food.  I imagine for a dragon it would be what wine or similar dink would go well with what class of adventurer she just ate.  For example:

Moon Elf wizard -  A nice clear chardonnay, light but pretensive.

Human Bard - A rich red port.  Sophisticated but approachable

Dwarven Fighter - A deep draught of gutbuster... or ale... or some leftover pork drippings.... anything really....

[kevL]

oh .. the closest i could think was the ADC (ancient dwarfen custom) of drinking from two steins at once ....


but then i thought, ya know, Dwarfs just ain't that err, erudile classy.

anyway, pared out a major redundancy and chopped the .Ncs down 3kb ...


* wanders off muttering, effect_sanctuary effect_sanctuary brainssssssss *

( If a character casts EffectEthereal/Sanctuary in front of a critter w/ True Seeing, it'll just stand there too. This is gonna require a semi-major rework of GetValidAttackTarget( ) )

[kamal_]

Sanctuary doesn't make you invisible (well, it may work that way in game code, but that's not what it's supposed to do), it's supposed to make the enemy magically not be willing to attack you. An enemy should just stand there versus a sanctuary'd opponent. In my opinion it's an overpowered level 1 spell, but it is what it is.

[kevL]

hey kam_
roughly, someone over at the wiki had somethings to say about this : Etherealness

basically i was using GetNearestPerceivedEnemy( ) to determine a target, but when Sand used Ethereal Jaunt suddenly the dragon just stood there ... staring at him. So I looked into it and then deliberately did a test by giving khelgar the cloak w/ Jaunt; everyone else stood back while Kh. was fighting then cast Jaunt ... again the dragon just stood there staring like it was mind-controlled (Dragons should generally be immune to mind-affecting)

So, yeh, i'm working on some code to jump that hurdle, then will look into the fix that's offered on the wiki page (for general AI) I tend to agree that Ethereal/Sanctuary should render visible but unattackable - workarounds might be more practical to just regard them as invis, tho.

[kamal_]

If a party member is sanctuaried, the enemy should just move on to the next target, not stand there locked in to an unattackable target. A really smart enemy might cast a dispel on location instead of the character, but I don't believe the ai is capable of that. In a one on one combat, an enemy should either buff itself or just stand there versus a sanctuaried opponent that remains in the area. If the sanctuaried opponent tried fleeing the decision to follow would start getting much more complicated, and the default of following the opponent seems reasonable for the most part (a sanctuaried fleeing opponent would probably be seen as weak and ripe for killing).

[MasterChanger]

I agree that an AI who can't attack a certain target because it is protected by a Sanctuary effect should move onto the next available target. However, Sanctuary does allow a Will save to disbelieve, at least theoretically. Has anyone tested this?

[Vaalyah]

kevL wrote...

Vaal, i'm trying not to make Tholapsyx tougher. I'm simply fixing and re-implementing scripts that she comes with stock ( for the most part ). If you want her tougher see my .sig She's a 34 hitdie creature, show her some respect!!

darling, since she is the one always trying to SIT above us... she is the one who needs to show some respect for others, don't you think?
You know, do not speak with the food in your mouth, do not speak above others and... do not SIT above others, the basic rules for children!

Modifié par Vaalyah, 04 novembre 2011 - 05:03 .

[kamal_]

I always used to Sanctuary to recover the dragon eggs in the Underdark in BG2

[painofdungeoneternal]

Sanctuary is a will save, you'd have to be a tough hombre to out will power a dragon. Frankly its not a good idea even with orcs but can help a non melee caster get out there and heal his party. Its pretty much critical feature for clerics regardless of power level, or there would be no point in doing a pacifist healer cleric. From my experience in actual playing it probably is pretty much broken.

Ethereal is just invisibilty, but you cannot be touched either since you are technically on another plane - you cannot attack, all you can do is not be attacked. The rules should allow some magics to affect you, and silver swords i'd imagine as well, i'd really think the solution is to have said dragon do a dispel at this point. Any dragon will have true seeing and or see invisibility anyway, so they should just have alternate tactics to get you.

( technically you should be able to go ethereal to fight someone who is ethereal but the spells implementation does not make this practical without reworking the entire engine. )

[kevL]

tinker tinker

I'm ready to break

object oTarget = blah blah

out to its own function. Do,

if ETHEREAL castDispel
else i++

( you know what i mean )


else Face & Taunt. (or blast oTarget w/ Breath, see what happens ..) But if ethereals get caught by AoE Buffets and Tailswipes (eg) .... that would mean special code ought be added throughout the game eh.

* aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, rushes out for a book on wine pairings *

[Dorateen]

kevL wrote...

but then i thought, ya know, Dwarfs just ain't that err, erudile classy.

Hey!

Oh, and about Sanctuary. Used it in Icewind Dale 2 against Chahopek the black gaurdian dragon of Chult.

Harumph!

[painofdungeoneternal]

kevL wrote...

tinker tinker

I'm ready to break

object oTarget = blah blah

out to its own function. Do,

if ETHEREAL castDispel
else i++

( you know what i mean )


else Face & Taunt. (or blast oTarget w/ Breath, see what happens ..) But if ethereals get caught by AoE Buffets and Tailswipes (eg) .... that would mean special code ought be added throughout the game eh.

* aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, rushes out for a book on wine pairings *

Think that is already there with the dispel routine, if not it would be added to the dispel ai code that is already there. Usually it does not do it because dispel was not given to the npc.

Tail swipes would pass right thru ethereal creatures. An ethereal creature is able to pass thru objects like kitty pride of the X-men, they can see into our plane, but their bodies are in the ethereal plane, and they can move in any direction. You cannot see someone on the ethereal plane but they are treated as if they are invisible. The player really should be able to walk thru doors, but this would mess up quite a few dungeons where keys are required.

Force effects ( magic missle, wall of force ) and abjurations extend into this other plane, so can affect the target per the rules.

I did add a ethereal barrier as well, and was planning on a ethereal explosion spell which when used does most of its damage to those who are ethereal. Those would be good features to add to a dragons spell list. A high level tentacles of force spell would be useful as well. ( you can have more fun with spells when only the NPCs have them )

Modifié par painofdungeoneternal, 04 novembre 2011 - 08:34 .