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| Re: Improving Pet AI
UPDATED DEV POSTS. love2winalot asks Hail: When you are testing this, please test the following distance, :ie how far ahead or distance between you and your pet", for it to keep following you, and not stop. This is important since the pet will not attack anything, or counter attack, This leave the pet defenseless.
Also, test if multiple things attack a pet that is following you, will it break the follow command?
~~~~ Thanks for the feedback on this. I'll be sure to let QA know so we can monitor this. Quote: |
Also, test if multiple things attack a pet the is following you, will it break the follow command?
| Yes, it should ignore all attacks.
P atrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ And give us pet balls and powders so we can test on TC
 says Lord Drakelord Good suggestion. Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ Kiminality was next to take Leurocian to task Quote: |
Firstly. Are there any plans to update the AI beyond pets responding to commands? In effect, making monsters and pets smarter than the average mana-dumping automaton.
| No immediate plans here, but it is something we'd like to do. Quote: |
Secondly. If you order a pet that's fighting to come/follow/stop, then it damages the monster with the delayed damage of a spell, or kitsune rage attack, will that kick it back into fighting?
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It shouldn't. Definitely want to test this thoroughly though on TC. I'll remind QA to test for this. Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ JCBuilder also had questions. Quote: |
So what happens if you have a pet following you and a player begins attacking it? Is it going to ignore the attacker completely until the tamer tells it to attack back?
| Yes. However, if you tell the pet to follow you, then guard you. It will follow you until it is attacked or you are attacked, then it will autodefend as normal. Quote: |
Also, what happens if a pet kills a target. Currently it will revert to following you. So does this mean if you tell it to attack something, it will kill it and then just follow you again, ignoring anything else that is hitting it?
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Once the kill/attack command is initiated, it should behave how it does currently. Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ FrejaSP's question Leurocian when you are done with the Pet Balls and he Pet AI, would it then be possible for you to tweak RoT on Siege, we really need our new players to stay after they hit RoT. and Gwendar-SP, Quote: |
Are you going to fix the guard wacking bug(s) that makes it dangerous to have your pet guarding you in a guard zone?
| @FrejaSP I'll mention this to Draconi and the Live Team. @Gwendar-SP I'll pass this on to QA. Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ Lariat wants her pet to use more sense While you're looking at pet AI in relation to the Summoning Ball changes, could you give the pets with magery enough common sense to teleport if they get stuck on a ledge? One of the ways pet balls compensate is pulling the pets (usually a nightmare or rune beetle, in my case) off a ledge after they teleport up there to attack something. If they're smart enough to teleport up there to attack, they should teleport back down if I tell them to come or follow.
~~~~ JCBuilders reply taught me some thing I hadnt heard of before If you say all come three times (successfully) a pet with Magery will teleport to your location. This has been around for as long as I can remember. and Petra Fyde replying to the same question told us This is already possible. A magic casting pet told 'come' will teleport to the owner. I've used it often when my pet has teleported at cyclops beach into the rocks, sometimes I have to ask more than once, but they always come to me.
Hopefully that won't get broken in these changes.
~~~~ Leurocia reassured Petra Those changes should remain unaffected. Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ Melciah didnt have as much luck with his 'tongue in the teeth ' question Any changes with the Fetch command? It's not quite as necessary, but having a dragon bring me my boots sounds like an interesting concept...
~~~~ Not at this time. Just the commands listed in my original post for the time being. Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ Petra Fyde wasnt convinced by Leurocian though,  Interesting, but I'm not totally convinced.
It will be lovely to take my mare to fight poison eles in Shame and not have her trying to fight the elder gazers through the wall. It will be lovely to have her attack the monster nearest to us, as I've told her to, and not the one just past it so that she ends up with both of them attacking her.
But I forsee problems if the pets don't autodefend at all.
I'd like to see the tamer's commands over ride autodefend, but not eliminate it.
Not sure I can explain what I mean clearly........an analogy. If you were walking your dog and another dog growled at it, it would continue to follow you (probably towed along by the lead, I admit) but it would also growl and snap at the other dog, yes?
~~~~ So she was asked If you can Petra, test out the changes once they hit public TC and give us your feedback. I'm hopeful that what we have slated will be a big improvement to the existing command AI. which she agreed to do.
Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
~~~~ Another 'thought' from Petra A further thought.
Will the pets have the potential to ignore these commands if the tamer's lore is insufficient?
I'd rather the changes didn't form a substitute for skill levels, or indeed, players' competence.
Yes. the commands have to be successful, have sufficient lore, etc. Nothing changes there. Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic
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