Murder Mansion

And, one last update preview post, to cover what I consider to be the most important aspect of the update.

This is the area of the game that I spent the most time improving, and I really hope it will show. And if you've been keeping score (either by process of elimination of the other things I've mentioned, or if you've noticed a hint here or there), then maybe you've already guessed what this post will be about.

Murder Mansion AI Upgrades

That's right. One of my main focus points with the work I've put into this update is in upgrading the AI.

At various versions since I introduced them, the bots have ranged from (at best) sufficient to complete a round to (at worst) unable to do much of anything (getting stuck or hung-up in their routines) I'm not even sure where on this spectrum the currently released version of the AI falls. But no matter what their level of capability, they've been boring, probably predictable, and not very fun to play with.

Hopefully, I've solved those problems, along with making the AI a little more "human".

Here's a run-down:

1) The AI are now capable of competently playing the game in any role in any mode (except the new Werewolf mode, which is the last thing I'm working on) I've run countless test rounds played by full-AI players (including my own character on autopilot/AFK mode), and they have arrived at every possible win (or lose) condition.

For instance, in Classic, I've seen the murderer win, I've seen a bot correctly accuse the murderer, I've even seen rounds end by accidental death (or DQ by incorrect accusations; the bots have a human-like deduction system of levels of suspicion that increase or decrease based on what they see; well, sometimes, they get it wrong!)

Yes, they're now very capable of killing, and very capable of deducing the killer based on clues (or by flat out witnessing attacks)

2) They use much more of the functions on the maps. They'll go reset the power or phones if they've been turned off (and the murderer will set a "trap" by turning off the power and waiting around for someone to come turn it on), the murderer will also now utilize methods to clean up after a kill (the AI now automatically wash their hands when they use the bathroom so killers will sometimes go into a bathroom right after making a kill, murderers will take steps to clean or dispose of/hide a used weapon, etc.)

Their behavior is now also much more robust, with all kinds of prob() checks used on all kinds of possible actions (a bot witnessing an attack might choose to run for the phone, or they might choose to play vigilante, a murderer may choose to launch an attack with their bare fists, or to wait until they've armed themselves, a murderer may choose to attack someone only when they're the only player in sight, or perhaps even go after someone with a witness around (the witness will go on the list to be killed next, of course!))

3) They're also now much more social. They have a dialogue file that has lists of speech and emotes organized by the situation. They have greetings and introductions based on the current mode, some small talk stuff based on the current map, some output to talk about their intentions ("Where's the food around here? I'm starving!", "It's too dangerous to walk around without some kind of defense. I'm looking for a weapon.", etc.), responses to being attacked or witnessing an attack, threats if they're about to make an attack, etc.

They even have some generic responses so they'll respond to what they "hear". ("That's a good idea!", "I'm not so sure...", "Whatever makes you happy!", etc.) Right now, there's not a whole lot of variation (an average of 6 or 7 messages that they'll pick from in each category), but that will improve in future updates as I add more variety.

Even better is that they also have a method of reporting on what they've seen/experienced. Certain objects and events will set an output message that they'll relay to anyone they see from then on ("Did you see that Blood in the Kitchen?", "I just saw [name] carrying a used knife...", "There's a Body in the Garage!")

I'll revise the dialogue file with future updates to add more variety. I'll probably even ask for player submitted dialogue for me to add. Also, the dialogue is stored in a textfile in an included directory, which I believe can actually be opened and edited by the players who download the game, so you guys could even write your own scripts!

4) Their pathing has been improved in that they now favor targets that are closer to them (especially good in terms of finding stairs; before, a bot might walk all the way across the map to go upstairs, when a stairway was right next to where they started)

5) They'll pick up objects on the ground (especially useful if they stumble and drop something, or if they're looking to get a weapon, and happen to find one lying along their path)

6) I got tired of how they all took steps on the same tick, like they're marching or something (a byproduct of them all taking a step based on a game control loop), so now they've been given individual delays and such to make them more staggered.

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I've done so much to these bots, that I'm not sure I remember it all. I sure hope that they'll now be much more entertaining to play against. My only current fear with them is that they're still a little slow. A human player walking around can move much faster than the bots (who are instructed to take steps as part of a game control loop, that even at one loop per tick still doesn't make them walk as fast as a human)

They're still capable of getting the drop on you, but they'll probably be no match for a skilled player.

We'll see how the community feels about their new level of ability/challenge. I may need to give them a further boost. But maybe not!