Reference

Instinct Arguments

With regard to unit clarification, 1 JKU is the equivalent of 1 meter, a time value of 3000.0 msec is the equivalent of 3 seconds and boolean values within are assigned by either a 0 (false) or 1 (true) value. Interestingly, both integer and floating-point numbers seem to be legal values for boolean arguments (but must be of the form 0.0 or 1.0).

Each instinct has a set number of arguments which must be set, in order for the AI character to use that instinct. The following details show examples, as well as listing each argument effect and type.

    Listen    0.50, 2.0
Argument 1: "Chance" that AI will investigate a disturbance (%: ranges from 0=never to 1=always)
Argument 2: Distance to move from prospective danger (JKUs)

Expanded Information

This instinct is rather misleading by itself, with the actual listening "range" being specified via the AI setup line keyword "heardist=[float_value]". Furthermore, this instinct (and its defining arguments) determine how the AI should behave upon perceiving sound events and is usually (but doesn't have to be) directly attributable to the player (such as footsteps or firing a weapon within hearing distance). Note that projectile sounds can be used to trigger AI awareness events (such as SenseDanger) or alternatively an enemy's "curiosity" (as defined by the % value in argument 1), which is why you can shoot several shots into a room thus drawing enemies' attention before using a more powerful weapon to eliminate the entire group. It is interesting to observe the nature of this instinct's two arguments; argument 1 being a "go investigate disturbance" percentage, whilst argument 2 seemingly contradicts this by specifying a distance to move from danger (JKUs).

Instinct Trigger Studies

This section details how the instinct is initiated. In some cases, a charactor's AI are dependent upon certain actions/events occurring before the instinct is triggered.

• Instinct Dependency - << none >>
• Triggered by - Any sound event that occurs, inside the AI's "heardist" range
• Upon Immediate Initialisation - Sets how the AI should respond to sound events, such as a projectile hitting a nearby wall or when a lift is called, within earshot range

Testing Notes

If argument 1 is set to 1.0 then the AI will investigate any noise activity. This includes gun shots or even other actor's talking (any sound samples from their *.snd file). It also prompts the actor to move. Once the AI has completed it's investigation, it enters a static position state. When triggered, this event does not make the AI actor respond aggressively; it is more a neutral "curious/go and investigate" instinct.