10-02-2009, 03:37 PM
Yeah, for sure. Mobs should try to weigh targets the way players do.
In Champions, for example, sometimes you avoid the healer because he's too damn hard to kill. In that case you look for the squishy guy that you can burn down faster than the healer can save.
e.g., it seems like a fairly simply NPC AI could do this:
1) Bang on target.
2) Is his health going down?
3) If so, keep banging.
4) If not, look for another target, preferably a healer.
5) Goto 1
Or like the "tank" should be the guy with the roots and snares. The NPC might be fully aware that someone else is a better target but simply can't *reach* him because this "tank" is restricting his movement. He attacks the tank not because of some artificial "agro" but simply because there may be no other choice.
Now if he can somehow lock down or escape the tank, then he'd probably do what any player would do: find the squishiest target and go straight for him.
It would make for a much more dynamic battle and it seems to me that the AI for this wouldn't have to be terribly complicated. In the end, a good PvP team and a good PvE team would ideally have similar compositions, skills and gear.
In Champions, for example, sometimes you avoid the healer because he's too damn hard to kill. In that case you look for the squishy guy that you can burn down faster than the healer can save.
e.g., it seems like a fairly simply NPC AI could do this:
1) Bang on target.
2) Is his health going down?
3) If so, keep banging.
4) If not, look for another target, preferably a healer.
5) Goto 1
Or like the "tank" should be the guy with the roots and snares. The NPC might be fully aware that someone else is a better target but simply can't *reach* him because this "tank" is restricting his movement. He attacks the tank not because of some artificial "agro" but simply because there may be no other choice.
Now if he can somehow lock down or escape the tank, then he'd probably do what any player would do: find the squishiest target and go straight for him.
It would make for a much more dynamic battle and it seems to me that the AI for this wouldn't have to be terribly complicated. In the end, a good PvP team and a good PvE team would ideally have similar compositions, skills and gear.