gSeries - New PC AI Scripts released - Feedback Wanted!

Sarkyn · Post by **Sarkyn** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 7:46 pm

Okay - gMinion Overview, as requested:

The gMinion series of scripts was developed by me, while playing through the game as a Conjuror, because I was incredibly frustrated at the AI of the monsters I was summoning.

According to D&D rules, the creatures summoned follow *my* instructions, don't have free will, and use any and all of their abilities in my defence. Yet, the scripts that these creatures had been equipped with made them frequently go hostile at the *wrong* time, never used their spells and was just generally innefficient at following my orders (Who hasn't lost minions in the fog of war?).

So, I developed a complex system of replacement AI. Its still simple to install and use, I assure you. But the result is that *all* creatures summoned by the Party via Items or Spells will now use an improved AI model for their behaviour.

Features of gMinion:

No Turning Hostile, Minions do *not* have free-will according to purist D&D rules
Players choices *will* always override the script
Minions will return unfailingly to the caster if ever they find themselves more than a few feet away in a non-combat situation
Minions will form up behind the caster, and follow them without needing to be ordered to until a higher priority action takes over (such as being given an order by the player, or seeing an enemy)
Minions will no longer carelessly use their spells (the Efreet comes to mind) so that the party is caught in the splash radius.

I started there, but being the scripter that I am, I had to keep improving the AI until I was *happy* with it, so I added the following features, a lot of which were developed for gSeries but easily ported into gMinion:

Cast-n-Attack - minions will make the best use of every second of every round by attacking in the 5 second downtime. This makes spell casting minions much more effective.
HotKey(D) - this enables and disables AI for a specific Minion.
HotKey(B) - "Be Prepared" - this hotkey causes spellcasting Minions to cast Buff or preparation spells on themselves prior to combat.
Better Targeting - Minions will now selectively chose their foes according to the same algorithm that gSeries uses.
Improved Combat Effectiveness - Even the humble Kobold Archer, and Ogre didn't go untouched, they now have better targeting, quicker responses and better consistency with the attacks per round they should have had.

And last but not least: SPELLS - all the minions who *have* spells, will now actually *use* them in combat, in the most appropriate way. (You will be surprised at how effective some of these unused powers actually were. Kitthix for example, has a web-tangle power that effortlessly holds the most dangerous foes but was *never* used by her script).

The spells implemented, by creature:

Nymph - BARKSKIN, CALL LIGHTNING, DOMINATION, MISCAST MAGIC, CONFUSION, HOLD MONSTER, HOLD PERSON, CAUSE WOUNDS, DIMENSION DOOR.
Nishruu/Hakeashar - GHOST ARMOUR, LIGHTNING BOLT, SCORCHER, ACID ARROW, MAGIC MISSILE
Efreet - GHOST ARMOUR, LIGHTNING BOLT, SCORCHER, ACID ARROW, MAGIC MISSILE, FIREBALL, FLAME ARROW, FIRE SHIELD, FLAME STRIKE, INVISIBILITY
Djinn - GHOST ARMOUR, LIGHTNING BOLT, SCORCHER, ACID ARROW, MAGIC MISSILE, GLOBE O INVULNERABILITY, PROTECTION FROM MAGIC WEAPONS, SHADOW DOOR
MoonDog, Figurine - MIRROR IMAGE, TRUE SIGHT, IMPROVED INVIS, MOONDOG HOWL, HEALING LICK
Kitthix, Spider Figurine - WEB ENTANGLE, PHASE TELEPORT
Other creautures - Plus loads of individual enhancements to single creatures to make them more effective, without breaking a single D&D or Bioware rule.

gMinion in a zip file can be found here:
[url="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bwscript/files/COMPILED/"]BWScript Compiled Files Download Area[/url]

Or direct to the Zip:
[url="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bwscript/files/COMPILED/gMinion_v1.5s.zip"]gMinion v1.5[/url]

Simply unzip the entire contents into your OVERRIDE directory to use!

Final Note -the latest version contains code that should enable a form of AI for the "summons" that aren't really summons - these being the copies of self created by the Wizard Spells - SIMULACRUM, MISLEAD and PROJECTED IMAGE. This has been reported to be not working on some systems, any feedback, even if it was just to tell me that it *is* or *isn't* working for you, would be appreciated.

I hope you like your new Minions

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Fri Sep 07, 2001 5:28 am

I look forward to this being updated for the ToB summons. That Deva is thick as two short planks. USE BLADE BARRIER YOU FO.....damn, he's dead.

How about you try 'em out, and let us know at BWScript? The one thing we script writers can never have too much of, is feedback!

Currently playing through PST, I'll be looking into the scripts when I win

BTW, why can't these minion AIs be carried across to replace the basic enemy AI for the same creatures (with the minion bits removed of course)?

[ 09-07-2001: Message edited by: Quitch ]

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Fri Sep 07, 2001 10:15 am

Any luck on my pedicerment

Sarkyn · Post by **Sarkyn** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 3:53 am

I have TOB, so stay tuned. There will be a TOB version of gMinion shortly. Its not going to be a difficult or timely task to update it to add the few new summons to make them use their spellls and powers effectively.

As for Enemy AI - A new list has spun off BWScript recently with just that purpose. They're working on improved the game by making the enemy AI more realistic.

The list is called [url="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IEEAIS"]IEEAIS[/url] - Infinity Engine Enemy AI Scripting. I'm a member, and they've made good progress already by attracting a lot of the hardcore scripters from BWScript.

No doubt one or two ideas from gMinion will make into something they release

Sarkyn · Post by **Sarkyn** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 3:58 am

@ Craig:

Besides "Its not working" do you have any other information you can give me about how your game is set up, what you did to install the scripts, etc?

I had kind of hoped that the "How To Use" post above might have solved your problems, but I guess not eh?

I would first suggest you re-download the scripts, make sure you got BS files, not BAF files. Then follow the instructions above step by step to be sure you've covered everything obvious first...

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 4:08 am

Um i got baf turned it into bs (or the other way around)

Sarkyn · Post by **Sarkyn** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 4:34 am

@Craig:

It is kind of important to be clear, here.

Do you have g****.BAF in your SCRIPTS directory, OR

Do yo uhave g****.BS in your SCRIPTS directory?

If you do have g**.BS in your directory, did you download the *already* compiled BS from BWScript, or did you download the BAF files and compile it yourself?

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 4:37 am

Ill cheack

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 4:54 am

I got the baf and "Changed" them to bs

Sarkyn · Post by **Sarkyn** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 7:28 am

A-Ha. We've got to the bottom of it.

That won't work I'm afraid, the BAF and BS file formats are very different, and its the BS files (from the original post at the top of this thread) that you need. The BAF links were provided for those *other* people interested in looking at my methods.

Heres what you need to do to fix it up:

1. Click [url="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bwscript/files/COMPILED/gSeries_v2.0s.zip"]here[/url] to download a ZIP file.

2. Unzip it, and place the contents of that zip file into your /SCRIPTS directory. This will usually be - C:\Program Files\BGII - SoA\Scripts

3. Restart your game, re-select your scripts.

Let me know how you get on.

I'm happy we were able to solve this for you.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 7:57 am

Thank u

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 8:05 am

No luck

Sarkyn · Post by **Sarkyn** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 5:04 am

Craig,

I think this needs to be taken off list. I'm pretty certain that if you start from scratch and follow the instructions of the readme above, you should be able to get your PC's using the gSeries in no time

Are you still a member of [url="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bwscript"]BWScript[/url], Craig? I remember seeing your castone33@... email address somewhere before... ?

Jodmos · Post by **Jodmos** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 6:01 am

Wow, really cool stuff Sarkyn

Thats just great, cant wait for the enemy AI scripts you folks have in work.
Seems like it would give the game a complete new style of gameplay.
Just think of every crappy kobold sham who uses his spells the way he should. Wow.
If you ever plan on a mod or something and need someone who helps with a litle Itemcrafting, drop me a line =)