Feedback 4: creature speed & size considerations... Thread - Old Good STALKER Evolution mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl

Last night, I was finally able to situate myself to leave the bandit's base in the Dark Valley, and proceed to the underground lab, when I encountered the two bloodsuckers with the pale green/mossy skins (swamp-bloodsuckers, right?). I could NOT believe how fast they were. I was EXTREMELY fortunate to have a small group of bandits coming up the road by the gasoline station, and they drew the swamp-bloodsuckers away from my location. I ran to, and then climbed the ladder to the roof of the 1-story tall building with the rusty safe in it. From there, I dropped the mine and several grenades before finally flattening them with 30+ buckshot shells.

Pretty terrifying, except something kept striking me as being "weird." It took me a long while to figure it out before it dawned on me: these swamp-bloodsuckers run so fast, that they should be able to jump right up onto a 1 story tall building, such as the one I was on. But all they did was run around it. Also, should bloodsuckers be smart enough to use ladders? They might not be intelligent enough to know that they'll be exposing their heads at the top as they try to ascend, but at least they're trying to get into an attacking range of the Player.

As I reflected about these concerns, I thought about size-related issues with the full-grown-boars that are in the build that you're working on now: are they capable of jumping onto 1 m. high concrete slabs, and then, from that slab, get onto another concrete slab? Also, the full-grown-boars would certainly be tall enough to lean their front hooves onto the top of a 1 story tall building, and slash/bite with their heads at any living creature on top. Will the AI enable these attacks based on the fact that they're so much larger?

Also, in the current build, I've been able to easily evade zombie and izlom attacks just be standing on top of a 1 m. tall concrete slab in Garbage. Could their AI be altered so that they'll lean over the edge of such obstacles and swipe at anything on top of them? I would think that making zombies and izlom's more mobile, so that they could mantle over such obstacles, would make them a good deal more challenging tactically.

Is there any way to enable the Player and other stalkers to be able to throw stones so that they can be mistaken for grenades? That would be a pretty terrifying thing to encounter: to see a blur and hear it land, and not know for sure if it's really a grenade that was thrown, or "just" a stone to trick you. It would also be nice if such objects could be tossed to distract any creature that heard the noise but didn't see the object being thrown. It could lead to deeper stealth-based play.

Is there any way to enable the Player's view so that he can see the rest of his body, such as his chest, thighs, and boots? That would add a ton of immersion to the game, helping to make the Player feel more vulnerable.

I want to compliment the adjustments that have been already made in regards to the AI, as they're spotting distance in poor weather conditions seems to be set fairly. I also like being able to sneak up to them to stab them with one's knife.

Great work. It's so addicting!

these swamp-bloodsuckers run so fast, that they should be able to jump right up onto a 1 story tall building, such as the one I was on. But all they did was run around it. Also, should bloodsuckers be smart enough to use ladders?

You have to understand that NPCs can not move arbitrary. They use AI net. What is it? It is a collection of cells (called AI nodes) created by mappers in the process of work on the location map. To change the AI net, you must decompile the location map in the first place. This is a hell of a job. No one will be changing the existing AI net. So, if a ladder has AI net, NPCs will use it. This particular ladder hasn't AI net, so no NPC can climb up it.

The same is true for any concrete slabs - they use to fill the gaps in AI net. Are you getting the sense? Now you can guess that the concrete slabs is out of range for any monsters.

Is there any way to enable the Player's view so that he can see the rest of his body, such as his chest, thighs, and boots?

No. The game engine doesn't support it. And there's no need for such support in STALKER. I think the effect would be just the opposite one

Edited by: SimplyYuri

I now you can exploit the fact that by standing on certain objects dotted around the map you can then from safety gun down mutants swarming beneth you, bit like shooting fish in a barrel ,most times the last remaing dog realises the game is up,and with a wimper legs it! i can't help but laugh every time, the Ai life in this mod is great,but i've forgotten that some mutants can climb,Boy i was reminded of that this afternoon when i was in the cordon next to the cement mixing factory close to the bridge, i came across a couple of boars both of them charged at me! so as quick as i coulde i emtyed a whole magazine of "fivers" from my aks... BLOODY HELL! the leading boar just shrugged it of and was almost on top of me! in a panic with no time for a reload i ran up the stars of the factory thinking ican load my weapon and take a breather aswell on top,never got the chance to even turn around i was goard to death.When the game over came up and the camera went to 3rd person view there i was laying face down, the boar happily munching away on me and it's campanion slowly trotting down the stairs.
I stamped my feet first and then burst out laughing!.