monster tracking AI?

[Gilgamesh]

It's so hard to remember how monsters and other npc's behaved after playing other inaccurate t2a servers but I do feel a little weird about monsters seeming ability to follow my movements before they even line of sight me. It seems like if I recall into a dungeon, walk close to a corner where a monster is on the other side, they start to purposefully walk towards me. I don't know what to think of that. If I hide though they walk back to where they were standing before I was there.

I do agree with how you can trap them behind rock formations and other simple walls though, I remember the AI being really bad at guiding them around things towards you.

One other thing, I recalled into Shame level 2 last night and an air elemental aggro'd me and immediately cast on me. I was under the impression that you have to either hit them or double click them in war mode in order for them to start casting on you even if they are following you aggro'd. Could it have been that someone else hit them and then left the dungeon, then they healed back up to 100% hp (cause this one had that) and were able to then cast on me right away?

[Faust]

You may want to think about trying out the demo to see how it worked since there were really no AI changes from that point on until UOR.

The way the mobs acquire is quite accurate but they do not attack until there is line of sight. Also, spell creatures don't begin casting until damaged or attacked. However, in your situation the air elemental was previously tagged before you got there. Please play around with it a little more and you will see that it works as it did back in the day for this particular feature.

[Gilgamesh]

Alrighty I can accept that. Not to go off topic but I just noticed something weird, if I have something's status bar and then attack it I get another status bar. Is that correct?

[nightshark]

I actually remembered monster AI being even dumber, as in 3 boxes was enough to stop a monster following you. From what I've seen, monsters can find their way around a small house, no matter where you stand.

[Faust]

I've never seen that happen Gilgamesh.

Also, nightshark the pathfinding is still definitely broken when the creature becomes blocked and would finally be nice to see fixed someday.

[Gilgamesh]

Well try it. Click and drag away a monsters status, and then go into war mode and double click on it. Every time I do that I get another status bar.

And double on the tracking, 3 tiles of stuff and if you were in the middle and the monster on the middle on the other side they wouldn't be able to get around.

[Derrick]

Alrighty I can accept that. Not to go off topic but I just noticed something weird, if I have something's status bar and then attack it I get another status bar. Is that correct?

This happens to me sometimes too, it's caused by the client, and I'm not sure why; but agree that I don't remember this happening with the era client, although there's no way for us to control this on the server side.

We do intend to fix that walking back and forth pathfinding. Thanks much for the observations.

There is a timeout after the monster hasn't been attacked again for a little while that will keep him from spellcasting, I also suspect someone else had been there recently in this case. You don't have to actually damage a creature to get him casting, there are other aggressive actions that can trigger it.

[Jester]

air elemental aggro'd me and immediately cast on me. I was under the impression that you have to either hit them or double click them in war mode in order for them to start casting on you even if they are following you aggro'd

<--- This

I asked this question in IRC awhile back, and Derrick said he would look into it. I can say for certain that Titans, Dragons, Deamons, Gargoyles, Orc Mages and Ice Fiends all throw spells at you without you double clicking to attack or them being able to hit you first. And the idea that perhaps they have been aggroed and attacked before I got there could apply, however it Can't apply when I'm in Cyclops Valley killing freshly spawned Titans or w/e mob.

I think you might have to look further into this unless this is the way it's meant to be, but I have the same memories as the OP, that Spellcasting mobs would just follow you around until you either attacked them or they managed to take a swing at you, then they would start to cast.


Oh, I just remember those Terathan/Ophidian monsters also cast spells from the get-go. It might take awhile, anywhere from 20-40 seconds but they all start casting.

[nightshark]

That's strange.. I can honestly say I haven't had any mobs at all cast on me without first either double clicking them, or dealing some damage in another way (punch, reactive armor, etc). I fight all of the aforementioned creatures.

The only mob that will immediately cast, that I have seen, is evil NPC mage lords.

[Volo]

I too have noticed spell casting mobs casting on me without touching them

[Pirul]

This happened to me at Hyth Deamons last night.