So yeah. For those I've talked to over Xfire, you'd know my current efforts with making the AI in Halo CE "smart." What do I mean by that? Challenging and aggressive, well at least on the Elites part. I'm trying to make them generally as vicious as they are in Reach::


-Carbine Elites: ( I need to work on increasing burst rate and rate of fire for the carbine elites.)

These elites are like shocktroopers in the Covenant. They're very dangerous at close range, medium range (because of their carbines), and make it a task to defeat at long range (carbines again). Unless you're at point blank and throw a plasma grenade, these elites will dodge any grenade you throw.

-Standard Elites:

There's a ton to do for these guys. I got to make them more aggressive with their weapons and some other things to make them more formidable. The problem I'm having is that they stop firing when shot at and they just don't attack the player as well as they should. I think if I resolve the firing issue, they'll be a lot better to fight, but as of now they have almost no advantages against the player (besides melee fighting).

-Elite Ultras:

I think these guys are pretty much done. They were more or less done in the beginning and are the basis for the standard and carbine elites. For some reason, though, they're better than the other Elites and use their settings far better (even though the standard and the Ultras have an identical actor (give or take some sense upgrades). It might actually be their actor variant settings, but when I've got the videos done I'll show you how critical these guys are.

So any thoughts of improvement or things you'd like to see these elites do? So far, the only ones that are formidable 1 on 1 are the ultras and carbine elites. The standards still need to be in groups to defeat you, but they are doing better than before (when they just kind of fired at you and cursed you in Alien).

raise the movement prediction value to 1.

Already done. I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or serious considering this is what most people do for AI to make them "smarter."

So you're making a bunch of new classes of enemy? Or just modifying existing ranks?

From what I can tell, all he's doing is modifying existing actor variants to fire with a different firing rate, tweaking their combat patterns, and changing their weapons.

Basically this at this point. I've already determined what the general .actor settings are for the Elites, but the Actor_variant is perfecting them. Also, does anyone know how to increase the Elite's speed? I thought it was in the Biped tag but didn't see the section where you change it....

Wouldn't "movement switching" affect the actor_vareint speed? Be free to correct me if I'm wrong.

dont quote me on this one; but i think ai movement speeds is in the .actor tag...

Nope, it's really only useful with Combat Forms.

Still haven't found it, although I think the Carbine Elites are done now. The only adjustment I can see is that of balance, which is more of a weapon vs. whatever issue than an actual AI problem.

I do have one problem regarding my standard and ultra elites; they don't notice you're being there even if you're within their line of sight. If anyone knows the exact remedy (notice how I said exact), please say so before I waste time tweaking with settings that have nothing to do with it (and no it's not a sight issue in world units).

Speed is not determined by actor variant or actor tags. I've searched the biped and I've only found one option that increases speed at random intervals.
Edited by DarkHalo003 on Aug 21, 2010 at 10:52 PM

@ Well looking the the actor_varients for the elites. I think this might help.
Under firing patterns and underneath "new-target". You could try adjust it to way you like it.

It doesn't take one to play Reach to observe and see how an enemy acts. It's not easy for everyone, but it's a skill I've picked up over time, watching almost every Reach video with Elite AI (without spoilers) that I can.

You make AI tough without jeopardizing their fun factor by three things:
-You have balance between the shield/health of the enemy and the weapons' damage that's inflicted per projectile.
-The AI is capable of defeating the player, but has tragic flaws that cause it to lose. Ex: The Elites are very cocky and strong, but can be easily setup for assassinations when they fail a melee.
-You make it so even the worst weapons can defeat the enemy in some way or fashion. In other words, you need to have it to where Ultra Elite can be subdued by an AR or Pistol (granted it won't be easy, but it's definitely possible).
-You focus on the actual AI portion of the AI instead of just beefing up the actor_variant. This is where people mention the .actor so much and how it's very important regarding AI.

do you have any videos to show us how they act now?

Working on that later today hopefully (if Xfire cooperates). If not, I'll have a few battles with each AI and write about the experiences and what not. In some way or form, you all will know hear about what these AI can do now.

ok. why is xfire not cooperating? lol.

I'm saying IF it cooperates (which is has lately in at least allowing me to access the the in-game menu) then you'll probably have a video or so. If it doesn't then I'll recount some of my fights against them, one of which I might already start talking about right now:

I spawn. There, about 10 meters ahead, is a group of 7-8 marines holding SABRs, one of the best non-explosive weapons that I use in my tag directory. So I head off towards the other end of a rockier Bloodgulch (rocks included to test evasion and seeking cover abilities for the AI) and I set my gaze upon a group of Elites to the far right, near the caves on the other side of the canyon. I decide to aim the Grenade Launcher attachment high enough to get close to them and fire a round. Chaos ensues.
While my 7-8 marines tackle what appears to be 15 Covenant Elites of different variants spread across Bloodgulch in groups, I decide to take a hike over to an area most people call Blue Base, re-purposed for a specific kind of Elite: the Elite Ultra. Here, I perform all types of tests (ranging from weapon response, grenade response, how fast the elite can find cover, how well the elite finds cover, and most of all if the elite is challenging to fight, but can be defeated by the average player).
On my way over to Bbase, I pass a portion of BG that I like to call the Stealth Pit. If one can imagine, this is where the Stealthy Elites sit. Considering the proportionally epic battle raging behind me from the marines, I run past this section relatively easily, with only one Carbine Elite fire a few rounds that sizzle away 1/4 of my shields. Not much to worry about.
I make it to Bbase and enrage my first Ultra waiting inside the base by jumping down right in front of its face (which it now recognizes me as an enemy instantly).
After testing its durability a few times and take it down using my own SABR (and the cheat deathless player cheat), I decide to perform the usual test on the new, respawned Ultra by shooting at it with an AR (from on top of Bbase) and throw a few grenades at it. To my surprise, it's outside in three seconds and I barely have time to catch it on my radar when I'm greeted with another blast of plasma rifle from right next to my Ultra; Remember the Stealth Elites I passed on my way over? Well, he caught whiff of my passing and decided to adequately (and stealthily) stalk me to the base and join his Ultra companion in forcing me behind cover.

This is just one scenario I've been under, one in which I don't really take part of the epic battles. When I either come back with a video or not, you'll definitely get to hear more about some other aspects that these AI pull together. It's really sort of neat, but to have an invisible AI stalk you all the way from the middle of Bloodgulch without realizing it or being shot it by it is truly a cool thing.
Edited by DarkHalo003 on Aug 22, 2010 at 03:53 PM

wow. stealthy elites actually being stealthy lol. i like that. now i can have a ninja battle with them lol.

Well they're definitely stealthy. So stealthy, that I need to increase their range of fire so they actually fire at a reasonable distance when you look straight at them from 20 meters away.

The General Test Battle:
http://www.xfire.com/video/343b6a/

The Minors and Majors:
http://www.xfire.com/video/343b7c/

The Carbines:
http://www.xfire.com/video/343b7b/

The Ultra:
http://www.xfire.com/video/343b79/

I want to say that the Carbines and Ultras battles were easier because of cheats and you can count how many times in the specific videos how many times I should have flopped. Also, I would have had a video of just Majors, but I forgot to record when I started that battle and they ended up gutting me even with cheats being used. I hope y'all see some cool things in these vids though, but the in-game quality will have to be this bad just because it's the only way I can actual capture stuff without having the consistency of the video bad.

im pretty sure ai movement speed has to do with keyframe indexes in the animation tag. i recall somebody saying that

What are these SABRs you speak of?

And those bipeds are epic. Any chance you'll be releasing soon?
Edited by Echo77 on Aug 22, 2010 at 06:24 PM

Those are CMT elite bipeds.

-Minors and Majors. They fit the aggressive behavior you described, I'll grant you that much.
-Carbine elites. Not really what I expected, as they didn't utilize the full potential of the carbine. They fire one, maybe two shots. Not that exciting.
-Ultra elite. What interested me about this one was the hiding. It wasn't more aggressive, as you said you intended. Rather, it was based upon much higher shields, a modified plasma rifle, and deciding to attack from a range rather than the berserk behavior I expected.

I'm glad the Minors and Majors looked okay. They've made me nervous from day one.

The demo of the Carbine Elites was a bad one. I'll try another video of them later on, but the one I posted didn't show exactly what stuff they're made of in most cases (they usually dodge plasma grenades, for instance.)

The Ultras have been aggressive up to this point, but for some reason it wasn't so as much in the video. I'll compare actors later with the standards to see if I messed with some danger triggers too much. Oh and the PR is the same as the others. However, the hiding IS intentional because I also want the Ultras to come off as intelligently devious instead of menacingly scary.
Edited by DarkHalo003 on Aug 22, 2010 at 08:53 PM

lol i like that part. and the videos wer like at .5 fps for me. my videos get upto 20 fps. nonetheless i was able to see your bipeds in actionand i thot the minors and majors wer pretty good. the carbines wer kinda basic. they wer a little too close to being like default elites.

where I think you came off wrong with the elites is they're either crouching or charging. Bungie did away with both of those in reach. in CE their trademark is the low shield crouch. in Reach you'll notice they never do that. They are more energetic so to speak, they never sit still. They roll and evade, strife, and run lightning fast in the reach, making it hard to get a line on them. but they're also lethal at close range melee, I read in Xbox magazine that while playing in a nightime level the reviewers went in for a classic halo melee beatdown and the elite lifted his hoof and kicked the player square in the chest, killin the player instantly and sending him flying back. I've been working on my elites too, and I find making them berserk if an enemy comes within 1 world unit of them makes them lethal at close range, and I think I'll try making their melee an emp, draining shields instantly. movement wise, do away with charging and long term crouching. make there movements agile and lethal, meaning evade and strife are probably your two most useful tools.
Edited by Delicon20 on Aug 22, 2010 at 09:56 PM

by strife do you mean strafe? and yea wat he said.

But Crouching is a key feature for the Elites in CE when it comes to cover. Keep in mind, you won't be able to get Elites exactly right as they are in Reach because of their speed, animations, and other things. I want the elites to seem pragmatic and intelligent, not just tough or intimidating.

I will, though, make the Elites crouch much less often for the Ultras and Carbine Elites. And don't worry about the melees: one melee is usually enough to give you the hint with my Elites.

yea thats a good idea. i usually find the elite that i've been shooting at crouched behind a rock thinking that its safe lol.

I'm going to also do the Brutes eventually, which will hopefully be a different thread. And yes, I will be using CMT's as a base.

I'm about to compile another build of the map, this time with the Carbines and the Ultras taking cover only when they have low shields, which is what the standard elites did. They used to hid behind their shields like a jackal does, which is why there was so much crouching. I also changed the Stealth Elite's type to assassin (i don't know if that'll really do anything or not).

http://www.xfire.com/video/3468e1/

A small video of the Ultras. Take Two. Not much to show in it and it's only ONE Ultra so I couldn't do much to test it besides chuck grenades and what you see in the video. It did crouch less frequently though, but the Carbines still crouch a ton, although they definitely make more use of the Carbine. The Marines didn't stand a chance (I sent at least three waves at the Covenant) at the Covenant as a group, but the Carbines stood no chance when the Marines were setup to attack just them. The Majors, however, succeeded in defeating the remaining Marines though.

that was very short. but the ultra didnt really move out of the way of your shots.

Yeah, I fixed that I think. It had sneak uncovering target and stalking behavior, so I'm hoping this time it will be more active. I was also using cheats, so it's a lot tougher than I made it look.

sorry about being blunt but...well...it sucked. here: http://www.justin.tv/xrequiem/b/268908281 some reach footage, take note of how the elites move and react, not the animations, but their actually battle tactics.

I agree, the video I had was horrific. I'll get another later (if i can) that has the Ultra and a groups of normal Covenant. However, my recent test had the Ultra back at the top of the battle class. I only had the advantage of anticipation, knowing exactly where it was most of the time, plasma grenades, and a long ranged weapon I could use as a trump card. Basically, I just outgunned it. Even with a Plasma Rifle, I stood more or less not a chance against it in this build. After the Elite left the facility, it was too difficult to get close to because the PR drains shields and it has impeccable aiming with it, but at the same time I couldn't hurt it from medium distance with the SABR because it fired the PR at that range too.

sounds good then. lets see that in action.

The Elites are done. I've basically finished the Ultras and will have a video soon. The Standards are done and I'm making the Carbine Elites part of them. The Specialists will be done after the Brutes, which are what I'm moving onto next. In a sense, they operate completely different than the Standard Covenant on the field. Or I'm making them operate differently, anyways.

Please feel free to comment. Add in anything you think would be a good idea for the Specialists and be sure to give good ideas/criticism for the Brutes thread. I'll have a video of the Ultras and everything else soon.

how soon?