sweatyboatman

Join Date 08/2006

+59

Reading Monster Intention

There's been a lot of discussion about monster aggressiveness (and whether the monsters attack the human player more than the AI), but I think a lot of the problem comes from having no way of understanding the intention of the monsters.

They stand there like they're in a petting zoo for a hundred turns and then something clicks and they march half-way across the map to attack a city. Why? Nobody knows.

Well, the world is a harsh place.

What makes it game-breaking is that there's no tip-off to this behavior. The player does not get a warning or even a hint that this monster isn't just patrolling, but is actually making a bee-line for your capital.

Monster intention is useful information that the game is hiding from the player.

Locked Post

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

I like the idea and that is one reason I mop up any monsters in my territory or near by. I also think that they should get annoyed if settle a city or outpost near them and they will try to attack it in a reasonable amount of turns.

Successfully updated karma reason!

The monsters should tell us when they have been roused. Something like after completing outpost-X the workers ran away when they saw that their handy work had roused the mighty dragon from his lair, who won't be satisfied until he finds a city to feed on.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Here's a fix. Monster dens/lairs need their own ZOC. Whenever your ZOC overlaps with their, that's when the magic happens. This is a way to control city/outpost/pioneer spam too. All the skills that protect you from random monster encounters should do so anyways.. except when the two ZOC overlap.

Successfully updated karma reason!

rsterlac

I like that suggestion, quick feedback == learning possible.

Though, it is more how things used to be and a lot of ppl thought it made the game too hard. I always though warnings or zones of control (as in some of the older heroes of might and magic series) were a better way to go vs just making the monsters sleep for x turns and then suddenly wake up.

Successfully updated karma reason!

DsRaider

Join Date 11/2008

+70

Currently in FE their are two types of monsters. Those that guard lairs and those that wander around lairs. All lairs have guardians that will not leave a lair unless it is placed under influence, then they attack random things. Some guardians start off extremely tough like dragons. Sometimes they start off weak but after a while a tougher guardian will replace the existing one and that monster will become a wanderer. Some lairs also continuously spawn wanderers. Wanderers will wander around a lair and attack things.

Monsters that are intelligent also act differently then beasts. They target weaker things and generally act smarter while beasts are more random.

So it's placing a monster under ZoC that causes them to wake up and attack cities. Unfortunately the AI constantly builds next to them and wakes up Drakes and such who then decide to walk half across the world and attack the player for some reason. Can't say I like that system.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Quoting DsRaider,

reply 6

They should attack whatever it was the stirred them, and then they can go back to relaxing or reading a book or whatever it was they were doing.

Successfully updated karma reason!

They already have a mechanism in place for 'monster intent': Those pop-ups with little messages "oooo....shinies."

All FE would have to do is extend that to include a wider variety: The slag B-lining for your capital could be "GWRRAARR"

Successfully updated karma reason!

Quoting GFireflyE,

reply 8

They already have a mechanism in place for 'monster intent': Those pop-ups with little messages "oooo....shinies."

All FE would have to do is extend that to include a wider variety: The slag B-lining for your capital could be "GWRRAARR"

If only those popups were connected in any way to the unit that spawned them.

Ideally I would want something that you could see just by looking at the monster unit. So either an animation, an icon, or an overlay or something that would tell you, this monster is sleeping, this monster is restless, this monster is actively targeting you, etc...

So if you're wandering around and you stumble on an umberdroth you'll have an idea if you pissed it off or if it's still relaxing before it moves out of your line of sight.

Successfully updated karma reason!

It could be a new scout ability.
So if a monster is within sight radius of a scout, you can see its intentions

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Successfully updated karma reason!

scout ability idea++

I've never used scouts, but if they revealed monster intent I think it would be worth it to build a couple.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Interesting idea Kongdej. Might even get me to use some scouts.

Just had a bad case of monster intension last night. Was running 0.952. Built a city fairly close to a troll mound, such that it was within my ZoC. Man I must of passed that mound 6 or 7 times with my hero. Nothing. Then, I pass by with my pioneer to go build my next city....and they attack.

Successfully updated karma reason!