Jul 09, 2020 - New Pet A.I. (Update)

[Amairgen]

Okay . . New A.I.

It has been a long time getting to this point (longer than I wanted) however . . .

I have just rebooted the Server with the first group of custom new Pets. These are not Evo pets so they cannot be shrunk but they can be 'Parked' on the Pet Posts.

I still have a long way to go to roll out the next group but need the first one bomb proof tested before finishing them all off. This way we have a better chance of maintaining balance with the existing pets we have and the server overall.

The good news is . . once we get this one right it should be much faster adding the others and maybe I can roll out one per week.

As mentioned there will be 16 categories and each category will be its own species:

1st Group of 8[/u][/b]
- Gogmagog
- Orko
- Dybbuk
- Cacodaemon
- Basilisk
- Camazotz
- Roc
- Kolkhis

2nd Group of 8
- Anemoi
- Amarok
- Seilenoi
- Adlet
- Sleipnir
- Impundulu
- Skelter
- Wendigo

Each species has its own long list of potential names randomly assigned. You can rename yours or go with the one assigned.

Each species will have their own special 'Hue' so they should be a bit easier to find even though they will not be common and overly easy to locate.

These creatures will have varying AIs and also be able to switch from one AI to another depending on where they are in a battle. Also when these creatures are tamed they will lose very little Skill or Stats.

The new AI combination choices available to them are:
- Basic Melee
- Basic Mage
- Basic Archer
- Basic Poisoner
- Advanced Melee
- Advanced Mage
- Advanced Archer
- Advanced Poisoner

NOTE: Updates are listed in more posts further down this thread

Cheers

[Crossbreed]

Awesome! I'll pm you to give it a shot and see how they work.

[Calcifer]

Woohoo! Big congrats & Well done Amairgen! I'm excited to see what's happening, i'll send you a pm to let you know i'd be interested in helping out if i can.

[acgold171]

Can't wait to check them out! I appreciate all the work you put into this shard to make it enjoyable and fresh for all of us. Thank you!

[Jeor Mormont]

This indeed sound interesting. I am sure the Mystics of the Night's Watch will seek advantage of these offerings. Good work M'Lord

[Amairgen]

UPDATE #1

As mentioned . . new pets with their new Artificial Intelligence (AI) are now in our land. The first eight of these may each be found in three different locations throughout the realm (8 pets x 3 locations = 24 places they might be found). Once killed or tamed they will not respawn for a number of days. These are special pets and not intended to be common place. If this becomes too easy we could have each of them respawn in several different locations (only randomly appearing in the same spot) making hunting them more of a challenge.

NOTE: They cannot be shrunk so Tamers will need a Pet Post to 'Park' them.

The ones currently available are good but will not be quite as powerful as the next group that will follow in the coming weeks. They do however have a lot to attract our Tamers.

1) They require 3 control slots so a Tamer can command two at the same time.
2) They have new and unique body types and hues and Species names.
3) They have varied AI and can switch from one AI to another and back depending on their health in a battle.
4) They only lose about 1% of their Skills and Stats when Tamed (unlike all other pets) so if you can 'Lore' them with skill (or better yet a Lore Wand) . . well what you see is pretty much what you get.

For example . . some are:
- Melee who switch to and from Mage
- Archer who switch to and from Melee
- Melee who switch to and from Poisoner
- Mages who switch to and from Poisoner

They send a Private message to their owner when they switch AI and this can be handy while training them up.

All of these have the ability to heal their owners and if their Anatomy and Healing is trained up high enough they can also Cure their owners. One of this first group is also a Mount and two of the next group will be mounts.

When the next more powerful group is introduced they will require 5 control slots so an established Tamer could control one of the higher ones and one of the lower ones at the same time.

The varied AI and the ability to switch from one AI to another will make some very interesting combinations for Tamers depending on what enemy they are battling with. You could send a Melee/Poisoner in while holding an Archer out of reach all fighting the same foe.

Thank you to Crossbreed, Lahgo and Bran Stark for stress testing samples of this first group. Sorry my friends but the sample critters have left our world so now everyone moves forward on an even ground.

Cheers

[Amairgen]

UPDATE #2

Fixed - the bug where after the Archer pets change to Melee form then back to Archer they would no longer shoot arrows. This should now work as intended. (Thank you Crossbreed)

Fixed - The unwanted Tartarus power bump on creatures spawning there. The new pets can now spawn on Tartarus and retain balance with their counterparts spawning on the other facets. (Thank you Crossbreed)

So now . . the first 8 pets have Tartarus locations meaning there are 4 locations each for a total of 32 total locations where one might be found. When the next level pets come in there will be 8 of them with another additional 32 locations.

[Amairgen]

UPDATE #3 (sort of)

In the quest for balance . . Blackrock Infected creatures have been wiped from the Server as they were way over powered. Those guys had a nasty 'virus -like' way of creeping in as they were never intended to be part of our world. In the unlikely chance they poke their head up again they will not be Tameable. This gives us a better opportunity to develop intended pets and give them special abilities (maybe even having some that are designed to battle 'certain heavy Tartarus dungeon monsters or quest bosses).

[Crossbreed]

At least I can finally give up my never-ending quest to get a blackrock infected cu sidhe!


It'll be nice for the power to shift into a balanced, intended way, though.

[Amairgen]

UPDATE #4 (sort of)

I have not forgotten adding the next level of new AI Pets but it has been taking longer than expected due to big 'Balancing' questions I have.

My gut tells me the ones being tested are too powerful so please bear with me while I sort it out. Finding the sweet spot requires not only 'edit/test/edit/test' but also observation of how a Tamer actually uses them to advantage. Thank you to Crossbreed and Bran Stark for the in game assistance.

I hope to have things resolved over the next week and bring you some nice news.

Cheers

[Crossbreed]

Long as pets have a clear identity (Tank, damage, etc) it should be okay. It's primarily gonna be about what you want each pet's identity to be.

As far as the power level, they have to compete with the charger, which is a more accessible pet that isn't necessarily broken, but is still strong. However, the biggest thing holding other pets back compared to these new ones is that they can't possibly do harder quest content because of the anti-pet mechanics tacked onto them. If these new ones are intended to be usable on those quests, it's something we can't really compare between the two and is hard to measure power. But I think it'd be a pretty big shame to have these new pets be overshadowed by an old one in anything that isn't a quest, considering they are intended to be harder to get/rarer to find.

Overall, I'd say the following changes could make sense if these newest ones are all similar to the other batch:

- If damage-oriented pet: lower hp, resistances slightly. Should trade ability to take hits for higher damage.
- If tanky pet: Lower damage slightly. Should trade power for tankiness.
- If supportive pet (fancy extra abilities): Lower hp/resistances OR damage slightly. Supports are weird because their unique abilities need to be strong enough to warrant reduction in power elsewhere.
- If ranged pet: Much lower hp, resistances. Ranged pets should not be good in melee range at all and are poor at taking hits.

Hope this can help in some way. If pets are usable in this way, it means tamers can also find flexibility in their templates as well and use more interesting combinations.

[Amairgen]

Thank you as always for your insight. You are hitting what I was thinking but making it very clear for me. That theme should set us on the right path.

*off to work on it*

[Amairgen]

UPDATE #5

Today we have six new pets spawned on the Server. These are the latest and the higher powered ones of the recent pet additions. Each of these six new ones have four spawning locations involving every facet. They have long respawn times so if you tame or kill one do not expect to see it there soon.

Each of these has new AI setups (similar to the ones introduced a few weeks ago) which switch about at various times during their health in a fight.
The ones introduced a few weeks ago required 3 control slots but these new ones need 5 slots.

Below is a screen grab showing samples of the new batch (colors may vary from spawn to respawn.

[Bran]

Thank you Amairgen. Those look like fun. I'm going to be doing some hunting for sure.

[Calcifer]

Oh man, I can't wait to be back!