A “campaign AI” able to modify the worldmap would rock… Something that offers new ways to break the reality bubble paradigm would increase the challenge and functionality of some of the currently existing features. There is already a desire to increase “realism” outside teh RB if you pay attention to certain features: Timestamps to make things evolve rapidly when the player gets close, wandering NPCs & Hordes.
OFC this would be a long-term goal as it will have to deal at some point with the awful scenario of having to load portions of the map the player isn’t close to, so it has to be controlled in scope (On top of been a feature Content Creators have to populate themselves by adding new tiles templates and/or modification processes). So instead of an “AI Director”… How about a “Map Evolver”? (As usual, inspired by actual code in action):
Mainly Crater creation and specially Missile Silo launch action
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Its main role would be to transform one worldmap tile into another (WMT from now on). If the idea catches, later, a way to modify a WMT layout could be added (Similarly as how Craters happen now), which would allow for some nice features/micro events.
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It could be made into a list of events created and triggered by different conditions. The list can be capped denying new events to be created so performance impact can be under control. An “Event” definition is basically a “trigger” associated to player’s actions into the RB, a tranformation link (Or if the WMT layout change module is there, a process also) from a certain WMT tile into another and a “solver” condition that will trigger the transformation.
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In principle, to ease implementation and to keep this mechanism as an independent layer separated from the RB mechanics, events CAN’T be solved if the associated Tile is into the RB.
Here follow certain examples of triggers, solvers, transformation links (That try to use current tiles when possible) and, optionally, transformation processes (For the potential module “WMT layout modification”) (Notice that, potentially, multiple “triggers” and “solvers” can be affecting the same transformation link/process. Also, potentially, transformation links could be made complex in the sense of allowing multiple tiles to transform to one or to prevent certain ones from been transformed).
Triggers:
- Player 1st Visit.
- Alarm is triggered.
- Fungal bed created successfully by a spore.
- Triffid Heart destroyed.
- Player calls faction help.
- Uncontrolled fire Initiated. Necesary to not trigger pointless “solvers” unless a “fire activity” happens.
- Player sound over X threshold.
Solvers:
- Zone out of RB.
- Active Uncontrolled Fire.
- X ammount of time pass.
- Time period X. An event that repeats itself each X time units.
- Zone extension. An event that on solve triggers the same event on an adjacent tile.
- Chance X/Y. An event that completes randomly x times out of y.
Links:
- Forest -> Faction-Based Provisional Camp.
- City Block -> Faction-Based Permanent Camp.
- Forest -> Fungal Blossom.
- Triffid Grove -> Forest.
- Fungal Bloom -> Burnt Forest.
- Forest -> Burnt Forest.
- Triffid Grove -> Burnt Forest.
Processes:
- Creature/NPC Spawn.
- Creature/NPC relocation. Usefull to create “mobile base” transformation links.
- Atmospheric Filter. Ideal to create Acid Rain zones that transform regular rain into Acid rain.
- Door/Walls repair.
- Trap/Static Defenses spawn.
Well… I guess that you may get the point now on which kind of basic “expansive” phenomena that lacks impact ATM I’m after modeling with this suggestion. But the goal is to allow Content Creators to provide ways for their WMTs to evolve over time based on what happens when a RB gets their zones loaded.
