# Help understanding projectile/ammo effects and monster AI

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/help-understanding-projectile-ammo-effects-and-monster-ai/14176>\
**Category:** The Toolbox\
**Created:** [August 26, 2017, 6:42am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/help-understanding-projectile-ammo-effects-and-monster-ai/14176 "2017-08-26T06:42:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alec\_White](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/alec_white/32/509_2.png) [@Alec\_White](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Alec_White)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 6:42am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/help-understanding-projectile-ammo-effects-and-monster-ai/14176/1 "2017-08-26T06:42:46Z")

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Where and how are defined projectiles/ammo effects? I saw that it has 1 method and one struct. One in ballistics.h and other in map.h. Is there any place with all the effects and what they do?  
And if I wanted to implement a new one, is there any guidelines I should follow or just do it copying more or less the way the current ones are implemented?

Regarding the monster AI. I have a lot of assumptions and guesses and I’m a very noob programmer to get by with the comments and simply reading the code.  
Out of all my testing, tweaking and playing with it, I get that monster::plan decides what a monster does, and monster::move how it does it. I think.  
But I would love if someone could give me a little bit in depth explanation of how the general AI voodoo works. This is the first AI I touch, and it’s been an exercise of frustration and patience, and if you could help with it I would be very grateful.