dot-npc-ai-director decides how many NPCs there are and where they arrive,
over a build-up / sustain / fade / relax cycle.
Requires dot-core and dot-npc, and deliberately
not dot-npc-ai: this decides how many and
where, and what each one does when it gets there is a brain’s business.
Usage
var director := DotNpcDirector.new()
director.spawner = npcs # a DotNpcSpawner
director.rules = DotNpcDirectorRules.new()
director.population = [&"zombie", &"zombie", &"zombie", &"brute"] # 1 brute in 4
director.spawn_points = nav.points # or the map's own list
director.flow = DotNpcDirectorFlow.new(map.critical_path)
add_child(director)
# Every simulated tick:
for player in players:
director.report_player(player.id, player.position, player.health / player.max_health)
director.tick(delta)Health arrives as a fraction, not a damage number: a game that had to report damage would have to remember to do it from every damage path it has, and the one it forgets is the one that matters.
Why it is not a spawn timer
A timer gives every player the same game whether they are winning or losing. This is driven by what the players are experiencing — damage taken, enemies close, time without a break — so a team that is struggling gets a moment to recover and a team that is coasting gets something to do. Same rules, no difficulty setting.
The relax needs both a clock and a distance
Time alone lets a team that has stopped to argue about a door be attacked on schedule. Distance alone lets a team that is sprinting be attacked every few seconds. And the distance is the least-travelled player’s, because one person scouting ahead has not moved the party anywhere.