This is another patch in the run up to Lifecycles Act 2 with a focus on A.I. improvements for the entire game. Major highlights include Dragonfly hunting A.I overhaul and Lifecycles Act 1 A.I. (Jumping Spider early instars). This patch carries significant improvements to both. To whet your appetite, here's a preview of DoN's new Grasshopper for Act 2!
Texturing is not yet done! hence the golden hue

Changelog

• Dragonfly A.I. can now travel to and snatch grounded prey with far a greater chance of success. Jumping Spiders esp, beware!
• 3D Pathfinding critical bugfix; flying creatures no longer get permanently stuck in mid-air .
• Dragonfly A.I. stamina limited to compensate for improvements. A.I. is forced to rest/perch frequently and can only pursue prey for short durations.
• Perched Dragonflies can be taken down by adult Jumping Spiders from the next update onwards (Act 2).

• Major behavior bugfixes. Instar activity is now smooth and efficient, A.I. now completes its growth cycle fully.
• Moulting mid-fight is now prevented (this was an edge case to do with XP earned from counterattack)
• Bigger instars are now able to make combat contact with smaller instars more easily during combat
• Bigger instars now deliver greater combat damage compared to smaller ones
• Bigger instars pick up items with better accuracy
• Hitbox modified for young Jumping Spiders to prevent visual intersection in some cases
• A.I. no longer glitches/spins around while moving/turning for activity.
• Fauna evasion behavior improved (upon colliding with each other).
• Instars caught under the egg sac's silk webbing are now swiftly evacuated :)
• Instars escaping the eggsac glitch has been fixed
• Post-playfight toppling over anim now plays consistently.

Changed "follower lost" text color/style for readability Misc

• Caterpillar infinite leaf farming prevented; browsed leaf areas are no longer browsable (this used to work correctly in previous builds)
• Gamepad input cue in the bonding screen (for Continue) corrected
• Gamepad I1/I2 changed to A/B (from X/Y) for consistency
• Gamepad controls image updated (was outdated before)
• Font changes to Act 1 intro for readability

Your A.I. siblings can now finally grow up to third-instar quite briskly :)

Act 2 Dev

While this bugfix spree has delayed Act 2's core development a fair bit (many new species are planned, on that note!), it was inevitable as Act 2's gameplay revolves around A.I. hunting/evasion/etc and so this solid foundation was necessary. On the bright side things like the improvements made to Dragonfly A.I. will benefit new species like the Spider Wasps that are being added to Act 2.

New Species confirmed for Act 2

The following A.I. species are confirmed for the next update:-

• Grasshoppers (First-instar, Nymph, Winged adult)
• Spider Wasps
• Tiger Beetles
• Springtails
• Whiteflies
• Possibly more...

Here's some Grasshopper WIP footage for your time :)
Texturing is not yet done! hence the golden hue See also, GIF: Grass-hopping antics More WIP images of new species will be shared this week! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-01-09 00:57:03 CET ] [ Original post ]