[DM-dev] Commentary on a 2D version

[<kh...@op...>]

Having made the suggestion of a 2D version, it seems that my exact intent was a little unclear.

I see a 2D version as being useful for testing the various AI algorithms and AI engin that we intend to use without the burden developing in 3D.  For example consider the following sections of a dungeon:


   |    |      +----+        |    |    
   |    |       | P |         | G |    
   |   +------+  +---------+    |
   |   +---------------------+    |
   |    |                      |     |
   | M |                     |     |

(In case my wonderful ASCII art is garbled, the image sould look like a capitol H with a small passage heading up in the center of the bar.  The `P' represents the player, the `G' represents a stationary (guard) MOB and the `M' represnets a patrolling MOB).

Lets assume that the player is standing infront of a locked door.  He has three possible options:
1) leave
2) pick the lock
3) kick the door down

Lets consider the final option.  If the player kicks the door down, there will be some sound associated with that act - and lets say the we set the sound radius to be ten units  - encompassing both of the MOB's (in a debug/test version of this we could flash a circle showing the extent of the sound so we could see which MOB's had a chance at hearing the sound, and we could change the color of the MOB's that infact detected the sound).  If a MOB detected the sound, he could possibly change state from either guard or patrol to investigate and move toward the source of the sound.

My though is that with a 2D, down-looking view we can observe the actions of the MOB's and see if they are behaving as we expect them to.  For example, if the patrolling MOB in the above example detected the noise, and changed state from patrolling to investigation, but reversed direction and moved away from the disturbance, we could conclude that there is a problem in our algorithm.  Note, that this behaviour might not be readily apparent in a 3D version since the only the MOB's in the field of view would be observable.

Hope this gives a few more details on what I was hoping to accomplish in a 2D version.

George