PANPC 2.0.5 Released: Sniper Action, More Arena

PANPC 2.0.5 is now available in the PANPC #releases-latest incremental release channel on the GreslinGames Discord. 

(Note: This is not a public channel. If your username is still white on the GG Discord, you do not yet have access. Ask in #role-requests for Citizen role access to get it.)

There are a few bits and pieces new or fixed in 2.0.5, but here are the two big ones:

Long Distance Combat Support

Sniper play has always been a challenge to implement in PANPC. The activation range of the AI scripts is roughly 4000 units around the player: this is the range at which PANPC Manager will find NPCs and give them AI systems. Any less than that and the lack of coverage will be noticeable, but any further than that will add too many scripts to the game and cause performance problems for some players.

It was a system that worked fairly well in almost any circumstance, except for sniping. The distance from the Corvega overpass to the enemy targets on the catwalks, for example, is about 5500 units - well outside of the AI activation range. This meant that the Corvega exterior sniper battle was always against the vanilla AI, not PANPC.

As of v2.0.5, we have a solution for that. The new system implements a second activation range, from 4000u to 9000u, strictly to monitor those long-distance NPCs for hits taken from player attacks. If the NPC is hit, they will then boot up the PANPC AI script and begin reacting. Likewise, they will send an activation signal to any local enemies (within about a 1000u radius), and they too will get an AI system and begin reacting.

This system is only in effect if the player is currently using a weapon equipped with both a scope and a long barrel weapon mod (i.e., a sniper configuration). Additionally, if the weapon is equipped with noise suppression, the local activation pulse is reduced from a 1000u radius to 500u, limiting the local reaction impact of a player attack.

In tests, this seems to be fairly shredding the conventional Corvega sniper approach strategy. You have two, maybe three shots at best, and then the Corvega raiders are raining hell on your position.

Polished Final Cut of Arena Mode

PANPC v2.0.5 includes a reasonably final, polished cut of Arena Mode. The combat area is no longer tied to the current cell, limited instead to an 8000u radius around the initial location. The enemies have a slightly improved search pattern and are more directly aggressive.

The major shortcoming of the 2.0.4 version of Arena was that enemy teams could spawn at inaccessible locations, such as in rooms or in confined areas that denied them legal paths to approach the player. 

v2.0.5 deals with this by keeping track of which enemies have not yet been visually confirmed by the player. Once the Arena session begins and the team spawns, PANPC Manager checks periodically to see if you have still not made visual contact with anybody. If so, it will relocate those enemies to somewhat closer out-of-sight locations that are more likely to bring them to your position. 

In tests, I'm finding that this creates a sort of cat-and-mouse dynamic, where you and they are mutually hunting each other. In other words, exactly what I hoped for.

To engage Arena Mode, first find a good location, then go into the "Arena Spawning" PANPC MCM menu. Choose how many waves you want, and then click the team type. When you close your Pip Boy again, the battle will begin. (This should NOT interfere with the game's story or your faction relationships. If you find that it does, please let me know. Thanks.)

Next Steps

I haven't forgotten about the Insult to Injury update. I'm hoping to get back to that after I've finished a comprehensive PACE update, which I'm working on now. 

PANPC and PACE have always been engaged in a chess match of sorts: feint and counter feint, advantage and disadvantage. PANPC definitely has the advantage in v2.0.5, and so my job now is to make PACE more lethal to even the score. I don't know when I'll have a new cut of PACE done, but I'd like to get it together in the next week or two.

PANPC will probably continue to get updates based on things that come up in war game or user gameplay videos, or in discussions happening on the Discord. I don't have a particular ETA on 2.0.6, or any sort of feature plan, because it basically depends on the kind of trouble that PANPC players get into. Trouble just inspires me to make it into more trouble.

In the meantime, I'm still producing PANPC war game videos for the GreslinGames YouTube channel. Discussion and critique are happening on the #pack-attack channel of the GreslinGames Discord. Drop by, say hi - we're a friendly bunch and look forward to meeting you.

Stay safe in the Wasteland and elsewhere!

All my best,

-  G.