Hello there! I promised NPC monkeys by end of year -got a bit of a delay, but the first iteration of PC-controlled Mandrillians is finally here! While there's still ironing and fine-tuning left to do, these lil fellas are already a force to be reckoned with... [h1]THE MANDRILLIAN TEST SUBJECTS[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42158802/d58f9eceb5db2a4e1738d0ddddf212d6b53f1fc1.png[/img] Nobody knows what the guys at Research were trying to accomplish with these Mandrillians. In any case, they're quite angry, full of performance-enhancing chemicals, and have half their bodies covered in bullet-proof implements. They can be enabled in this screen at the Main Menu. Currently you can select the total number of AI Mandrillians you want to face in a match, and have either 1 or 2 simultaneously active at any given point. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42158802/979f4adbd6ede17f97136caade6a963e3e23e9d3.png[/img] When I started developing Escape from Mandrillia I thought I'd never be able to make satisfying enough counterparts for the human players, as a lot of the gameplay involves psychological misdirection that could be hard to recreate for an NPC (especially one made by an idiot such as myself). At first I thought the only AI enemies I'd put in would be simple "swarmers" like the planned Insectoids, but after the Halloween experiment I decided to at least give it a try before giving up on a more complex enemy... and here we are. These enemies have some "gamey" design features to offset the differences with human-controlled monkeys while still keeping the dynamics true to the core of the game (forcing you to sneak and to use your multitool, keep track of your ammo, and overall being a hit-and-run monster). They can work as both a single player experience, or as a way to spice up your local multiplayer matches! Now that it's technically possible to actually play Escape from Mandrillia in singleplayer mode, setting the Mandrillian respawns to 0 on the Match Settings will automatically set you up for "Solo Mode", with the spectator camera automatically enabled, and monkey input disabled. [h2]THEIR CURRENT STATE[/h2] When activated, Mandrillian Test Subjects will randomly patrol the facilities, starting in the vents. They will attack the Robot (and the Sentry Turret after being deployed) on sight, and will also react to noise sources like gunshots, explosions, keycard-operated gates or a sprinting Robot. They won't be able to sniff you out when cloaked so hiding from them should be easier -still, make sure you don't get too close and to have your flashlight off while cloaking, or you'll be in for a scare! On top of wearing bullet-proof armor, they start off way tankier than a regular Mandrillian. Four canisters continuously pump them full of physically enhancing chemicals, and the only way to expose them is via electric shock. Every broken canister will take away a fraction of their damage resistance! But remember: even after breaking all of their canisters, their mechanical implements are still bulletproof. Unless you are packing armor piercing weaponry (like the HMG or minigun), failing to hit the fleshy bits will only make them angrier... [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42158802/a8a6446393397ebdd6987127ba087692dff3c17d.gif[/img] These AI monkeys have a stamina/fear system to ensure they won't just keep wailing at you. Besides getting tired from performing attacks, some actions will build up their fear, eventually driving them to flee to the vents. Getting damaged (especially if they can't locate the damage source), stuff exploding near them, being set on fire (until they start building up tolerance to it) and having their chemical canisters destroyed are some of the actions that will scare them off. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42158802/f8e0e1a09f75aa8bbe5b607adfb251c39a770a9a.gif[/img] Many of their mechanics are shared with their player-controlled counterparts: match settings such as body/limb HP multipliers and respawn times will also affect them, and of course any vent they break will become an unlocked vent for a player to spawn in. [h2]COMING SOON(tm)[/h2] [h3]AI MANDRILLIAN COMPLETION[/h3] There are still some systems yet to be implemented, like door smashing (they can currently damage the doors but won't really target them in normal circumstances), and more unique interactions with gas and tranquilizers. Still, progress seems to be going pretty well, and I hope to have them fully implemented (including different alternate presets and increased match setting compatibility) as soon as possible. [h3]MAP EXPANSION[/h3] While I keep polishing the AI Mandirllian mechanics, I'm finally going to start working on the final areas: Warehouse, Waste Disposal, and Research and Development. This is something I've been looking forwards to a lot, and will take the game one hefty step closer to full release. Of course, those areas will have toggles on the Match Settings to cusomize your experience. [h3]INSECTOIDS[/h3] To finish up the AI roster for the "normal" game, I will be adding the Insectoids after completing the AI Mandrillian features. As stated on the Progress Update post, these little fellas will be a simple "swarmer" enemy to make for more brainless, run-and-gun gameplay while still allowing for some flexibility. And, of course, they will be able to be thrown in alongside both the AI Monkeys and human players, which could end up in some very chaotic but hopefully fun scenarios. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42158802/2b8e0a9bffe9e44ec4fa354a297995c6f402afe9.gif[/img] (They're gonna be considerably smaller than this) [h3]TRUE COOP MODE[/h3] The Halloween Challenge was a nice experiment to see how coop gameplay worked for the game. While acceptable, Mandrillians were not designed with coop in mind. After completing both the AI Mandrillians and Insectoid systems, I want to add an optional coop mode where the PC players control a more sensible character, which will probably be the good ol Drone I've been working on for a while [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42158802/7c595b29fbaf68fd1b7d741e1687d9fe62c6d4cb.png[/img] (They're gonna be considerably bigger than this) I think there's potential for some interesting interactions between the VR and PC players with these lil guys, like using them as extra item storage, repairing them, marking objectives in the Multitool... On an unrelated note, Escape from Mandrillia has been cleared to have Steam Trading Cards and all these item shop stuff the younglings seem to love. This is far from a priority, but there might be some surprises. Finally, if you've made it this far down, consider leaving a review for the game! Any feedback I can get is extremely valuable (be it positive or negative) -it also helps Steam show the game to more users. Welp, that's all for now. Have fun with your new Mandrillian friends! [h3]FULL CHANGELOG:[/h3] [list] [*] Implemented first version of enemy NPCs: the Mandrillian Test Subject [*] Setting Mandrillian respawns to 0 in the Match Settings will start the match in "Solo Mode", with the spectator camera enabled for the PC view [*] Fixed ammo crates having a chance of spawning nothing when the last held longarm was either the crossbow or the plasma rifle [*] Fixed visual bug that made sound notifications on the minimap appear below the actual map [*] Reworked Map Stations: simplified the system, doubled scanner time, and halved scanner recharge time. [*] Tweaked Murderbot settings to make the Halloween Challenge less frustrating [*] Removed the Dart gun from the random sidearm pool -this one is getting a hefty rework soon, but you can still manually select it as your starter sidearm [*] PC view will go into third-person spectator mode instead of VR mirror when all PC Mandrillians are dead [*] Modified the FX for the gas-stunned Mandrillians (the old sparkles will return for the Dart gun rework) [*] Made the minigun spinning noises a bit quieter [/list]