Game Jam - Ludum Dare 55
A game jam for Ludum Dare 55 that lasted 72 hours.
Helped out with Gameplay AI within a team of over 30 people.
I joined this game jam under the Indie Game Academy group to get a taste of working with a big team, and that meant being more specialized on strengths, which mine is gameplay AI. Under the three days, I focused on implementing the enemy encounter system on the overworld map, which requires getting a 3d model to always orient towards the player.
Enemy Encounter State Machine
The enemy encounter is one of the many fundamental elements often used in RPG (Role Playing Game) core loops, and the most basic of them is having a state machine that focuses on player distance:
When far from player - Wander randomly on map
When close to player - chase towards player
With those two states, the enemy will move towards the player when close, but player can outrun the monster if they do not want to engage with the monster.
Enemy Encounter State Machine - Update
Run Meander - Far from Player
Run Approach - Close to Player
BONUS - 3D model movement blooper: Backstreet Boulders
While revising the movement for the encounter enemy, I unintentionally made the enemy model move backwards towards the target direction, resulting in what the marketing folks call "moonwalking golem" through a musically worded post on Linkedin. I quickly fixed that bug and the enemy model moves at the correct orientation. For Game Jams, it is okay to laugh from little mistakes made, especially at the early stages.
Linkedin Post for moonwalking golem (Backstreet Boulders)