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Cart #47681 | 2017-12-26 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | License: CC4-BY-NC-SA
2

Hello, I'm trying to develop a game in which there will be some enemies chasing the player on a map, and on this map there will be some obstacles.

I know how to code a simple AI in order to have enemies follow the player, by using math trigonometry functions like sine, cosine and arctangent; but I ACTUALLY HAVE NO IDEA about how to code an enemy AI in order to make it avoiding some obstacles on the screen.

Basically I'd like to code a simple AI that could chase the player on the map, but at the right time when it's about to collide with an obstacle could forget for a moment that chase and dodge the obstacle.

Do you have an idea about what I should try to implement ?
At the moment I've tried something very simple that tries to rotate around an obstacles while the trajectory between the enemy and the obstacle and the trajectory between the enemy and the player is equal or greater than 90 degrees. It's a really simple trick but it doesn't work 100% of the time.

This is my code:

function _init()
    -- initialize

    -- enemy
    e = {}
    e.f = 1
    e.x = 0
    e.y = 0
    -- player
    p = {}
    p.found = false
    p.distance_b = 0
    p.f = 2
    p.x = 118
    p.y = 118

    -- columns
    bb = {}
    b1 = {}
    b1.f = 3
    b1.x = 40
    b1.y = 40
    b2 = {}
    b2.f = 3
    b2.x = 80
    b2.y = 80
    add(bb, b1)
    add(bb, b2)
end

function object_collide_with(x1, y1, x2, y2, gx, gy)
    -- checks if an object has collided 
    -- with another object, then calculated
    -- the angle between the ball and the other object

    -- gx = gravity horizontal center
    -- gy = gravity vertical center

    if (gx == nil) gx = 4  -- 8x8 --> 8/2 
    if (gy == nil) gy = 4

    --local bump = c1 and c2 and c3 and c4
    local distance = sqrt(((x2+gx)-(x1+gx))^2 + ((y2+gy)-(y1+gy))^2)
    local angle = atan2((x1 + gx) - (x2 + gx), (y1 + gy) - (y2 + gy))
    local direction = flr(angle * 8)
    return distance, angle, direction
end

function player_collide_with(x, y, w, h)
    -- checks if the player has collided 
    -- with another object, then calculated
    -- the angle between the ball and the other object

    return object_collide_with(p.x, p.y, x, y, w, h)
end

function distance_between(x1, y1, x2, y2)
    -- calculates the distance between two points

    return sqrt((x2-x1)^2 + (y2-y1)^2)
end

function check_player()
    if (btn(0)) p.x -= 1
    if (btn(1)) p.x += 1
    if (btn(2)) p.y -= 1
    if (btn(3)) p.y += 1
end

function _update()
    check_player()
    p.found = false
    local distance, angle, direction
    -- check the distance from the target
    distance, angle, direction = player_collide_with(e.x, e.y)    
    for i, b in pairs(bb) do
        local distance_b, angle_b, direction_b = object_collide_with(b.x, b.y, e.x, e.y)        
        if distance_b <= 10 and abs(angle-angle_b) < 1/6 then
            angle_b += 3.1415/240
            e.x = b.x - cos(angle_b) * distance_b
            e.y = b.y - sin(angle_b) * distance_b            
            p.found = true
            break            
        end
    end
    if not p.found then
        e.x += cos(angle) 
        e.y += sin(angle)
    end    
    if distance_between(e.x, e.y, p.x, p.y) < 8 then
        -- reset if the enemy touches the player
        e.x = 0
        e.y = 0
    end
end

function _draw() 
    cls(0)
    for i, b in pairs(bb) do
        spr(b.f, b.x, b.y)
    end
    spr(p.f, p.x, p.y)
    spr(e.f, e.x, e.y)
end
P#47682 2017-12-26 07:45 ( Edited 2017-12-27 23:04)

1

Thank you Bekey, I will read it tonight when I go back home.

P#47684 2017-12-26 11:51 ( Edited 2017-12-26 16:51)
2

The nice thing about using pathfinding is that it only looks like the enemy "forgot" about the player. In fact, the enemy is still following the player, but it's just following a clear path to the player instead. Fanzine #4 has a tutorial for implementing pathfinding in PICO-8.

https://sectordub.itch.io/pico-8-fanzine-4

P#47685 2017-12-26 12:46 ( Edited 2017-12-26 17:46)

Thank you MBoffin

P#47686 2017-12-26 16:49 ( Edited 2017-12-26 21:49)
2

You could also look into steering behaviours. (You've already written most of what you need for the basic behaviours, FWIW)

Here's a good set of tutorials to start with - https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/series/understanding-steering-behaviors--gamedev-12732

P#47696 2017-12-27 12:01 ( Edited 2017-12-27 17:01)

Thank you Catatafish

P#47708 2017-12-27 18:04 ( Edited 2017-12-27 23:04)

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