greslin
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More on PANPC 2.0.7 Deathclaw Changes
🕑 Added 2022-03-25 18:39:47 +0000 UTCI've gotten a few questions about the specific changes I made to Deathclaws in PANPC 2.0.7. They were fairly extensive - this pass definitely wasn't a small round of tweaks around the edges of the AI. They're much more dangerous now.
Generally speaking, this is what I did:
Added ranged combat stances. PANPC has always treated Deathclaws as a weird hybrid, a tactical wildlife creature, basically a smarter dog. And like dogs, PANPC DCs only had melee combat stances, mainly because they couldn't wield weapons.
However, someone recently pointed out to me that they do have a weapon: a ranged dirt throw. So I added ranged combat stances that treated the dirt throw action as a gun, which in turn meant having to readjust all of the DC combat styles to fit ranged attacks into a cohesive combat pattern. Their combat style variation is more comparable now to Raiders than to dogs.
Retooled evasion/retreat/GTFO. I pulled the GTFO code completely for DCs, because it was getting in the way, and replaced a number of evasion actions with the more sophisticated PACE versions. The new Deathclaws are more likely to do tactical retreats and backaways, in attempts to get better ranged attack opportunities.
Combat targeting changes. I added a bit of code in the DC's main combat targeter to check to see if the last acquired target had dropped HP since the last check, and if so, to reacquire that target. So Deathclaws in general now have a "if he bleeds when you hit him, hit him again" attack ethic that will make them press the kill far more often. If they can't draw blood on an attack, they're now more likely to evade or switch targets.
Faster Courage recharge. I added a modest bump to the DC's Courage recharge rate, so they should be less likely to retreat and quicker to reestablish their attacks.
New "Venture" action. I added a new state machine for "venturing": if the Deathclaw is particularly bored and has nothing better to do, they may take a long walk of up to several thousand units, looking for trouble. This is roughly equivalent to the Raider code that will seek out idle spots (food areas, sleep, etc.) when they're bored.
Natural Camo on Chameleons. If you are also using my new Natural Camouflage mod, PANPC 2.0.7 supports that in Chameleon Deathclaws. They turn invisible when moving, when they are initiating an ambush, or when they are in a highly defensive ranged stance and need a more careful attack.
I think that's about it, and I hope that clarifies things.
Have fun,
- G.
