Hello, I have released Advanced Archer AI to the Unreal Marketplace, it has several features included such as a patrol path component that really makes managing patrol paths easier. At least easier than my first implementation of a nested for loop in blueprints. This thread is here for anyone who has questions or wants to suggest feature requests. There is also a discord for that if you are interested.
Key Features:
7 Behavior Trees that can be affected by 3 states
Customizable Patrol Paths with Variable Speeds
Toggle-able raise bow animation
Toggle-able chase/attack player when patrol
Multiplayer
Teams
Basic Health and Damage System
Modular Patrol Path Component
Animations Retargeted From Sparrow (Paragon)
Ragdoll Deaths
100% Blueprints
The first planned update is modifiable firing modes, (I’m thinking stand & fire in place for guarding walls, and volley).
Thanks
UPDATE Here are most of the fixes that should make the project more compatible when adding to a separate project. I will update the documentation as well.
fix 1 Patrol points return invalid indices if not set, check length and display log message if 0.
fix 2 Player BP_Controller class needs to be set in map mode, not the default template player controller.
fix 3 BP_ThirdPersonCharacter Cast fails, which is weird because I am using a third person character template. Adding log statement to check and verify correct player character class. Dev will probably have to swap out the node. Changing name of player character pawn to be more clear. Also will need to add Team variable to custom pawn. I may make this an interface…
fix 4 Dev will need to add Nav Mesh Bounds Volume in order for the AI to be able to move. I will add this to the Instructions.
fix 5 add Server Change State call to begin play in order to set initial state with New State that can be modified in the Archers details panel. (Originally these were made visible not to be modified directly but to give awareness that they existed. Bad idea)
Does the guy just stand there in your own project or the example map? Standing there is the default behavior (idle) but can be changed, I set up some hotkeys for testing in the player controller so you can see how to trigger the state and behavior tree changes.
You may need to add a player or team tag (Team1 or Team2 or None) to your character so that the teams match, since I added teams that kind of made it a little more complicated where the archer ai now searches for team tags.
Also probably check the class settings in the archer ai when they’re placed in the map to see what things are defaulting to. Poke around the player controller to see how the hotkey events tell all of the archers on your team to update their behavior trees / states.
It’s possible there is a cast failing somewhere too if you are using different project templates or character blueprints, that is something I can poke around it just helps me pinpoint things if you can tell me what you’re working with specifically.
The more information you give me about what you are doing and trying to do the better I can help you and hopefully make it so it’s a smoother experience for others as well.
Also If you’re doing something like adding the archer to a starter template project and running into issues I will gladly test that and see if I can make a video showing how to set it up and test things out.
Hey so after creating a new third person template project and dropping the archer into the map I’m getting errors. I should have tested this on a new project vs the one I was working in. I’ll get as much of this sorted as I can, probably before your next response.
fix 1 Patrol points return invalid indices if not set, check and display log message if 0.
fix 2 Player BP_Controller class needs to be set in map mode, not the default template player controller.
fix 3 BP_ThirdPersonCharacter Cast fails, which is weird because I am using a third person character template. Adding log statement to check and verify correct player character class. Dev will probably have to swap out the node. Changing name of player character pawn to be more clear. Also will need to add Team variable to custom pawn. I may make this an interface…
fix 4 Dev will need to add Nav Mesh Bounds Volume in order for the AI to be able to move. I will add this to the Instructions.
fix 5 add Server Change State call to begin play in order to set initial state with New State that can be modified in the Archers details panel. (Originally these were made visible not to be modified directly but to give awareness that they existed. Bad idea)
I’ll add more to this list to keep you updated on the issues I’m running into. It’s definitely not your fault I was just testing the setup in the pre-made map not adding it to a new project and that is on me. Good thing you mentioned it.
Your response will help though especially if you’re running into specific issues (right off the bat I’m running into a problem with the patrol points not being set, that needs to be handled so I’m going to include that in an update with directions).
Which character bp, the archer or your player character? A custom one, the default one in the template, or the one that comes with the Archer project? I originally thought since the projects had (almost) the exact same character classes the cast nodes would play nicely but they are not.
Do you mean you are setting the states directly by changing them on the archers in the details panel in the world outliner?
Hey Matto I am calling it for the day, I will submit the changes I have made and will have to test them again. The process can take a few days but sometimes it is fast.
I’ve added more validity checks, print strings for errors and warning, and updated the documentation with a couple of steps in Initial Setup section to look out for. Link to Documentation
Yeah setting the state by changing them in the archers detail panel.
Basically im trying to make an enemy that patrols and attacks me but i still can only switch from idle states using the commands
Ok cool, once the update is approved you should be able to set New State in the detail panel, I added a Server State Change call to the Begin Play event which you can also do in the meantime. Actually now that I’m looking at the documentation I should have used the Set Enemy State interface to get the bow extend to also do it’s thing so that might need to be changed.
the top one is what I submitted but it is probably better to do the bottom one at the end of the begin play in the ranged enemy bp. This should set the state that you enter in the details panel.
Alright matto the update seems to be live, there are a few things that need to be done to get the project to work with a new template or other project. I’ve made a setup video and it’s linked on Youtube here: Advanced Archer AI Setup Video
It ended up being much longer than I expected but I tend to ramble a bit.
For setting up Patrol Paths there is an example in the map that comes with the project, I can make a video covering specifically that if you think it would be useful.
Hope that helps, thanks for taking down the 1 star review and let me know if you have any more questions or suggestions.
