PSA:
Fire Emblem has the AI functionality built in to “zone” out the player. That is, to have enemies approach, but stay just outside of your attack range. As far as I know, this AI isn’t actually used in FE8.
Safety = 0 (no risk)
They approach but won’t enter your range. I think this gets a little boring, personally. Once you’re in their range, they do attack.
I am certain some romhacks must use this sort of AI, but I haven’t noticed it yet. With the discussion of turtling, I thought bringing this to attention might help with design. (If too many enemies clump together just outside of your attack range, the game becomes more difficult, or even impossible. Personally, I would avoid making it impossible for us Turtles, but it’s your choice.)
My preference for ‘safety’ so far:
Safety = 8, all 3 on zoning AI
They will charge you, however, if the risk might pay off. (In this case, if the Myrmidon is 1 tile left, they charge.)
However, this is easily abusable:
Safety = 8, all 3 on zoning AI
Two of the enemies are trying to zone you out, but one is in range and charges.
I want clumps of enemies to charge at once.
(We have the two subordinates use AI1: ‘D’ so they don’t charge by themselves. Then we set their commander as the Bael.)
Typical example (Safety = 8, attack if enemy in range of commander):
Ex 1
They come somewhat within range on the first turn. Then, the boss/commander moves and is now in range of the enemies, so the others charge towards the player. Placing the boss as the last character in the unit placer usually makes it move after other units, so they might zone a bit smarter that way. However, if you can lure the boss far away from the subordinates, it becomes problematic.
Abusable example:
Ex 2
(This does not make them clump together, your map does, eg. corridors. But it does stop the subordinates from charging out towards you by themselves.)
More abuse:
Ex 3
)
Their commander is not in range of anybody, so they straight up don’t attack.
But more typical:
Ex 3.1
The commander moves first and gets in range of enemies, so the subordinates attack this time.
Add it in yourself:
Instructions
Under AI2, add an entry with the command “Attack12 Safety” in FEBuilder.
12000800000000000000000000000000 //Attack12 [Safety:0x8]
0300FF00000000000000000000000000 //EXIT [id:0x0]
(You should create a new AI2 rather than overwriting “Move towards enemy”.)
Tl;dr
Zoning AI can be fun too.
What are your thoughts on this sort of AI? I’m giving it to boss encounters in my game, where the lackeys are scared to engage without their leader.
P.S. forgive me if this has been discussed extensively already. I have not read the entirety of the official AI documentation thread. Just thought it might be helpful for some people.