New player with some questions

[Hargael]

Hello everyone

I am new to EQEmu. I played EQ Live from 1999 to 2004, then WoW, but the nostalgia is too strong. So I decided to try to install a private server. I started in august to play on my own server, and I have some questions/remarks about the bot system :

- casters buffs : I play a warrior, and I use cleric and enchanter bots, and sometimes shaman, wizard ... Something disturbs me a lot : they buff all the time ! They spend all their mana buffing eachother, pet included, and I can never start a fight full mana. So I disabled buffs for the pets in the code. Maybe we could create a command ?

- enchanter automez : after reading the forum and looking at the code, I finally understand that we have to add some mez spells in the npc_spells_entries table (with type 2048 and npc_spells_id 705 I guess). I will try to do it this week. My question is : why don't use the MesmerizeTarget function ?

- enchanter rune : my enchanter bot always cast rune on me (and maybe on other bots). It costs some time and a lot of mana of course. We already have a command "runeme", maybe we could put runes in a new category than SpellType_Buff, or just remove them ?

- cleric heals : I discovered a big problem with them. It seems that my cleric never see me engaged, so he always casts HoT. I put some logs in my server code, and the result is that the function IsEngaged() returns false event if I am in combat. I typed #hatelist when targetting myself in combat and no result. Second problem : when my HPs are under 75% (in combat but not engaged apparently) the function that searches a spell in spell list finds nothing, so the cleric bot casts HoT by default. Any idea ?

That's all for now, that's the major points I see. I will test some modifications for the 2 enchanter points, but the cleric and engagement problem seems to be more tricky, and I could use some help.

I read your blog WildcardX, and your last post. I find your ideas amazing, just can't wait to see them implemented !

Thanks for reading !

[Hargael]

Hello

Here are some news from my testing :

- Enchanter : I added some spells in the npc_spells_entries table for mez (I am currently 55 so I added spells 1691, 1692, 3341 and 3358 ), and now my enchanter bot mez ! But he has lots of trouble finding a target to mez (LoS problems), I think I will check how he should find one and perhaps modify some code. Btw he still casts too many runes, I will remove them from table, and use the runeme command.

- Cleric : now I known why my cleric bot never sees me engaged. My hate list is always empty. In AddToHateList (attack.cpp) the test
if(IsClient() && !IsAIControlled())
is always true for me (me = client and not AI controlled), so nothing in hate_list, so IsEngaged() returns false ... I put this test in comment, and now my bot sees me engaged, and change his heal spell.

I also still have the problem of no heal for a certain range of hps (in fact it's the result of the GetBestBotSpellForRegularSingleTargetHeal function). Maybe I will check the table for missing heals, or check the way this function find one.

To be continued ...

[Longdarkhair]

Nice findings, thanks for sharing this work. =)

[Hargael]

Thanks for the comment, if this can help improve the system ...

Here are some news, it works MUCH better !

- Cleric bot : I was right, some spells are missing in the table. In fact, there is no direct heal. The function GetBestBotSpellForRegularSingleTargetHeal is looking for direct heals (type SE_CurrentHP). In the npc_spells_entries table, we can find Complete Healing, some HoT like Celestial Healing, but no big direct heal like Divine Light. So I used Lucy and added this one in the table (it's in the range of level where I am actually, around 55). I added it the same way I added the mez spells (cleric bot spell list 701, spell type 2).

I also have a question about a property of spell struct : priority. How does it work ? I put 1 for the different spells I added, but not sure it's correct. Maybe someone could complete the table more precisely ...

- Enchanter bot : my bot has mez spells, but almost never cast them, and now I know why. I found a bug in the range calculation : in the GetFirstIncomingMobToMez function (botspellsai.cpp), we search for a mob to mez, and compare the distance between the bot and each mob to the spell range. Of course we use the Pythagore theorem, but the test is wrong (mobs are always too far). I changed this :
if(npc->DistNoRootNoZ(*botCaster) <= spells[botSpell.SpellId].range) {
by this :
if(npc->DistNoRootNoZ(*botCaster) <= spells[botSpell.SpellId].range * spells[botSpell.SpellId].range) {
and it works !

Next time I will disable automatic runes. I don't want to delete them from the table, so I have to find another way. Maybe priority or a new SpellType ...

EDIT : the DistNoRootNoZ function is often used, maybe we should check all tests done with it ...

[Longdarkhair]

Explanation of priority, found this in the Wiki:

npc_spells_entries

Entries in this table represent entries in spell sets defined in npc_spells. The spells in this list (and potentially a single parent list) will be loaded at spawn time, and sorted by increasing priority. Basically, the lowest priority value spell will always be chosen over a higher priority value spell. There is no garuntee which spell will be chosen if two of the same type of spell are set at the same priority, but only one will be used (currently).

[Hargael]

Thanks ! I forgot the wiki, I will read it more deeply !

Btw, I changed SpellType for the runes, put 0, and now they are not automatically casted anymore. I ask for them with the "runeme" command. Thus my enchanter bot has more time (and mana) for mez and slow.

[c0ncrete]

I ran across the same problem with heals from bots. I would suggest making changes just to the bot code to fix bot specific issues, however.

I use GetAggroCount() for clients to determine if they are engaged in combat as clients don't use a hate list unless they are AI controlled, and they'll still have an aggro count even if they are.

example:
// is target engaged?
bool tarIsEngaged = tar->IsClient() ? tar->CastToClient()->GetAggroCount() : tar->IsEngaged();

[lich2594]

Nice work, I will have to test some of your findings myself!

[Hargael]

Hello everyone

I am currently 65, hunting Sirens for velious gems, and I have new remarks and questions about the bot system.

- Dispell : I have an enchanter bot in my group, and I saw in the npc_spell_entries table that he has dispelling spells, but never uses them. I looked at the code, the SpellType_Dispel type is only used for bards. Any good reason ?

So I added the cast of dispells for enchanters. But in the AICastSpell function (botspellsai.cpp) I saw that dispells are only cast if target's HP ratio is above 95, which allows a really short range of time for caster. Maybe I should lower this ratio ...

- Enduring breath : I tried this command, but it almost never works. Once again I looked at the code. I have the good classes (Shaman and Enchanter), but why testing CanCastOutdoor() function ? I will put this test in comment and see what happens.

- Death and Resurect : when I die, all my bots disband from the group. I was ok with that until one of the last update where I saw poping a Respawn window. But I can't use it if my bots leave. Is there a parameter or something to disable the bots disbanding after client's death ?


Last remark : I saw in a previous post that WildcardX wanted to rewrite the bot system, based on mercenaries. I don't known mercs (I stopped playing live after GoD release) but I find the project GREAT. Any idea how long it will takes ?

I think I will simply stop bothering people with my remarks/questions, and continue modifying my server on my own until the new release will be available ...

Btw thanks for this wonderful private server and bot system, it's an amazing job, and it's so fun to play EQ again after so many years :)