AI Misfires Cones

hrm, yeah that one is clockwise... And is the range wrong as well? (and of course LOS)

Best, yes, but 90 degrees would have hit the player.

Haha, this makes me really want to dig into the code and debug.

 

That would certainly explain the Melvelous screenshots that have been posted (I still have the uncropped version of mine, I'll upload it when I'm next at home). It would also explain why it is usually seen on this adventure - your characters start off in opposite corners and are therefore typically approaching enemies from different directions.
I don't think it can explain the screenshot of the frost sprite attacking its allies though. You can just about make out the positions of all the sprites and I don't think any characters would be hit by any of the sprites firing the cone in the direction it did.
The next time I have a chance I will have a go at reproducing this assuming you don't solve it before then.

 

Actually you might be onto something. In the screenshot of the frost sprites we don't have the full information. We can't see the positioning of the player's warrior or additional sprites. Could be something to test out. Just originating the spell from the wrong character...?

 

The attack originating from the wrong character would explain a different bug I encountered today. On the first map of Compas of Xor Gary had my warrior sandwiched between two dogs with one behind him and one in front of him. Then Gary plays Cowardly Attack, and attacks with the dog in front of my warrior instead of the one behind them that would get the bonus damage. I'm bringing it up here instead of in it's own thread because they might have the same root cause.

 

Another occurrence for me. I noticed a lot of screenshots show a 'move' action in the history between the casting of the cone and the applying the damage. That extra move might have something to do with it.

 

Nah, this can happen pretty predictably. The enemy acting will likely just select the best attack available to them at the time. It would be much more difficult (and frankly a bit unfair) if the developers allowed the enemy groups to think as a group sharing resources rather than as individuals.

 

The dog that didn't attack, was it greyed out ? ie, used up its action ?

Its not an extra move, all attacks are displayed in the log first and then the move. Yeah, weird...but that's how Jon rolls...

 

Nope. As a matter of fact it bit me a few cards later.

 

ok...took me the better part of a day to track this down. But its highly consistent...at least as far as my testing goes. Warning: Long post !



BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Event=PlayAction,Action=Scuttle,Instigator=Barb,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Barb,Event=Move,Origin=(3, 5),StartFacing=(0, -1),Destination=(1, 4),EndFacing=(0, -1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Latch,Event=Move,Origin=(10, 4),StartFacing=(0, -1),Destination=(11, 2),EndFacing=(0, -1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Sprocket,Event=Move,Origin=(6, 1),StartFacing=(-1, 0),Destination=(8, 1),EndFacing=(1, 0)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Lock,Event=Move,Origin=(5, 11),StartFacing=(-1, 0),Destination=(3, 11),EndFacing=(-1, 0)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now phaselock
BATTLE LOG: Player=phaselock,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Event=PlayAction,Action=Scamper,Instigator=DWiz_test1,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=phaselock,Actor=DWiz_test1,Event=Move,Origin=(12, 1),StartFacing=(0, 1),Destination=(12, 4),EndFacing=(0, 1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Event=PlayAction,Action=Vicious Bite,Instigator=Barb,Targets=DP_test1
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=DP_test1 took 6 damage
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now phaselock
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=phaselock passed.
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Event=PlayAction,Action=Acid Spray,Instigator=Latch,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (10, 1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (10, 2)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (9, 1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (9, 2)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now phaselock



BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Event=PlayAction,Action=Shuffle,Instigator=Barb,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Barb,Event=Move,Origin=(2, 5),StartFacing=(0, -1),Destination=(2, 6),EndFacing=(0, 1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Latch,Event=Move,Origin=(11, 5),StartFacing=(1, 0),Destination=(10, 5),EndFacing=(-1, 0)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Sprocket,Event=Move,Origin=(7, 2),StartFacing=(-1, 0),Destination=(8, 2),EndFacing=(1, 0)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=Melvin,Actor=Lock,Event=Move,Origin=(2, 8),StartFacing=(0, -1),Destination=(2, 7),EndFacing=(0, -1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now phaselock
BATTLE LOG: Player=phaselock,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Event=PlayAction,Action=Run,Instigator=HW_test1,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Player=phaselock,Actor=HW_test1,Event=Move,Origin=(1, 7),StartFacing=(0, 1),Destination=(2, 8),EndFacing=(0, 1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Event=PlayAction,Action=Fire Spray,Instigator=Latch,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2494,Msg=The active player is now phaselock



BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Event=PlayAction,Action=Scuttle,Instigator=Latch,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Player=Melvin,Actor=Latch,Event=Move,Origin=(11, 3),StartFacing=(0, -1),Destination=(11, 1),EndFacing=(0, -1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Player=Melvin,Actor=Sprocket,Event=Move,Origin=(2, 8),StartFacing=(0, 1),Destination=(1, 10),EndFacing=(0, 1)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Player=Melvin,Actor=Barb,Event=Move,Origin=(4, 11),StartFacing=(-1, 0),Destination=(6, 11),EndFacing=(1, 0)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Player=Melvin,Actor=Lock,Event=Move,Origin=(9, 1),StartFacing=(1, 0),Destination=(11, 3),EndFacing=(1, 0)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Msg=The active player is now phaselock
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Msg=phaselock passed.
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Event=PlayAction,Action=Fire Spray,Instigator=Latch,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Chamber,Room=MELV (phaselock),RoomID=2825,Msg=The active player is now phaselock

From top down (Red arrow indicates orientation before cast.):
Case 1: Latch used Acid spray in the wrong direction. Only target within range is the dwarf wizard.
Case 2: Same game, Latch used Fire Spray in the wrong direction. Only target within range is the dwarf wizard.
Case 3: Another game, Latch used Fire Spray in the wrong direction. Only target within range is the dwarf wizard.

In all 3 games, Latch was using the orientation of the last mob in the mob group (after the move) for casting cone spells.

Case 1: The last mob after shuffle was Lock (-1,0). Latch is actually oriented in the (0,-1) direction but it thinks it is in the (-1,0) orientation. To hit the dwarf wizard, Latch would have to rotate clockwise and spray. So it rotates clockwise and instead sprays towards Sprocket.

Case 2: The last mob after shuffle was Lock (0,-1). Latch is actually oriented in the (-1,0) direction but it thinks it is in the (0,-1) orientation. To hit the dwarf wizard, Latch would have to rotate clockwise and spray. So it rotates clockwise and instead sprays towards the wall. Red dots indicate where fire spray hit.

Case 3: The last mob after shuffle was Lock (1,0). Latch is actually oriented in the (0,-1) direction but it thinks it is in the (1,0) orientation. It proceeds to cast Fire spray directly ahead and instead hits the wall.

 

Wow. Phaselock - bug investigator extraordinaire! That data must have taken a while to collect.

However, may I offer a possible alternative explanation? Latch actually thinks it's in the position of Lock when determining which orientation to fire in. I have annotated your pictures, green lines from Lock show the direction that Latch actually fired in:







In all cases Lock would have hit one of your characters.

Here is the full screenshot of what I posted earlier. The red cone shows what actually happened, the green shows what the game may have been trying to achieve.



I'm by no means eliminating what you concluded as the cause, just trying to suggest another avenue of investigation if it turns out not to be correct.

 

I thought that was what Phaselock said, but it was stated in a very complicated manner.

 

Also had this happen, no picture though

 

This happened again, but couldn't be the case that others have mentioned. This was a case where the chest monster shouldn't have used acid spray at all. Hope it's still fixed though.

 

GOODBYE OLD CONE PROBLEM, HELLO NEW CONE PROBLEM.

This was literally Gary opening move as soon as the map loaded on MP. Color me perplexed.

 

That actually looks pretty close to the first time it happened to me. I think he'd moved one of his figures though and I'd already moved towards the victory squares.

 

"On the roll of a 1 on a d20 Melvelous' hapless underlings misinterpret his orders to 'Burn them all!' and attempt to set him on fire or cover him in acid."

I might be wrong but I don't think that the cone fix that Jon mentioned above will have gone live yet, but that is a bizarre situation. It looks like Gary is getting confused between which characters are allies and which are enemies.

 

I finally get to the third Melvelous battle, and see my first cone misfire:



Immediately followed by another:



BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Event=PlayAction,Action=Acid Spray,Instigator=Latch,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Sprocket took 3 damage
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (7, 5)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (8, 5)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (7, 4)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (8, 4)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (9, 4)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=The active player is now kalin
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=kalin passed.
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Event=PlayAction,Action=Energize,Instigator=Melvelous,Targets=Latch
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=The active player is now kalin
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=kalin passed.
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=The active player is now Melvin
BATTLE LOG: Player=Melvin,Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Event=PlayAction,Action=Acid Spray,Instigator=Latch,Targets=
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Sprocket took 3 damage
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (7, 5)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (8, 5)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (7, 4)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (8, 4)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=Attaching Acid Spray to (9, 4)
BATTLE LOG: Scenario=Melvelous Sanctum,Room=MELV (kalin),RoomID=144175,Msg=The active player is now kalin

And then I tried to move...



One of those arrows is not like the others...