Is this an efficent way to activate ai?

ID:1930562
 
Sep 4 2015, 4:08 pm
(See the best response by Ter13.)
Code:
mob/verb/attack()
    

mob/proc

    Lvlup()

    Asign_Stats()

    Get_Damage(magic=0)


//AI
    AI_Mode()


    AI_Loop()
        var/check=0//counter and checks every 10 ticks
        spawn()
            while(src)
                if(!AI_Active)
                    //this mob is no longer active will return to default state
                    loc=locate(start_x, start_y, start_z)
                    step_x=start_sx; step_y=start_sy
                    dir=start_dir
                    break
                AI_CALL()
                check++
                if(check>=10)
                    check=0
                    if(!AI_Check()) {AI_Active=0}
                sleep(3)


    AI_Check()
        var/found_player=0
        for(var/mob/Player/P in view()) {found_player=1;break}
        return found_player

    AI_Activate()
        if(!client) {return}
        var/list/non_active_ais=Unactive_AI_list()
        for(var/mob/M in non_active_ais)
            M.AI_Active=1; M.AI_Loop()


    Unactive_AI_list()
        if(!client) {return}
        var/list/L=list()
        for(var/mob/NPC/N in view()) {if(!N.AI_Active) L+=N}
        return L

mob
    var
        AI_Active;  IS_AI=0;  AI_STATUS
        start_x; start_y; start_z; start_dir
        start_sx; start_sy
    New()
        ..()
        start_x=x ; start_y=y ; start_z=z; start_dir=dir
        start_sx=step_x ; start_sy=step_y

    Player
        Move()
            ..()
            AI_Activate()//check everytime a player moves



    proc
        AI_CALL()
            walk(src,0)
            switch(AI_STATUS)
                if("Wander") walk_rand(src,rand(1,10),0)
                if("Wander2")
                    if(prob(30)) {sleep(rand(20,50))}//pause n wait
                    walk_rand(src,rand(4,7),0)


Problem description:
I'm starting a new ai system and i'm looking for tips. i'm not sure this would be an efficent way to start. Basically my monsters/creatures move around the map and have different ai settings and i don't want them doing anything if theres not a player arround to witness these events, what would be an acceptable way to activate the ai's?

Sep 4 2015, 4:13 pm
Checking the view of the mob every 3 ticks for players is definitely not the best way to go about it, but it's one way to go about it.
Sep 4 2015, 4:16 pm
It would be every 30 ticks but i couldnt figure out any other way to go about it. Would i run into alot of issues down the road if i used a system like this?
Sep 4 2015, 5:03 pm
Best response
It's probably good enough for the time being. If your project gets bigger in the future, though, you'll really need to revisit this approach.

You could actually clean up the current approach quite a bit with a slight modification:

var
    list/layer_players

mob
    Move(NewLoc,Dir=0,Step_x,Step_y)
        var/oldz = z
        . = ..()
        if(client&&oldz!=z)
            if(oldz)
               --layer_players[oldz]
            if(z)
                ++layer_players[z]
    Login()
        if(!layer_players)
            layer_players = list()
            var/len = world.maxz
            for(var/count in 1 to len)
                layer_players += 0
        if(z)
            ++layer_players[z]
        . = ..()

    Logout()
        if(z)
           --layer_players[z]


Now you can check how many players are on the monster's z-layer, which is a lot faster than checking every z-layer for every monster all the time. It'll save you a ton of cycles to check if there are any mobs on the z-layer first before checking for players in view of the monster.

Though, IMO a map chunking algorithm would be the most ideal approach for later.

I wouldn't waste the time, though thinking about the future. Just patch it up enough to work and keep moving forward.
Sep 4 2015, 5:24 pm
Thanks for the help Ter13.
Sep 4 2015, 9:14 pm (Edited on Sep 4 2015, 9:19 pm)
In short, don't check every second. Check every time a change is made (such as movement).

Isn't this essentially one of the most efficient ways too (considering there's actually more NPCs than players)? While it can also be even MORE efficient by having safezones (areas where you know there aren't going to be any NPCs that need to move) and in that area you stop your check for activating NPCs.

Edit:

To make this a bit more clearer, if there's no players around to enjoy an NPC then it shouldn't be doing things. You can achieve this doing these two simple things --

Give the NPC a procedure that checks for a mob/player in range called.. idk... Verification()?

Edit the player's Move procedure so that every time they step (after a few seconds, or literally every time if you want to go that route), check for an NPC that is nearby. If they find an NPC, run Verification() on the NPC. If verification determines that there is an player nearby, let the NPC dowork(). If there no player nearby, stop the NPC from running Verification() and stop its work.
Sep 5 2015, 2:24 pm
In response to Xirre
While checking every movement is one way, I'd personally use 'regions' wherein the AI hibernate until a client enters their region, and go back to sleep when the last client leaves.