Artificial Intelligence, one of Deus Ex’s greatest weaknesses. GMDX boasts heavily improved AI with the intent of making NPCs behave more believably, fix glaring flaws, provide a challenge that scales appropriately as the player progresses through the game, as well as overall AI performance scaling based on the player’s chosen difficulty level
This page won’t get into the full details of the great lengths that have been gone to to provide next level AI, but it will cover the more exciting or notable of details.
An NPC lays down heavy suppressive fire with the Plasma Rifle
Combat
- Humans and some types of bots now utilise a suppressive fire system, wherein they fire upon your last known position.
- Humans sometimes strafe around corners, improving combat efficiency considerably and making how they handle corners more believable.
- If the player/enemy is hiding behind breakable objects AI will attempt to shoot through the vast majority.
- Human NPCs now throw grenades competently, and do so more frequently.
- Most NPCs have new or upgraded attacks, such as Greasels jumping and lunging at you aggressively, or MJ12 commandos knocking you back with a smack when in close proximity.
- NPCs avoid dangerous hazards more effectively, such as tear gas.
- NPC cloaking behaviour has been expanded upon considerably, and some late game NPCs use thermoptic camo.
- NPC helmets deflect bullets. Helmets can be knocked off of heads or penetrated with high damage weaponry.
- If in close proximity NPCs do not always immediately close in on your position upon losing line of sight.
- Most human NPCs will perform a gun bash melee attack if the player is in close proximity.
- NPCs no longer block bullets/projectiles/other NPCs/the player beyond half way through their dying animation.
- Improved various behaviour relating to NPCs that camp/defend a particular area, and more NPCs do this.
- If an NPC is dying or playing a pain animation their melee attack is interrupted and will not connect.
- If the player is moving AI have a harder time shooting on target.
- NPCs no longer forget about you if they lose line of sight after a mere five seconds.
- NPCs can open fire at a realistic range.
- If the NPC is running to a destination and the player pokes his head out, the NPC will often attack rather than getting to his destination (which can be rather far) THEN attacking.
- In combat NPCs in the process of opening a door are ready to attack immediately.
- Hostile AI attempting to move to a location will immediately stop and attack if they bump into the player, rather than attempting to move around him to get to that location.
- Armored NPCs require a continual stream of fire damage to be set on fire.
- Robots ram down doors blocking their path.
- Heavy robots destroy decorative objects blocking their path.
- AI with assault rifles are highly innaccurate while dying mid-burst fire.
- If an NPC runs into glass in combat they will stop and shoot it rather than steamrolling right through it.
- Sniper NPCs require some time to steady their aim, scaling based on difficulty.
- Military bots that have spotted the player take faster strides/move faster, returning to normal when no longer in combat (Hardcore mode only).
- If you’re hiding behind an explosive object the NPC will shoot it, if it’s reasonably far away.
- NPCs will still be able to shoot you if you’re in view but standing behind a invincible or high dam threshold object.
- Improved Gunther, Anna & Simons bossfights, and plenty more fine tuning.
Reminder: these are merely examples. Heaps of work has gone into perfecting the game’s AI
Stealth
- New post-combat seeking state expansion wherin NPCs search the area more effectively after the player has eluded them. They check hide points, open nearby doors and look inside, sometimes light up the area with flares, perhaps raise a nearby alarm, and more.
- NPCs sometimes seek out the location they spotted the player (if they didn’t confirm you to be a threat prior).
- NPCs sometimes throw flares if they suspect the player is hiding in darkness.
- NPCs react to unconscious NPCs as well as dead, and will sound alarm if one is nearby. Hide those corpses!
- NPCs react to sound disturbances more realistically and are no longer open to exploitation when seeking the source of a sound.
- NPCs may toss gas grenades into vents, if you’re hiding in it and they’re aware of your location.
- NPCs scripted to fight with other NPCs will not be aware of your location (psychic powers) unless they actually see you.
- NPCs now react to the player striking walls with melee weapons and come and investigate.
- Animals can now be knocked unconscious.
- Stealth takedowns/sneak attacks are a LOT more consistent now: the back of the head counts as a sneak attack, the range in which the attack registers is more reasonable, and more.
- NPCs feature variable senses, reactions and more based on difficulty level.
- NPCs continue to seek after they open doors (AI *always* gave up searching after opening doors in the original game).
- Greatly diversified how an NPC behaves when seeking the source of a sound disturbance.
- You no longer turn invisible when hacking computers, and thus can be spotted (can be toggled on/off via option).
- If the NPC has the ability to cloak and catches sight of the player, they may turn on cloak before seeking the location.
- NPCs now react to flares more elaborately.
- Human NPCs notice when a camera has tagged the player and search in the direction it is looking in. (hardcore mode only).
- NPCs cannot see you picking locks/multitooling if you are cloaked.
- Fixed NPC seeking reactions when the player is holding a corpse.
Stealth Alarm Dynamics
- If an NPC spots an allied corpse they attempt to raise the alarm, If an alarm panel is nearby.
- If an alarm is sounded, reinforcements are called in (high security areas only).
- Some NPCs go straight for the alarm if they spot the player, or do so if hunting the player after he has escaped.
- AI will now investigate the source of alarms emitting from alarm units (Previously they’d only investigate alarms from laser triggers and cameras).
- NPCs become slightly more perceptive once an alarm is sounded.
- Alarm panels can be sabotaged using multitools which shocks the NPC attempting to activate it (perk required).
Pathfinding Improvements
- NPCs navigate the environment more efficiently (e.g less running into walls and less taking of sub-optimal paths).
- NPCs can shift objects blocking their path.
- NPCs no longer break open footlockers by running into them.
- NPCs no longer consider small objects on the floor something to be navigated around.
Difficulty Levels
GMDX AI behaviour scales based on difficulty level. In higher difficulty levels AI feature moderately realistic senses and behaviour. In lower difficulties they are more akin to the aged (much like in the vanilla game): slow reaction times, poor vision etc.
In the original game difficulty level only influenced bullet damage. In GMDX a wide variety of behaviour is affected, including stealth. Bear this in mind when selecting difficulty level.
Miscellaneous Improvements
- Fixed headshot collision issues where there sides of the head was treated as the torso.
- AI will sometimes draw and point their gun during visual reactions.
- Unconscious NPCs now have their name displayed when highlighted, just as dead ones do.
- NPC’s do not trigger their own laser alarms when passing through.
- NPCs that are blown up spill their inventories to the floor.
- Shooting robots with high-damaging or armor-piercing weaponry tears their armor off.
- if the player is blocking the path of an alarm unit an NPC is attempting to get to and press, the NPC will instead attack, if equipped with a weapon.
- Shotgun wielding enemies are now acceptable threats, and also have a tracer effect when firing.
- Hologram NPCs no longer run away from projectiles.
- NPCs that get angry and then revert to friendly again over time remain angry for an additional 20 seconds.
- Greater variation in the facial looks of ~50 NPCs.
- Friendly AI are more reactive to crimes, such as breaking and entering and hacking.
- Robots are more competent and feature various new behaviour.
- Lower chances of an enemy running off scared when damaged, and AI are more likely to cower in fear instead of running off.
- Pain sounds clamp increased to 0.35 from 0.25.
- If holding a corpse or TNT crate friendly NPCs may get frightened or attack.
- Map issues relating to AI fixed.
- Improved flinching behaviour.
- More AI react to stealing, and some turn hostile if they witness theft, unless you are cloaked/out of sight (can be turned off).
- Improvements relating to NPCs that are set on fire.
- NPC’s that are blown up no longer scream in pain.
- More varied pain & death sound effects.
- Various other improved audio design.
- Faster Yaw Rotation Speed (makes pawns turning on the spot more convincing).
- Improved various special effects relating to AI, such as gore and shooting effects.
- Much unnoted fine tuning.
AI Changes Unique To a Class
Doberman behave more like real world dogs in numerous ways, Greasels jump and lunge at the player aggressively, MJ12 commandos feature a new melee attack, spiderbots can sometimes be found on the ceiling, every class has major and minor new additions and refinements.
New AI Types
All new AI types are only encountered late in the game and exist as a means to counter Deus Ex’s considerably
declining difficulty curve, and continue to engage the player in the latter third of the game. Details about these
new foes will be kept sparse as to not spoil the surprise. One type of newly encountered NPC type are Elite MJ12 squads which use thermoptic camoflage, among other new tactics.