(A21-A20-A19) Oak's Pet Animals and Guards

[mr.devolver]

@arramus thank you for looking into it. In the meantime I came to a conclusion this is probably the case with every human guard, but animal guards (tried dogs so far) seem to work well, although they do not seem to attack first, they wait for zombies to hit them and only then they attack back, but at least they fight back. Human guards on the other hand just stand there doing nothing. Could it be a mod conflict? Because I do have other mods installed. If it's a mod conflict, I doubt the problematic mod is something as simple as decorations or weapon mods, but it could be conflicting with SCore and NPC mod that I also have installed. I haven't tried to remove them yet, but I honestly can't think of anything else that would cause this. Do you also have those two mods installed?

 

[Guest]

@arramus thank you for looking into it. In the meantime I came to a conclusion this is probably the case with every human guard, but animal guards (tried dogs so far) seem to work well, although they do not seem to attack first, they wait for zombies to hit them and only then they attack back, but at least they fight back. Human guards on the other hand just stand there doing nothing. Could it be a mod conflict? Because I do have other mods installed. If it's a mod conflict, I doubt the problematic mod is something as simple as decorations or weapon mods, but it could be conflicting with SCore and NPC mod that I also have installed. I haven't tried to remove them yet, but I honestly can't think of anything else that would cause this. Do you also have those two mods installed?

I'm glad you mentioned the animal guards because that offered a big hint that something seems to be putting them into a passive state where they need to be attacked first.

The animal guards are usually verrrrrrry aggressive and will disappear before you can even acknowledge a zombie is coming towards your base.

In this image, the dog is chasing a Coyote and it is so far out of range that it will not show up well in this image. They are just to the right of a boulder (left of the small Oak tree in the middle)



In this image, a few dogs are set down.



Some soldier are released about 40 blocks out.



I took a shot at them to attract their attention and at about 20 blocks out the dogs started to go wild. They have a sight range of 30 but on a dedicated server begin to activate from about 20-25 as the processes activate.



I have only tested Oaks Pets and Guards with enZombies and Snufkins. The Snukins server is purely server side mod. The enZombies server is using some C# mods and custom content. It is using 42 Mods and was more until the server admin combined a few to reduce the load. None appear to impact on NPC behaviour or conflict with the Oaks Pets from what I can see so far.

 

[Guest]

Just to double check the combination of 42 mods, including some C# mods on the server I am currently playing in which uses Oaks, is not causing any major issues for the Guards.

There is a Snufkin Hisser snake just below which is built in as an Add On for the enZombies, and the Turret Bandit Guard is keeping is subdued with a regular volley of shots. I went down to finish it off soon after.

 

[Fluffams]

Hey quick question, I know in the description and such that it says that EXP gain is turned off for the guards and such but is there a way to turn it on? Even if it's at a 50% value I'd like to get some kinda credit from the guards. I looked around the XML (mind you im not very savy in it) and saw the line for EXP gain but that it was turned off. 

 

[Guest]

Hey quick question, I know in the description and such that it says that EXP gain is turned off for the guards and such but is there a way to turn it on? Even if it's at a 50% value I'd like to get some kinda credit from the guards. I looked around the XML (mind you im not very savy in it) and saw the line for EXP gain but that it was turned off. 

The guards are made around an entity just like the zombies rather than the turrets. As such they are not connected to the player for rewarding Exp. The Exp was turned off so that players would have no incentive to shoot them and gain Exp that way as it could cause a lot of server grief. To be rewarded XP for the Guard kills would require integrating them into a system like the Automated Turrets. Sorry about that.

 

[Fluffams]

The guards are made around an entity just like the zombies rather than the turrets. As such they are not connected to the player for rewarding Exp. The Exp was turned off so that players would have no incentive to shoot them and gain Exp that way as it could cause a lot of server grief. To be rewarded XP for the Guard kills would require integrating them into a system like the Automated Turrets. Sorry about that.

All good brother! That makes a lot of sense, when doing some digging and such I figured that was the case but might have missed something and figured id ask the big bois lol. It's a great mod still really diggin all the animal functions and such, and thanks for the fast reply to. Cheers!

 

[mr.devolver]

@arramus , you wrote a lot of stuff, but didn't answer my original question about 0-SCore and NPC mod. In the meantime I figured there really is a conflict between your guards and these mods. Removing 0-SCore and NPC mods made your guards (both humans and animals work as intended). Please do be aware that this is not meant to be critique of any sort, I'm just pointing out that there indeed is this incompatibility just as I expected. What's going to happen from this point is up to you. I do like your mod, but if I must choose between your human guards and 0-SCore + NPC, I will have to choose the latter. I do believe it should be possible to make these mods compatible, it's probably a matter of switching your guards to more advanced AI provided by 0-SCore which is also used in the said NPC mod and perhaps it could be done as an add-on for those users wishing to use the aforementioned mods, but ultimately whether to make it compatible or not is up to you as the author of the mod. Either way, thanks for the impressive mod.

 

[magejosh]

Sorry i solved this conflict with NPCmod last night and forgot to share. 

Anyone using both needs to open the utilityai.xml and change the line 3 i believe it is which i have commented out here to the uncommented version. The name had a one character change which causes this mod to fail to load this utilityai.xml file.

	<!-- mjedit to harmonize with NPCmod -->
	<!-- <insertBefore xpath="/utility_ai/ai_packages/ai_package[@name='Zombie_Dumb']" > -->
	<insertBefore xpath="/utility_ai/ai_packages/ai_package[@name='Zombie Dumb']" >

 

[mr.devolver]

Sorry i solved this conflict with NPCmod last night and forgot to share. 

Anyone using both needs to open the utilityai.xml and change the line 3 i believe it is which i have commented out here to the uncommented version. The name had a one character change which causes this mod to fail to load this utilityai.xml file.

<!-- mjedit to harmonize with NPCmod -->
<!-- <insertBefore xpath="/utility_ai/ai_packages/ai_package[@name='Zombie_Dumb']" > -->
<insertBefore xpath="/utility_ai/ai_packages/ai_package[@name='Zombie Dumb']" >

Thank you again!

 

[Guest]

Sorry i solved this conflict with NPCmod last night and forgot to share. 

Anyone using both needs to open the utilityai.xml and change the line 3 i believe it is which i have commented out here to the uncommented version. The name had a one character change which causes this mod to fail to load this utilityai.xml file.

<!-- mjedit to harmonize with NPCmod -->
<!-- <insertBefore xpath="/utility_ai/ai_packages/ai_package[@name='Zombie_Dumb']" > -->
<insertBefore xpath="/utility_ai/ai_packages/ai_package[@name='Zombie Dumb']" >

A tweak with the 0-XNPCCore settings and potentially Darkstardragon's SoldierPack or farm yard animals will now be able to play together with Oak's for players who prefer to expand beyond. Oak's Pets and Guards will remain a server side only mod, and just as with any overhaul, integration to the receiving mod to accept an additional modlet is a good first point of call. Thank you for taking the time to tinker with that magejosh in the way you always do so well. Players can always further integrate back into Oak's for the updated Core Entity Class at their leisure.

 

[mr.devolver]

A tweak with the 0-XNPCCore settings and potentially Darkstardragon's SoldierPack or farm yard animals will now be able to play together with Oak's for players who prefer to expand beyond. Oak's Pets and Guards will remain a server side only mod, and just as with any overhaul, integration to the receiving mod to accept an additional modlet is a good first point of call. Thank you for taking the time to tinker with that magejosh in the way you always do so well. Players can always further integrate back into Oak's for the updated Core Entity Class at their leisure.

I'm really glad I don't have to uninstall your mod, I started to like it a lot. ❤

 

[Guest]

I'm really glad I don't have to uninstall your mod, I started to like it a lot. ❤

That's kind of you to say, @oakraven will appreciate that a lot.

 

[celeste5683]

hi i had a quick question im downloaded this mod server side but was js curious on how to get it started lol but i diddd start it in a game save that was already up do i need a new game save in order for it to work properly? the save is under alpha 20

 

[Guest]

hi i had a quick question im downloaded this mod server side but was js curious on how to get it started lol but i diddd start it in a game save that was already up do i need a new game save in order for it to work properly? the save is under alpha 20

There is always a risk that a mod added to an existing World, that is already running other mods, can replace an item from one or more of those other mods. For example, a custom weapon from a mod can change into a decorative stove. As such it is recommended to start a new World.

However, it is not always practical to do that if players have put in a lot of time and effort to build their level and base. To minimise the risk, if you do decide to add this mod, it is good practice to ask all players to empty their player inventories into a storage box before the server is restarted with the new mod. If they see something is strange with their items, the Admin can always replace it. If there is a strange item that can't be removed from the storage box, then all the other items can be removed and the box can be destroyed.

A20 did introduce a new system for loot containers where they can fall back on a name rather than an ID number so the Chicken Coop, Rabbit Trap, and Mushroom Planter shouldn't cause any issues for compatibility. It's just that a modded molotov cocktail may turn into rabbit feed.

One more way to minimise risk is making sure this mod loads last. If you rename the folder to ZOaks_Pets_and_Guards with a Z at the front, it will load last since they load in alphabetical order and hopefully be assigned ID numbers that come after those already existing.

And should it all work out well for you, if you do choose to install it, you can do the same for any other mods you choose to add thereafter such as Z for the first. ZZ for the second, and so on. A Server Admin (Dre) experimented with this in the past very successfully. ll the best with your choice. ^^

 

[celeste5683]

There is always a risk that a mod added to an existing World, that is already running other mods, can replace an item from one or more of those other mods. For example, a custom weapon from a mod can change into a decorative stove. As such it is recommended to start a new World.

However, it is not always practical to do that if players have put in a lot of time and effort to build their level and base. To minimise the risk, if you do decide to add this mod, it is good practice to ask all players to empty their player inventories into a storage box before the server is restarted with the new mod. If they see something is strange with their items, the Admin can always replace it. If there is a strange item that can't be removed from the storage box, then all the other items can be removed and the box can be destroyed.

A20 did introduce a new system for loot containers where they can fall back on a name rather than an ID number so the Chicken Coop, Rabbit Trap, and Mushroom Planter shouldn't cause any issues for compatibility. It's just that a modded molotov cocktail may turn into rabbit feed.

One more way to minimise risk is making sure this mod loads last. If you rename the folder to ZOaks_Pets_and_Guards with a Z at the front, it will load last since they load in alphabetical order and hopefully be assigned ID numbers that come after those already existing.

And should it all work out well for you, if you do choose to install it, you can do the same for any other mods you choose to add thereafter such as Z for the first. ZZ for the second, and so on. A Server Admin (Dre) experimented with this in the past very successfully. ll the best with your choice. ^^

okay thank u sooo much!!

 

[Easyaeta]

Hey I'm having a bit of an issue, I placed a pet Doe and now it keeps multiplying

 

[Guest]

Hey I'm having a bit of an issue, I placed a pet Doe and now it keeps multiplying

Lucky you!!!

But seriously, this can sometimes happen when a pet is placed on an uneven surface. The block goes under the surface a little or fully and isn't able to destroy itself. If you can dig one block where the pet Doe is spawning then it should allow it to delete itself and stop the spawning.

 

[Ganeshakw]

Hey man, great work there and I have enjoyed your mod. The only thing is, unlimited ammo for the guards is not a good idea and it is unrealistic and provides unnecessary comfort for the player. You should let the player provide ammo or think of some other way of adding or refilling. I think you get what I am saying. 

 

[Guest]

Hey man, great work there and I have enjoyed your mod. The only thing is, unlimited ammo for the guards is not a good idea and it is unrealistic and provides unnecessary comfort for the player. You should let the player provide ammo or think of some other way of adding or refilling. I think you get what I am saying. 

Yes, this is a very valid point. Actually, it is also the very first time it has been shared in this thread from what I recall.

When considering the best way to add the Turret Guards, there were a few things to consider:
- Keeping it server side only so that players didn't also have to download the mod by themselves.
- Using an entity class which allowed the Turret Guards to maintain their human identity and behavior.
- Balancing the benefit of having Turret Guards so that the unlimited ammo came with a trade off.

Adding code to keep the guards in their human state, but also allow them to receive ammo from a player, and possibly by association also needing to have their weapons repaired with use, is complex and demanding and doesn't appear to be within the realms of what can be done by xml coding alone. To do it effectively with third party code would remove the EAC option since many features were no longer following default values. This was not something Server Admin really wanted.

The balance this mod has now is:
- The Turret Guards cannot be healed.
- The Turret Guards shoot in limited individual bursts with a time delay between each shot.
- The player receives 0 XP for their kills. This is actually quite a big trade off.

The more Turret Guards or Animal Guards a player has the less chance to get that ultimate hit to receive final kill XP. That can seriously limit advancement, especially during a Horde Night. And even more so where players are in a Party and XP is reduced as the Party numbers increase.

I get what you're saying and for some players it is exactly what they want. Especially if the above balance points still do not equalise with the benefit.
One thing we can do to further reduce their benefit, is reduce the rate of fire even more. If this is something that you consider can be an alternative compromise for your own set-up, I can share instructions on how to do that.

 

[RoronoaDroagon]

First of:
Love the mod, it's really nice and have been using it a lot and great work.
That being said......
I stumbled over a small thing or issue or what ever to call it...
After either killing the guys the game seams to keep thinking that they'r still there when they'r not, i'm not able to build or place anything els in that 1x2 area the AI's took up.
I do not no why this is happening and still after a server stop and start and with several relogs it's still happening.
I tested it in SP and it's happening there too.