Smoke Out – Timo Honig

About
Smoke out is a first person shooter which focusses on defeating AI enemies which take on the roles of a drugs cartel. As a police officer you must defeat all the cartel members and secure the objectives to win.

Project Info
Group Size: 3
Project Length: 4 Weeks
Project Date: February 2024
Engine & Tools: Unity, Visual Studio Code & Trello

Finite State Machines
In this project, I took charge of designing and implementing the enemy AI and behavior, a task that allowed me to get a better understanding of game AI. One of the key components I developed was a finite state machine (FSM) to manage the behavior of cartel members within the game.

Rather than settling for conventional enemy AI that simply advances towards the player or wanders aimlessly, I sought to create a more dynamic and engaging experience. My solution involved crafting a system where AI characters prioritize seeking cover before strategically peeking around corners to take shots at the player.

Here you can see the enemies getting a cover position and entering the “taking cover” state.

Partial AI Movement Code

private void LookForCoverState(AState pState, float pDeltaTime)
{
    CheckForDisengage();
    if (!_coverIsFound)
    {
        _newCover = AISeekCover.Instance.GetCover(Target.transform.position);
        _coverIsFound = true;
    }

    if (_newCover == null)
    {
        _stateMachine.Goto(EStates.Wander);
        return;
    }

    // Set the location for the AI and move towards it
    _animator.SetBool("IsWalking", true);
    Vector3 locationToGo = _newCover.transform.position;
    _agent.SetDestination(locationToGo);
    ApplyRotation();

    float distance = Vector3.Distance(transform.position, locationToGo);

    // If target arrived at cover
    if (distance <= 2)
    {
        _animator.SetBool("IsWalking", false);
        _stateMachine.Goto(EStates.LookForEnemy);
        return;
    }
}

Here you can see the enemies when they reach a cover position. They decide to shoot at the target, and take cover after firing for a while.

Partial AI Shooting Code

    private void ShootState(AState pState, float pDeltaTime)
    {
        CheckForDisengage();

        RotateTowardsTarget();

        _animator.SetBool("TakingCover", false);
        _animator.SetBool("AbleToShoot", true);

        _gun.CanShoot = true;

        if (_targetToShoot == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        _gun.SetTarget(_targetToShoot.transform);

        // Checks if this state is active for _MinTimer amount of time
        if (pState.Lifetime < _MinTimer)
        {
            return;
        }
        else if (pState.Lifetime > _MinTimer)
        {
            _stateMachine.Goto(EStates.TakeCover);
        }
    }

By implementing this FSM-based AI, I worked on my ability to make enemy AI and worked with this type of system for the first time. This project served as a stepping stone for my knowledge about AI and i have a greater knowledge about how Finite State Machines work.