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I tried the latest version, but I can't get past the Return to Home quest. I go back home and even read the diary, but it never shows that the quest is completed and I never get any more things to do. Maybe that's all that's there right now? In any case, the game is looking better and I can see a lot of promise. I can't wait to be able to do all the things the world has to offer.

I just realized you had a new version. I am downloading now and can't wait to try. It looks like a lot of improvements.

This game immediately gave me a very eerie vibe and I was hesitant to move about the area for fear of monsters popping up from everywhere. However, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or where to go except to follow the path around the village. I realize this was a last minute entry for an uncompleted game, but even just a short message at the start to tell me what to do or some guidance in the documentation to let me know what I could do would have helped.

I thought there was very nice use of the spawning system to drop loot when monsters were killed and to play battle music when in combat. The mix of ranged and melee combat was well done.

AI Issues I found:

• Some AI spawning on top of structures
• AI do not fade in/out on spawn/despawn. This could be a build issue and there is guidance for solving this.

Gameplay Issues

• No information on what player is doing or why they are there.
• No quests or goals.
• No end game

Overall it was a good start to what could be a very nice game if you see this to completion. Note that the low scoring is simply a consequence of this being an incomplete entry. Please, don't take them to heart. I believe this has potential and you should finish it.

General Quests immediately gave me the sense of a living, breathing world with NPCs going about their daily tasks. I found the overall impression of AI capabilities to be well thought out and well executed even despite the occasional alpha bug that is not the game developer's fault. 

AI issues that I found, which I believe could have mostly been fixed or eliminated are as follows:

• Some guards spawned on top of canopy and another on top of large structure
• Bear Boss seemed to be using run animation, but was barely at walk velocity
• Deer also seemed to not be moving at correct velocity for animations
• Some AI appeared or disappeared as I approached them
• Wolf and Wolf Boss death animations were just them sitting down.

One suggestion for improved AI would be to have plants spawn in the field where the people are planting seeds after some time has passed.

I found other issues with the game, but most of these did not affect scoring:

• Music was a bit loud and repetitive. It would have been nice to turn the volume down
• Ancient Relic Quest and Collect herbs Quest did not show marker on radar
• Amphitheater quest didn't show where to go
• Health did not regenerate. I tried resting in bed at house, but even that didn't help.
• Missing person quest has voice that doesn't match quest. He says search in the south when it's supposed to be the west.
• Some stepped areas you cannot walk up, but have to jump in increments

Other suggestions for improving the game as you go forward:

• The debug canvas should have been modified to just show time, date, and season. It currently takes up a lot of space and the player doesn't need to know how many spawns there are.
• You could use the facing methods of the AI to have quest Ai face the player before speaking.
• The Mystical Creature quest was not very clear. Since it can continue forever, there should at least be some indication of which monsters are mystical creatures either in their name or a message when they are killed
• The landscape was rather barren and could use some grass and trees to flesh it out.

Overall a very nice gaming experience with a lot of content for a game jam contest.

Congratulations on getting your game submitted. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished game someday.

Congratulations on completing your entry. I know how difficult it is to stick to a project and see it to completion.

SoulLink AI 0.9.14a Alpha package is now available for testing

• Implemented Stop method in base Task class 
• Added Pause Wandering flag in tasks 
• Refactored systems for saving and restoring wandering state 
• Fixed issue with orientation not completing match position 

Note: You may install on top of previous version, but always backup your prefabs and databases to be safe. 

Be aware that all tasks now default to Pause Wandering when they execute, which means it will automatically pause wandering when that task executes and restore wandering when the task is complete. If this is not the desired behavior for any of your tasks, make sure to uncheck this flag on those tasks.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.13a version is available for testing.

• Added automatic usage of nav mesh obstacle on stationary AI
• No longer creating a Mixed Attacks attack set if there is only one ability group
• Fixed issue with missed ability usage causing AI to never attack again
• Fixed issue with abilities that can't be interrupted, but were having hit animations applied
• Fixed issue where AI was equipping default weapon set on StartCombat
• Fixed debug log message that seemed to indicate combat was starting every time AI moved closer to target
• Fixed hit animation causing AI to get stuck
• Added TaskDelay task as an alternative to using Delay Next Task field
• Refactored wandering system so it runs independent of the task scheduler.
• Added runtime information on TaskScheduler component to help with troubleshooting
• Fixed orientation of Location marker

NOTE: You may install on top of previous version, but please backup your prefabs and databases to be safe. Please see the upgrade notes document in the testing channel on discord for important upgrade information.

The contest has been extended to July 14th. Happy coding!

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.12a is now available for testing

• Added error debug to log if the named firespot for a projectile is not found 
• Fixed TimedDespawn, which would despawn immediately after spawning due to invoke not being cancelled after pool object re-use 
• Fixed TaskDestination orient at destination 
• Updated TaskDestination to match target position when using orient at destination 
• Added Delay Next Task, Start State Name, and End State Name properties to the custom TaskDestination editor 
• Updated SoulLinkAIUnit MoveTo method to utilize the Movement Animation Clip when orienting to destination position 

NOTE: You can install on top of previous versions, but as always please backup your prefabs and databases.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.11a is now available for testing

• Fixed issue with infinite loop in TaskFlee 
• Fixed issue where aiming does not end when AI plays hit animation 
• Fixed issue where invalid weaponset was being accessed. 
• Fixed issue with TaskAction running when AI is in combat. 
• Fixed issue with PlayableGraph errors 

NOTE: You may install on top of previous versions, but always back up your prefabs and databases to be safe.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.10a package is now available for testing

• Added code to auto create a Mixed Attacks attack set as the default attack set 
• Fixed issue with projectiles colliding with the AI shooting them. 
• If auto equip on switch is true then ignoring equip/unequip durations 
• Updated AI setup wizard to set locomotion walk and run speeds different if not using root motion 
• Fixed issue with Spawnable trying to despawn with null time of day spawned value 
• Changed default projectile speed to 200 for better initial results 

NOTE: You can install over previous version, but always backup your prefabs and databases in case of issues.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.9a package is now available for testing

• Fixed build issue with Utility script update 
• Moved num idle, num death, and num hit animations back to a serializable field that will be set at time of AI creation 
• Fixed issue with ability attributes affected not being set up correctly from animator template 

Note: You can install over top of older version, but always backup your custom prefabs and databases. 

Special Note: This fixes the issue with build not working, but as a consequence, any AI prefabs you have already created, you must go into the SoulLinkAIUnit component and set the num hit animations and num death animations. Future built Ai will set this automatically so this is only for already existing prefabs.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.8a is now available for testing:  

• Removed manual entry of number of idle or hit animations. 
• Added code to automatically determine number of idle, hit, or death animations. 

NOTE: You may install on top of previous release, but please observe previous precautions to protect your personal data and prefabs.

SoulLink AI 0.9.7a Alpha is available for testing

• Fixed null reference exception when no rootbone assigned in Locomotion Aim Data 
• Added check when firing projectile to make sure it has Projectile component 
• Fixed issue with Ai not switching weapon sets properly (e.g. sword to bow and back) 

NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe. Be careful not to overwrite the SoulLink Settings object as that contains the reference to which database you are using and it will revert back to demo database:

Due to technical issues with  the current state of SoulLink AI alpha and to give me more time to add videos and documentation, I am extending the contest deadline until the end of June. This means the full contest length will have been 2 months. I hope this helps everyone. I will not be extending the deadline again unless under the most extreme circumstances.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.6a package is available for testing

• Fixed issue with OnInteractComplete event handler not executing when interact is complete on MultiStateObject 
• Fixed issue with schedule starting twice when AI first starts 
• Added support for Orient At Destination in TaskDestination if the destination is a transform 

NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe.

Now would be the time to evaluate your progress and consider whether or not you need to change the scope of the game to finish it in time. Technically, you should have a fully playable prototype by this date and should only be polishing and playtesting. If you're not at that stage then you should consider reducing the game's scope. If you're not at playable prototype today then try to get there by June 3rd at the latest. That will give you time to playtest, fix bugs, and polish things. 

Also, if you haven't tried to build a stand-alone executable yet, you should do that right away. Some assets have issues when building stand-alone and you may not be able to make one that works without fixes.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.5a package is available for testing

• Added Follow method to SoulLinkAIUnit and added MakeFollower test script. 
• Fixed issue with AnimationSequenceMixer throwing error when using TaskAction 
• Fixed issue with SwitchSchedule not resetting task lists before performing first task on new schedule. 
• Fixed issue with animator template not assigning correct threshold values for multiple animations in an ability group 

NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe.

Spawner can be used to spawn resources that a player could gather. These could be quest related.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.4a package is available for testing:

• Fixed Flee method so that a Stationary AI cannot flee.
• Fixed TaskDestination null reference exception when MakeWanderHomePosition on named location
• Fixed issue with disposable task list being pushed onto stack and executing when not valid

NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe.

SoulLink AI 0.9.3a Alpha package is available for testing: 

• Fixed issue with TaskAction not completing properly 
• Fixed issue with AI movement jitter when fleeing 
• Fixed issue with Flee not activating when AI is Interacting 
• Fixed issue with Flee failing to find valid position to move to 
• Fixed wandering randomness 
• Fixed TaskAction so it will not perform when the AI is fleeing 
• Added Set New Home Position On Flee property to SoulLinkAIUnit 

 NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe. 

SoulLink Alpha 0.9.2a package is available for testing:

• Fixed Spwner spawn positioning within areas.
• Fixed issue with AI not Fleeing when attacked while playing an animation sequence
• Fixed null reference exception for TaskAction

NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.1a package is available for testing:

• Fixed issue with AI not fleeing when taking sufficient damage.
• Added Stay Near Home feature in combat system
• Added FightOrFlee On Enemy Detected Action

NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe.

SoulLink AI Alpha 0.9.0a package is now available for testing:

• Added blocking features to BaseSoulLinkPlayer and implemented for SLOpsivePlayer.
• Added Hit Effects
• Updated OnDamaged methods to incude hit location and damage type

NOTE: You can install on top of previous version. Perform backup on personal data and prefabs to be safe.

A patch for SoulLink AI Alpha 0.8.9a is available:

• Added blocking features to BaseSoulLinkPlayer and implemented for SLOpsivePlayer.

This blocking feature is only available for Opsive integration. If you are using other controllers that have blocking feature and need this, let me know and I can try to integrate there as well.

SoulLink AI 0.8.9a Alpha package is available for testing:

• Added missing animator controllers for Ellen Mage and Ellen Warrior
• Add support for Hit animations, hit sounds, and interrupting abilities when damaged
• Fixed issue with AI stopping Flee when damaged a second time.

NOTE: This should be installable over top of last version. Always backup personal data and prefabs to be safe.

SoulLink AI 0.8.8a Alpha package is now available for testing

• Added Support system (Currently Healing augment only)
• Added Auto Equip On Switch flag to ability sets so that sets without equip animations will still equip/unequip items
• Added Debug Wait Time to Character so that you will be warned if an ability did not complete as expected
• Added Ellen Warrior template with single attack
• Added Ellen Warrior prefab with staff weapon that equips/unequips for combat
• Moved code for using abilities all into Character class to streamline development for support system
• Added Support System demo scene.
• Added AI debug information on SoulLink Editor window when in runtime

NOTE: This should be installable over top of last version. Always backup personal data and prefabs to be safe.

The support system currently only works for a Healing type augment as demonstrated in the new demo scene.

Using the herd feature you could generate mini monster camps by making the herd spawns be things like fire pit, tent, monsters, treasure. With the right mix of random probability you can have little mini monster camps spring up all over your world with random chance of treasure or unique items. If you make your static objects have nav mesh obstacles then they will be properly navigable after spawning on existing baked navmesh. I haven't tried this yet, but seems possible.

You could also spawn an entire prebuilt camp as well, but getting the elements to fit to the terrain could be challenging unless you have a custom script on them to snap them to the terrain when they spawn.

SoulLink AI 0.8.7a Alpha package is now available for testing:

• Added Destination Type to TaskDestination (Partial implementation)
  Added GetLocationPosition method to SoulLinkManager
• Updated AssignPlayer script to handle scene changes with same player instance crossing to a new scene
  Fixed PoolManager_SoulLink null reference exception for Spawner if database has not been assigned yet
  Updated Playmaker SetDestination action to include new destination type options
  Added Flee Attribute and Flee Threshold to AI so they will run away from attacker when specified percentage of an attribute is reached (e.g. Health or Mana)

NOTE: You can install over the previous version. Be sure to backup any personal data to be safe.

Make your game have high replay value. If the game is short with a single goal and when the goal is reached the game is over and there is nothing else to do then that's very low replay value. Make a game where even when the main goal is reached, you can still play the game more and have fun doing it.

Since the contest started, I've been posting developer tips in the contests channel on Discord. I've decided to post all those tips here and any future tips. I hope contestants can take advantage of these tips to make the best games possible.

Use this topic to recruit people to help you complete your game jam entries.