BeyondInsane

xehonk · 08-03-2010, 07:48 PM

Description

Hi,

in this post I'm gonna share my modifications to alien swarm's AI director. The mod allows the customization of AI directed spawns (wanderers only for now) via a config file. This makes it possible to change the amount as well as the type of aliens spawned.

If used together with the configs, BI offers a greatly increased difficulty. Check out the ASBI steam group if you're looking for a challenge.

This modification is server-side only. That means no play has to download anything to be able to play on a BI server.

Features

Editable (both by map and difficulty) wanderer type and number
Usable colonists
Bugfix: drones no longer glitch through players

Download

bin - src

Stats and Achievements

Custom stats and achievements are available for BI players!

Example config (not required)

config (these require my difficulty configs sourcemod plugin - 2010-08-29 or later)

Ingame videos (HD)

insane
- landingbay
- landingbay (failure)
hard

Changelog

2010-08-04
- Initial Release
2010-08-05
- Fixed most spawns so that aliens no longer spawn inside walls
2010-08-06
- Binary updated with latest alien swarm patch
2010-08-07
- Uber drones are now larger than normal drones (30%)
2010-08-10
- Bugfix: the director was always spawning MinWandererSize wanderers - fixed to spawn a number between min and max.
2010-08-13
- The spawns can now be configured on a per-map basis.
2010-08-17
- Fixed a bug that could lead to spawn points not being refreshed.
2010-08-22
- Fixed for a server crash exploit.
- Added a command to drop extra equipment (bind h ASW_DropExtra) - thanks plaYer2k.
- Added an indicator for server difficulty (the sv_tag BeyondInsane=X)
2010-08-24
- Merged BeyondInsane with newest patch.
- Removed the crash exploit fix (valve fixed it)
- added command bi_difficulty_print, which gives an overview over the server difficulty
- configs updated - require updated exec-skills mod
2010-08-27
- Workaround for a change (by valve) in the latest patch that set asw_marine_time_until_ignite to a fixed value (0.2) when HardcoreFF is enabled.
2010-08-29
- Changed the configs and added a command to ensure the difficulty shown in sv_tags is accurate and up to date.
2010-09-16
- Fixed the horde difficulty scaling.
2010-09-17
- Fixed a mixup in the wanderer difficulty display.
- Count alien kills as frags (cosmetic change only).
2010-09-21
- Fixed drone movement: they will no longer glitch through players (or other solid objects) when their movement speed is increased.
2011-03-10
- included the swarmarmory colonists patch
  - colonists are now usable
  - colonists no longer cause crashes when infected
  - visible feedback which colonists are selected
  - female colonists
- bots now deal friendly fire
- hacky implementation to get asw_spawner spawn asw_drone_uber: set the spawned alien name to "asw_drone_uber" and the spawned type to "asw_drone"
2011-03-10
- don't switch weapons when using asw_drop_extra
2011-03-18
- fix mini-freezes that occured when playing BI for a long time
- enable colonists to shoot and equip (some) weapons
- make colonists hittable by ranger projectiles
- prevent colonists from running to cover when unarmed and waiting to be rescued
- some minor performance tweaking

Known Problems

The increased amount of alien spawns can at times cause some lag.

VisM.OwnZ · 08-03-2010, 08:46 PM

Added to my Addons/Mods/Expansions/Stuff etc. - List

08-03-2010, 09:01 PM

hmm looks good, how do i play? do i use that ip in the dedicated servers window?

xehonk · 08-04-2010, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by churche0

hmm looks good, how do i play? do i use that ip in the dedicated servers window?

Hi, the mod can be installed by whoever hosts a server. There are no client-side changes involved. This means that simply joining a server where the mod is active (i.e. the one I posted as example) will indeed allow you to play it.

xehonk · 08-04-2010, 06:35 PM

Update: Most alien spawns are fixed, so that the aliens will no longer spawn inside walls. It still happens sometimes, but a lot less often.

08-05-2010, 05:22 PM

Played tonight on your server (aka Bubba) and I hope that more server will adapt your modification. Just awesome and unique hardcore rounds that really require a team that knows what they do.

xehonk · 08-05-2010, 10:29 PM

Thanks, Molup.

I recompiled the binary with the latest patch. Just replace server.dll with the new version.

xehonk · 08-06-2010, 10:18 PM

Another small update
- I made uber drones a bit larger than the normal ones, so that they can be visually distinguished (and not just by the fact that they don't want to die ;P)
- added another hd gameplay video

08-06-2010, 11:41 PM

tried ur server and loved it! , i coudlnt beat a single mission in insane though :x (and thats a good thing

)
+ rep

xehonk · 08-07-2010, 10:01 PM

Thanks, church0. :)
The server is supposed to be played on hard (which is why the difficulty reverts to hard after every restart/map change). Nobody ever complained that the game was too easy, so I never bothered to balance insane. ^^

xehonk · 08-09-2010, 08:04 PM

Bugfix: the director was always spawning MinWandererSize wanderers - fixed to spawn a number between min and max.
I also removed some leftover debug output.

johnnythewolf · 08-10-2010, 06:56 AM

Looks interesting but... huh... how does it works? I can see from the videos that there are new spawns, but I'm not sure to understand how's it done.

08-10-2010, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnythewolf

Looks interesting but... huh... how does it works? I can see from the videos that there are new spawns, but I'm not sure to understand how's it done.

with scripting, using modsource

xehonk · 08-11-2010, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnythewolf

Looks interesting but... huh... how does it works? I can see from the videos that there are new spawns, but I'm not sure to understand how's it done.

I'm not sure what you want to know.

how does it work (for a server admin)
- download the binary version of the mod
- unpack into your "alien swarm/swarm" directory
  - override bin/server.dll
  - make sure resource/h_alien_selection.txt exists (and edit this file as you wish)
- if you want to make the game even harder (than by simply increasing spawns), install the example configs (and the mentioned mod)
how does it work (for a normal user)
- simply join a server (i.e. the one mentioned in my original post) which has this mod installed
- enjoy the challenge
how does it work (for a developer)
- not sure what to say - I just took the (already existing) ai director and the already existing spawn_selection and combined the two
- the director asks the spawn selector which alien to spawn (and how many) and puts them in a queue
- the director randomly selects a node and spawns an alien from the queue there
- check the code for more information

xehonk · 08-13-2010, 12:07 AM

Update: per map spawn configs

The (wanderer) spawns can now be configured for each map seperately. This allows the server admin to change the difficulty of specific maps without affecting others.

I wrote this after I noticed that certain maps are a lot harder than others - the example configuration reflects this by making timor, residential and deima easier while making sewer and rydberg harder.

08-03-2010, 07:48 PM	#1
xehonk Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 17 Posts: 335	BeyondInsane Description Hi, in this post I'm gonna share my modifications to alien swarm's AI director. The mod allows the customization of AI directed spawns (wanderers only for now) via a config file. This makes it possible to change the amount as well as the type of aliens spawned. If used together with the configs, BI offers a greatly increased difficulty. Check out the ASBI steam group if you're looking for a challenge. This modification is server-side only. That means no play has to download anything to be able to play on a BI server. Features Editable (both by map and difficulty) wanderer type and number Usable colonists Bugfix: drones no longer glitch through players Download bin - src Stats and Achievements Custom stats and achievements are available for BI players! Example config (not required) config (these require my difficulty configs sourcemod plugin - 2010-08-29 or later) Ingame videos (HD) insane landingbay landingbay (failure) hard Timor Residential Rydberg Changelog 2010-08-04 Initial Release 2010-08-05 Fixed most spawns so that aliens no longer spawn inside walls 2010-08-06 Binary updated with latest alien swarm patch 2010-08-07 Uber drones are now larger than normal drones (30%) 2010-08-10 Bugfix: the director was always spawning MinWandererSize wanderers - fixed to spawn a number between min and max. 2010-08-13 The spawns can now be configured on a per-map basis. 2010-08-17 Fixed a bug that could lead to spawn points not being refreshed. 2010-08-22 Fixed for a server crash exploit. Added a command to drop extra equipment (bind h ASW_DropExtra) - thanks plaYer2k. Added an indicator for server difficulty (the sv_tag BeyondInsane=X) 2010-08-24 Merged BeyondInsane with newest patch. Removed the crash exploit fix (valve fixed it) added command bi_difficulty_print, which gives an overview over the server difficulty configs updated - require updated exec-skills mod 2010-08-27 Workaround for a change (by valve) in the latest patch that set asw_marine_time_until_ignite to a fixed value (0.2) when HardcoreFF is enabled. 2010-08-29 Changed the configs and added a command to ensure the difficulty shown in sv_tags is accurate and up to date. 2010-09-16 Fixed the horde difficulty scaling. 2010-09-17 Fixed a mixup in the wanderer difficulty display. Count alien kills as frags (cosmetic change only). 2010-09-21 Fixed drone movement: they will no longer glitch through players (or other solid objects) when their movement speed is increased. 2011-03-10 included the swarmarmory colonists patch colonists are now usable colonists no longer cause crashes when infected visible feedback which colonists are selected female colonists bots now deal friendly fire hacky implementation to get asw_spawner spawn asw_drone_uber: set the spawned alien name to "asw_drone_uber" and the spawned type to "asw_drone" 2011-03-10 don't switch weapons when using asw_drop_extra 2011-03-18 fix mini-freezes that occured when playing BI for a long time enable colonists to shoot and equip (some) weapons make colonists hittable by ranger projectiles prevent colonists from running to cover when unarmed and waiting to be rescued some minor performance tweaking Known Problems The increased amount of alien spawns can at times cause some lag. Last edited by xehonk: 03-17-2013 at 05:30 PM.

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08-03-2010, 08:46 PM	#2
VisM.OwnZ Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 96 Posts: 229	Added to my Addons/Mods/Expansions/Stuff etc. - List

08-03-2010, 09:01 PM	#3
churche0 Guest Posts: n/a	hmm looks good, how do i play? do i use that ip in the dedicated servers window?

08-04-2010, 06:35 PM	#5
xehonk Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 17 Posts: 335	Update: Most alien spawns are fixed, so that the aliens will no longer spawn inside walls. It still happens sometimes, but a lot less often.

08-05-2010, 05:22 PM	#6
Molup Guest Posts: n/a	Played tonight on your server (aka Bubba) and I hope that more server will adapt your modification. Just awesome and unique hardcore rounds that really require a team that knows what they do.

08-05-2010, 10:29 PM	#7
xehonk Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 17 Posts: 335	Thanks, Molup. I recompiled the binary with the latest patch. Just replace server.dll with the new version.

08-06-2010, 10:18 PM	#8
xehonk Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 17 Posts: 335	Another small update - I made uber drones a bit larger than the normal ones, so that they can be visually distinguished (and not just by the fact that they don't want to die ;P) - added another hd gameplay video

08-06-2010, 11:41 PM	#9
churche0 Guest Posts: n/a	tried ur server and loved it! , i coudlnt beat a single mission in insane though :x (and thats a good thing ) + rep

08-07-2010, 10:01 PM	#10
xehonk Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 17 Posts: 335	Thanks, church0. :) The server is supposed to be played on hard (which is why the difficulty reverts to hard after every restart/map change). Nobody ever complained that the game was too easy, so I never bothered to balance insane. ^^

08-09-2010, 08:04 PM	#11
xehonk Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 17 Posts: 335	Bugfix: the director was always spawning MinWandererSize wanderers - fixed to spawn a number between min and max. I also removed some leftover debug output.

08-10-2010, 06:56 AM	#12
johnnythewolf Join Date: Jun 2010 Reputation: 6 Posts: 200	Looks interesting but... huh... how does it works? I can see from the videos that there are new spawns, but I'm not sure to understand how's it done.

08-13-2010, 12:07 AM	#15
xehonk Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 17 Posts: 335	Update: per map spawn configs The (wanderer) spawns can now be configured for each map seperately. This allows the server admin to change the difficulty of specific maps without affecting others. I wrote this after I noticed that certain maps are a lot harder than others - the example configuration reflects this by making timor, residential and deima easier while making sewer and rydberg harder.