Dynamic Spartan AI

Games Halo 5: Guardians
#1

Like one of my past threads, I really want to see Allied AI actually be effective assistants in battle, and to bestow the UNSC’s emphasis on tactics and teamwork, unlike the religious Covenant. Allies should be more than storytelling tools and cannon fodder

In the thread above, I stated that Spartan IV’s should be more than 2 times as effective as a Marine, doing complex combat maneuvers, like backflips, being able to assassinate tough hostiles, and triggering epic melee animations with Elites and Promethean Knights every so often. They have a 25% chance of triggering an animation upon meleeing an unshielded hostile. They can use any weapon given to them in a different way, for example using an Assault rifle at close range against shielded targets in conjunction with other Troops, or using a DMR at long range to hit weaker hostiles to support other allies.

And also like the thread above, I gave a few “Specialized” Marines, such as Snipers, Medics, and Flamethrower Marines called Hellbringers. That got me thinking, we have so many armor permutations in Halo 4 for our personal Spartans, why not have those armor sets apply to the AI controlled Spartans as well?

I’m not talking about randomly generated aesthetics, such as different races, genders or Color schemes for Marines, I’m talking about active specializations; Spartans wearing certain armor will behave on the battlefield in different ways, depending on what specialization they have.

Here’s a list of ideas, I set them into classes, as some armor sets have similar functions to others:
(Images of all these armor sets can be found here for reference)

Recruit Spartans:
The set base for Spartan AI, a Jack-of-all-trades, specializes in no particular field other than being a Spartan. Recruits can spawn with most UNSC basic Infantry weapons, ARs, BRs, DMRs, Shotguns, and Magnums. They will mostly act as of how I described them in the thread above, but in short, they move around often, move faster than Marines, can melee at full damage, and will target Hostiles in teams if they can. Recruit Spartans sometimes use the Thrusterpack ability to evade enemy fire during combat.

If they come into melee range and trigger an animation, it will be a simple “evade the enemy, and try to knife them” style of animations. They have a 50/50 chance of winning or losing.

Wining:

If they win against an elite, they evade the elite’s lunge forward, stab them in the chest with their knife, pull it up, and pull it out, killing the Elite.

If they win against a Knight, the evade the Knight’s sword thrust, and stab them in the torso, dropping the Knight’s shield, and then using the knife as leverage, the Spartan does a spin kick (sort of) to the knights head, killing it.

Losing:

If they lose to an Elite, the Elite will succeed with its lunge towards the Spartan, and will proceed to pick him up by the neck, throw him to the ground, which drops his shields, and then the Elite will finish off the Spartan with a heavy punch to the Torso while the Spartan is still on the ground.

If they lose to a Knight, the Knight will succeed in his sword lunge, stabbing the Spartan right though the Stomach, the Knight will then proceed to Roar at the Spartan, and then throw him to the ground.

“Attacking” Class Spartans:
This includes Warrior, Commando, and Soldier Armor sets
Spartans in the Attacking class will be programmed to be more up-close with hostile forces, and will attempt to draw fire and tank damage for allies. They come into melee range often and are likely to win their brawls against their opponent. Attacking class Spartans will spawn with close-range weapons, such as the Assault rifle, and Shotgun, and will often times assist other allied units in battle as well.

If they trigger a melee animation, they will have a 65/35 chance of wining

Wining:

If they win against an Elite, the Spartan will “climb” the elite up to their neck area. They will shove the head to the side and stab the neck while the Elite struggles to get the Spartan off to no avail. The Spartan then jumps backwards off of the elite, pulling the knife out and dropping the elite

If they win against Knights, the Spartan will shove the knight back, and climb over it, spinning around and grabbing onto its helmet. The Spartan will struggle briefly to open the helmet up, and then proceed to stab the Exposed skull, killing the Knight

Losing:

If they lose against an elite, the elite will throw the Spartan down as he attempts to climb, and the elite then proceeds to kick the Spartan in the Stomach, dropping his shields and stunning him slightly. The elite then sidecuts the Spartan, killing him.

If they lose to a Knight, the knight flings the Spartan over itself, and Roars at the Spartan while he is on the ground, getting up. The Knight then stabs the Spartan though the Stomach before he can get up fully, killing him in the process

#2

“Defending” Class Spartans:
This Includes Defender, Protector, and Enforcer armor sets
Defending class Spartans will, as the name suggests, play more defensively and passively than other Spartans, taking cover often and team-shooting hostiles with ranged weapons, such as the BR or the DMR. Often times they can be seen using the Hardlight shield Armor ability if they are over run

Instead of killing hostiles with melee animations, Defending Class Spartans will simply Strip the shields of the hostile in question, and not directly damage the health. Defending Class Spartans have a 80/20 chance of succeeding

Winning:

If a Spartan success against an elite, the Spartan will evade the elite’s lunges, and stab him in the torso, dropping his shields. The Spartan then proceeds to punch the elite in the head to stun him temporarily as he withdraws from the animation.

If a Spartan succeeds against a Knight, the Spartan will evade the knight’s Sword Lunge, and use the Sword arm to jump at the Knight’s head. The Spartan will then procede to punch the Knight’s head as he lands on the Knight’s other side, stripping the Knight’s shields and stunning him in the process.

If a Defending Class Spartan loses the animation, the same Animation will play of a Recruit Spartan

“Recon” Class Spartans:
This includes Recon, Infiltrator, and C.I.O armor Sets
Recon class Spartans will be more Maneuverable than other Spartans, evading enemy fire more often and with greater efficiency. Recon Class Spartans will try to get behind enemies while they are distracted by allies , and assassinate them. Recon Class Spartans will spawn with Magnums or BRs. Spartans wearing the Infiltrator armor can use the Active camo armor Ability to sneak up on hostiles. Recon Class Spartans cannot use Melee animations.

“Sniper” Class Spartans:
This Includes Scanner, Deadeye, and Scout armor sets
Sniper Class Spartans will stay far away from the front lines, wielding Sniper rifles, and DMRs. Sniper Class Spartans will Target tough hostiles with their weapons, and evade often if shot at. Sniper Class Spartans cannot use Melee animations.

Operator Spartans:
Operator Spartans usually spawn in a Land vehicle, and are excellent gunners for your vehicle. They spawn with ARs or Shotguns and behave similarly to Recruit Spartans in Combat. Operator Spartans share melee animations with both Recuit Spartans and Defending Class Spartans, and they have a 55/45 chance of succeeding.

“Heavy” Class Spartans:
This includes HAZOP, Engineer, E.O.D , and occasionally Gungnir armor sets.
Heavy class Spartans work well with power weapons, and usually spawn with Rocket Launchers or Spartans Lasers, otherwise they will spawn with Assault rifles and behave similarly to “Attacking” class Spartans. Spartans with the Gungnir armor set will have higher chances of spawning with a Spartan Laser. They share melee animations with “Attacking” class Spartans and have a 50/50 chance of succeeding.

Special sets:
These Armor sets share their stats with the Recruit Class Spartans, but have special abilities/Functions

  • Air Assault: uses the Jetpack armor ability often to evade and reposition
  • E.V.A and Orbital: Only seen during Missions that take place in Space atmospheres
  • Oceanic: Only seen during any potential underwater segments
  • FOTUS: Rare Easter egg Spartan that has a .0001% chance of replacing a Recruit Spartan

:stuck_out_tongue:

thoughts? additions?

#3

If only you worked for 343.

#4

My only problem with this is that GUNGNIR should go under Heavy Spartan. It’s a heavily armoured suit, and it was designed for use with the Spartan Laser.

EDIT: also maybe the Air Assault Spartans. As long as we don’t end up with another unit of Bullfrogs, I’m all for it.

#5

Seems like a lot of A.I. to program, but I like it.

remembers Halo 3 ODSTs, then remembers Reach ODSTs, shivers

Yeah, a bit much, but I like it.

#6

I don’t think that Gungir should be under “sniper”. I think they should be a dedicated Splaser Spartan.

#7

Special Sets

ODST - Spartans with the ODST variant are only seen deploying amongst their un-augmented brethren. The wield the Suppressed SMG and the M6 SOCOM pistol.

Rouge - These Spartans wield a variety of weapons. However, Rouge Spartans only operate alone.

Prefect - Spartans with Prefect armour operate in a similar capacity to the class of covenant remnant sanghelli designated “Warrior”. In combat, they are more skilled Recruit.

#8

That are some fantastic ideas you have there. I would really like to see that.

I would say the GUNGNIR set should be used in the Sniper class as well as in the Heavy class, since it has been original designed along with the Splaser but it is prefered by sniper units as well.

I think in case such smart and effective AI is assisting you, the amount of enemies should be increased as well or the encounters should be ‘heavier’, otherwise I suspect that the AI could play the game for you.

#9

> Special Sets
>
> ODST - Spartans with the ODST variant are only seen deploying amongst their un-augmented brethren. The wield the Suppressed SMG and the M6 SOCOM pistol.
>
> <mark>Rouge</mark> - These Spartans wield a variety of weapons. However, <mark>Rouge</mark> Spartans only operate alone.
>
> Prefect - Spartans with Prefect armour operate in a similar capacity to the class of covenant remnant sanghelli designated “Warrior”. In combat, they are more skilled Recruit.

Im really sorry, but how difficult is it to spell Rogue? Almost every time i see it, its spelt wrong.

Also good ideas. Im kinda imagining Spartan ODSTs storming the beach, with Marine ODSTs charging behind them through the massed carnage left behind by the Spartans.

#10

This is brilliant. Heck, you could take it a step further and allow the player to pick which of these come into combat with them.

This could add some squad combat to some of the missions.
-If in single player, you would choose up to 4 other Spartans.
-2 player, each player pick up to 2
-3 players, host picks 2 while the others pick 1 each
-4 players, each player picks 1
You could choose 4 of a kind or just go in alone.

This could add a new layer of replay value to campaign. Going back and playing it with different Spartans to see what works and what doesn’t.

#11

> Special Sets
>
> ODST - Spartans with the ODST variant are only seen deploying amongst their un-augmented brethren. The wield the Suppressed SMG and the M6 SOCOM pistol.
>
> Rouge - These Spartans wield a variety of weapons. However, Rouge Spartans only operate alone.
>
> Prefect - Spartans with Prefect armour operate in a similar capacity to the class of covenant remnant sanghelli designated “Warrior”. In combat, they are more skilled Recruit.

i chose not to include these sets because i thought they were uneccesary:

ODST’s should wear ODST armor, not Spartans.
and either way, Spartans already are deployed with ODSTs, we don’t need to get them confused with each other.

and a sidenote: considering the new breed of Spartans’ personalities being overly boastful, do you really think a Spartan-IV would want to in any way consider themselves “Equal” to their “Lesser” allied troops?

Perfect armor… it’s forerunner. As much as the UNSC is getting more knowledgeable about Forerunner tech, i really doubt they can integrate a full forerunner combat skin into the MJOLNIR project. besides, it doesn’t look very UNSC-ish in my opinion

Rouge, as you describe, wouldn’t be seen much in combat, and i think that if the Player were to go anywhere that a Rouge would go in this case, it would defeat the purpose of a Rouge being there altogether.

i feel that if you’re gonna have allies, you’re gonna have more than one.

#12

Pretty awesome for campaign and spartan ops. Well done.