Alien Behaviour Tweak mod

[Nathan]

Download Link, click this.
Moddb page for Unpredictable Alien AI mod.

Release version.

Also, please check out this guide for more details.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=423489181

I wished to try my hand at slightly tweaking the Alien AI to have wider range in stalking, patrolling, because it seemed like a good way to at least simulate more unpredictability, of when and where the alien will pop up. The devs already did a great job of making a dynamical AI to the Alien, I thought perhaps one could enhance that, and make hard and Iron/nightmare modes have the alien still surprise the player, and not be predictable in how constantly it is after the player.

There is a serious question that I do not know the answer to: Namely, by widening the values in not only novice, easy and medium mode, but also hard and nightmare, is hard and nightmare now easier? I hope not, I hope they are still challenges and that having the alien able to drop from a vent right next to you or from a longer than usual distance, it will merely feel more unpredictable and tense.
But if you do not wish to try out this mod or see some of the example XML files for comparison, then do not download.

Read the included Readme.txt file for further information on modding and installation.
Thanks goes to [TW]E NOMiNEE for the heavy lifting in getting modding started for Alien: Isolation!

Mod Tool
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Killer Joe Mod by [TW]E NOMiNEE

[Nathan]

Originally posted by Akulio:

Hi there. I tried to test absent alien mod and got eaten after 1 minute in mission 5 medbay and last survivor dlc. Maybe i did something wrong? Is absent alien an addition for unpredictable alien mod, or can it be run separetly? Thank you.

Hi, sorry, I've been a bit absent lately myself.
Absent alien is not an addition, both absent alien and unpredictable alien mods edit the same files, so they are incompatible and will overwrite each other. Use one or the other.
The last survivor and crew expendable DLCs use slightly different files.
The absent alien mod is not perfect, in fact the first version I think is broken, while the second version sort of works but would really need a new update which I can't guarantee I'll be making anytime soon I'm afraid, but if you want to remove the alien completely, you're better off with the other mod which has a topic of its own here.

[Akulio]

Hi there and thank you for the response. Actually i've already found a solution, which is your unpredictable alien mod. On novice in practically removed the alien from the game, it only showed up if i made alot of noise or lured by gadgets. This is exactly what i was looking for, for i wanted to explore the station without constantly hiding under desks, but also be punished for making foolish mistakes like running or blundering around like an elefant. The current version of Unp. alien is perfect in this regard so thank you greatly for it.

[rim6o]

A demo of the mod, plus no music. The video quality is not good but it will suffice
https://youtu.be/VpuEkmVICms

This mods actually turns the default alien behaving like a needy dog running around you within 30 meters, following YOU everything YOU go (that's right, just you) into an unpredictable beast lurking... somewhere. Seriously, you could set a clock using the default alien running his circuits. It was more of an annoyance than a scare factor.

[Akulio]

Agreeed. Exactly the alien we wanted.

[Nathan]

Thanks for all the kind words, I'm left rather dumbfounded but grateful :)

[WeylandYutani]

EDIT: Found a few Issues with this Mod and try to fix them now, cleanup and update it.

................Updated, fixed and cleaned up Mod below, have fun !

[Akulio]

Thank you, nice work.

[WeylandYutani]

EDIT: I cleared up previous Messages to make it more simple Mod is now updated, fixed and cleaned up, Issues should be minimized. I provided my old Version aswell but to keep the difficulty i would use the new one.

Whats in: The Alien should appear frequently like before but more random, i fixed all the ranges what maked the Alien stuck in the Vents, stay off Screen for too long, dont appear or dont react to Enviromental Noises outside of Mission Triggers. I improved the Senses and Timeouts to keep the difficulty intact and still provide a more random appearence.

Heres the Link: (Updated and fixed, best Results)-(New)
http://www12.zippyshare.com/v/hBhoyYxg/file.html

Have fun and thanks to Nathan i wouldnt have found the right Values without this comparisons. I tested it again as good as i can, it should be a good balance between difficulty and randomness but the best results come with Medium difficulty, Easy and Hard are also ok, Novice is harmless and Iron untouched.

If you already used my old one and liked it here it is: (still has Issues and lower difficulty)-(Old)
http://www78.zippyshare.com/v/bwvagEkn/file.html

BTW: You can do what you want with this, no Rules, no Restrictions at all.

[Akulio]

Thanks once again. I'll make good use of both. Beating the game a fourth time has become way more fun.

[WeylandYutani]

To give a bit more Informations i tested all my changes and updates the last hours to say what has changed, testing if everything works and to give you more details and sorry for some double posted Parts. The Original Mod was a great idea and without it i wouldnt come this far but it had its Issues, in short, too far ranges, too high timeouts, wrong positive and negative Values, wrong orders, missing balance and added Baselines, effects, Alien too far away, too long off Screen, got stuck in the Vents or interrupted by Commands and got stuck somewhere and difficulty decreased.

*************************************************************************************************************
You get the real Beast from the Movies:
*The Alien has more room to choose when, where and why it appears
*It has more room to choose in what range it will search for you for Sweeps, Hides, etc
*Also more Room to decide how long it searches for you depending on the difficulty and behavior
*Min and Max Distances for Sweeps are adjusted and balanced depending on the difficulty
*Max Range count on the Tracker 150 to 200 for Sweeps by Default now
*More Space for decisions what and when a behavior will be used on Backstage and Hold
*Improved Senses for accurate reaction Times for all Noises with improved ranges for Triggers
*Instead of annoying Loops it should be a bit more absent and search around
*At Points where the Alien was too absent it appears now more frequent
*Its also possible that the Alien appears now between Triggers where it was absent before
*No more Stucks, interrupts or off Screens, frequently appearences in random orders, all fixed
*Everything has the right balance to keep the difficult with differences for each difficulty
*Exceptions are Iron difficulty whats untouched and Novice difficulty whats a walk in the Park
*************************************************************************************************************

Posted it again, i highly recommend my updated Files for best Results:
http://www12.zippyshare.com/v/hBhoyYxg/file.html

I tested only Medium and Hard but except Iron i balanced all difficulties and all Files in combination to work with all the others so everything should provide the right Results but i recommend Medium or Hard for best results also only use the Cleanedup ALIEN.BML when ecountering Issue because otherwise it deletes the higher search range when you are hiding.

PS: Theres one Issue i couldnt fix, it was maybe only bad luck but some of my Save Points didnt show the "Hostile nearby" thing even with the Alien knocking on my Door, so more fear =)

IMPORTANT: You should use the ALIEN.BML from the cleanedup Folder, the old one still contains added Commands from the original Autor so it can cause issues with aggro etc.

[Povuh]

Thanks man, looking forward to trying it!

Have you considered putting the files on a more permanent file host? Nexus Mods is open to all games these days. There isn't an Alien Isolation section yet, but if you bring your mod you can request it right here: http://www.nexusmods.com/games/mods/uploadwizard/?

It'll make it easier for people to track new updates of the mod, comment on it, share it, etc.

ModDB is always an option too, of course.

[Povuh]

Also I assume this works on nightmare difficulty too?

[WeylandYutani]

Im not really a Modder in this terms i only fixed the provided Mod thats why i said you can do with it what you want, there are no Rules, everyone can Upload it and mark it as their own i dont really care but maybe i will do it if no one else will.

Nightmare difficulty is called IRON but yes it works with all difficulties but like i said i dont touched the XML from Nightmare because its too risky to hurt the difficulty and it only contains modifiers and not the Base Commands anyway. For the Default Player i would recommend at least Hard anyway because even after i balanced it out the Alien still prefers the higher Numbers for where and when it appears on Medium but i cant reduce it more.

[Povuh]

I'm not that familiar with how modding this game works, could you explain in simple terms? If I play on nightmare difficulty, does this mod still change the alien behaviour?

[WeylandYutani]

Sure, modding only means adding or changing the way a Game works by Default. In Alien Isolation its mostly about changing the Scripts in this Case the XML Files or BML what are the XML Files only hidden so that you dont gain Access to them.

Beside the Model, its Animation Sets and Sounds there are the Scripts, first there are the Script Assets what define the movement and behaviors, it tells the Alien what, where and how it should do it. Then there are the Variables or Configs what tells the Alien how to handle most of its Assets and beside Graphical stuff this is what Modders mainly can change and Nathan i done here.

So the Alien variables come in three ways, the Aliens main Config, the Alien Status and the difficulties. Some of them hold the same Commands so it can be confusing but in general its sorted this way........

ALIEN.BML = Alien Config, it holds the movement, damage, Health, Senses, aggro, etc.
ALIEN-STATUS.BMLs = like Intense or Moderate aswell as the Backstage Commands, it holds the Commands for Times, Timeouts, Distances, Ranges for search, drops and sweeps, etc.
DIFFICULTY.BMLs = this is different, it holds some of the Status Commands and Senses but they arent Baselines, it only holds modifiers to increase or decrease Values for the Baseline

So if you read all the avaible XMLs from this Mod and compare them with mine and the Original Files you find out pretty fast that its very easy to change them but very hard to find the right balance. This is specially hard because the Game is made in a certain way and the Scripts are made to work with the Game made that way. EXAMPLE: decreased and increased Room for min. max. Ranges and Times for drop down makes the Alien drop down more frequently far away and with longer breaks instead of more shorter breaks, thats why i said play at least on Medium or Hard.

To your last question its simple YES, the difficulty Scripts only hold modifiers so the Mod still changes Alien even on Nightmare even where i dont touched the Nightmare XML to keep the difficulty high enough and still have changes.