@DEVS: Please explain the values of the new encounter system

[Strayed]

@Devs

I like that you guys have come up with the Horde system manager to free up server resources, but the explanation pop up and also the patch notes just don't explain what the values mean.

To copy paste the patch notes:

New settings for Hordes and encounter manager:
scum.MaxAllowedCharacters=-1
-Maximum number of characters allowed to be present in the world (including players)
scum.EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the base amount of character spawned in a given encounter.
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the amount of extra character added to the base amount (per player)
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the amount of players relevant to the encounter where no more extra character are added.
scum.EncounterTotalCharactersSpawnedMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the total amount of character spawned in a given encounter.
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTimeMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the encounter character respawn time.
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnBatchSizeMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the encounter character respawn batch size.
scum.EncounterCharacterAggressiveSpawnChanceOverride=-1.000000
-Override for encounter characters to spawn as already knowing the player's position (for all encounter types).
scum.EncounterCharacterAINoiseResponseRadiusMultiplier=1.000000
-Radius at which AI characters may hear another AI character's noise (e.g. puppet scream).
scum.EncounterHordeGroupBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the base amount of horde group characters spawned in a given encounter.
scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the amount of extra horde group characters added to the base amount, per player.
scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the amount of players relevant to the horde encounter group where no more extra characters are added.
scum.EncounterHordeBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the base amount of horde characters spawned in a given encounter.
scum.EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the amount of extra horde characters added to the base amount, per player.
scum.EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the amount of players relevant to the horde encounter where no more extra characters are added.
scum.EncounterHordeActivationChanceMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the chance to activate the horde in a horde encounter.
scum.EncounterHordeNoiseCheckCooldownMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the horde activation noise check cooldown time.
scum.EncounterHordeSpawnDistanceMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the distance at which horde characters are spawned.
scum.EncounterHordeGroupRefillTimeMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the time to refill horde group.
scum.EncounterCanRemoveLowPriorityCharacters=1
-If enabled it will remove any inactive puppets or puppets further away from the player in order to spawn in new ones. (only if the limit is being reached)
scum.EncounterCanClampCharacterNumWhenOutOfResources=1
-Can clamp encounter character base amount to min value after going over the limit.
scum.PuppetsCanOpenDoors=1
-puppets can open or close doors
scum.PuppetsCanVaultWindows=1
-puppets can vault through windows

I am short on time to sit for hours to play around with settings to find a fun balance for my players on my server

Can you please give some better details and clarification of what the values mean

For example,
scum.MaxAllowedCharacters=-1
-Maximum number of characters allowed to be present in the world (including players)
I apologise for my frustration, but clearly this is for NPC shooters however please explain what -1 means. Does -1 mean it's off -regardless of how many players are on the server; or does it mean that its persistent regardless of players on the server?

Next up
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the amount of extra character added to the base amount (per player)
Is this if there's a number of players in a group? or is this for a server population?

scum.EncounterHordeBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=1.000000
-Multiplier for the base amount of horde characters spawned in a given encounter.
How many Puppets spawn in an encounter!? what does 1 mean? is it one puppet? or is it 5?

I ask because this:
I have left the settings at default

I used the weapons factory in Z1 to test the horde manager. I spotted a couple of sentry puppets, so I killed two that were outside the walls but let the one inside the wall alive (I entered the compound via the Southern Gate near the ship loading dock.

The sentry puppet had not observed me at this time; I then alerted it. I sat on a crate and watched the manager do its thing. It eventually spawned in about 20 (possibly including the sentry) which these 'response' puppets magically dropped in at about a 20 to 30m range and could see me despite being in prone position (which I'm fine with them spotting me because that information would've been relayed via the sentry puppet)

Edit: additional
What's frustrating is that there's no information similar to the old external, internal spawner to show how many will spawn around a zone. Sure, in the patch notes it mentions three types of zones: high, medium and low but it doesn't specify what weight is placed on these zones. For example, the weapons factory had 5 sentries when I approached from the south -two near the guard box, one under the power line and two inside the wall which one was near the building to the left of the area and the other was in the building nearest the ship dock.... but there's no setting that tells me how many puppets will be populated at the weapons factory.... and then of course there's the confusing mess of the horde manager.......

I'm really worried about the bunkers now... because in the old server settings with max population and a 5 minute puppet respawn they were quite challenging and often puppets would clip through doors

[Draft Lottery 72]

At this point I'd take cave drawings, hieroglyphics, Morse code, Klingon script, ...

[Six]

Originally posted by Draft Lottery 72:

At this point I'd take cave drawings, hieroglyphics, Morse code, Klingon script, ...

:)

[BiggusMickus]

Tumbleweeds.
I'm beginning to think they don't know how the settings work themselves, or they'd have replied to at least one of the dozen threads/hundreds of posts asking about it by now.

[Carvalho]

"scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier"

Like, for real, how confusing is that? And you may think "oh, but there is a description!"

Ok, let's see then:

Multiplier for the amount of extra horde group characters added to the base amount, per player.

confusedmathlady.gif

[Splina]

Originally posted by Carvalho:

"scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier"

Like, for real, how confusing is that? And you may think "oh, but there is a description!"

Ok, let's see then:

Multiplier for the amount of extra horde group characters added to the base amount, per player.

confusedmathlady.gif

sounds to me like something applicable for multiplayer only...

so the horde have a base amount of puppets, with this setting you can add extra pupets with this multiplier and it applies to all human caracters in the area
so if you add extra 2 pupets let's say...this setting will add 2 per each player present in the area when the horde is triggered..?
so if there are 3 players , the horde will be base amount + (2 x 3)

anyway...first we need to know what exactly means that multiplier...is it actual number of pupets added like i think in my example, or is related to the base amount of the horde and multiplies this in some way...?

correct me if i'm wrong

[bishop08]

I've played around with some of them, and definitely goofed up. I've set a few to zero, and I don't see any zombies anywhere. That makes sense, since they are "multipliers", and anything multiplied by zero is zero. I'll mess around with them some more.

[FeDx_]

I interpret as follows:

Anything that says "Character" is puppets spawning around players.
Anything that says "Horde" is puppets spawned by triggering the Horde.

1.0 is the default multiplier. (for the amount we don't know)
Anything over this increases the number spawned.
Anything under reduces..

Tested and works as expected. I have completely turned off hordes, by setting to 0, anything that says hordes.

When I set anything that says 'character' to above 1.0, for example 5.0, I get many puppets spawning where ever I go.
When I set this to 0.1, I was getting a puppet every now and then..

I have settled on 1.0 for hordes and 2.0 for characters. Seems like a good setting for a small server.

[bishop08]

Originally posted by FeDx_:

I interpret as follows:

Anything that says "Character" is puppets spawning around players.
Anything that says "Horde" is puppets spawned by triggering the Horde.

1.0 is the default multiplier. (for the amount we don't know)
Anything over this increases the number spawned.
Anything under reduces..

Tested and works as expected. I have completely turned off hordes, by setting to 0, anything that says hordes.

When I set anything that says 'character' to above 1.0, for example 5.0, I get many puppets spawning where ever I go.
When I set this to 0.1, I was getting a puppet every now and then..

I have settled on 1.0 for hordes and 2.0 for characters. Seems like a good setting for a small server.

Thanks for your efforts in deciphering this. I'm going to try to fix the mess I made with my settings, by using your tips. It is appreciated.

[Jinx]

Originally posted by Six:

Originally posted by Draft Lottery 72:

At this point I'd take cave drawings, hieroglyphics, Morse code, Klingon script, ...

:)

Best answer by far,

Devs can we have some clarification please +1

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally posted by Draft Lottery 72:

At this point I'd take cave drawings, hieroglyphics, Morse code, Klingon script, ...

Yes at least with these we have google to translate!

[insettoinfetto]

Originally posted by FeDx_:

+1... what's the point in giving us the ability to customise the settings, without the knowledge to do so...

For these reasons I wrote this suggestion :

https://steamcommunity.com/app/513710/discussions/7/4041482298418008733/

[sniperone]

Hi there, Devs have expalined those in the Actualities on december 19 :

QUOTE :

Hey hey everyone, as promised here are the settings explained in more detail for all of you that want to experiment or fine tune the new system for yourself. Enjoy!

Setting_MaxAllowedCharacters:
Maximum number of alive characters on the server. Takes into account players, mechs, animals etc. Only the encounter manager entities are currently taken into account, and HTZ are excluded.
If number is below 0 it goes to default value 128.
Setting_EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier:
Takes into account the base value of entities to be spawned on encounter trigger (ex. entering POI). The set value multiplies the base value. Current base values for puppets are:
HTZ - 4 minimum - 5 maximum
MTZ - 2 minimum - 3 maximum
LTZ - 1 minimum - 2 maximum


Actual entities spawned will be a value between (multiplier * min base value) and (multiplier * max base value)
Setting_EncounterExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier:
Affects the base value of the characters in the encounter, it depends on the amount of players located in the encounter area.

Base number (3 - 4) + (number of players - 1) * number of extra entities per player (1) * multiplier
If there is 4 players in the HTZ area it would look like this:
Between 3 or 4 + (4 -1) * (1 * 2(multiplier))
The number of puppets would end being 10
Setting_EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier:
Sets the maximum cap on players taken into account. Example: Setting is set to 5. From 5 players on the numbers of puppets will remain the same.
Setting_EncounterCharacterRespawnTimeMultiplier:
Sets the time needed between entity respawn:

Formula goes:
Base value * multiplier

Base value:
HTZ - From 0 to 0.5sec
MTZ - From 60 to 120 sec
LTZ - From 60 to 120 sec

Setting_EncounterCharacterRespawnBatchSizeMultiplier:
Sets the size of respawn waves for entities:

Formula goes
Batch size * Multiplier

Batch size:
HTZ - 0
MTZ - From 1 to 2 entities per wave.
LTZ - From 1 to 2 entities per wave.


note: For some of you that want to set the POI to be clear once cleared till everyone leaves the POI try setting this to 0.
Setting_EncounterCharacterAggressiveSpawnChanceOverride:
Sets chance to spawn an immediate aggressive entity which will attack the player:

Value is expressed in percentage and goes from 0-100
Setting_EncounterCharacterAINoiseResponseRadiusMultiplier:
Sets distance between the alerted entity (ex. screaming puppet) and other entities that can hear it. In other words the distance that the alerted entity be able to alert others.,

Formula goes:
Base radius*multiplier

HTZ - 20 meters
MTZ - 20 meters
LTZ - 30 meters

Setting_EncounterHordeGroupBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier:
Sets the size of a horde wave. Other words how many extra puppets there will be spawned at any single time once the horde is triggered until max size of the horde is reached.
Setting_EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier:
Same as Setting_EncounterExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier, but for horde wave size
Setting_EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier:
Same as Setting_EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier, but for horde wave size
Setting_EncounterHordeBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier:
Total horde size. Sets the maximum amount of puppets in a horde.
Setting_EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier:
Same as Setting_EncounterExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier, but for total horde size.
Setting_EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier:
Same as Setting_EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier, but for total horde size.
Setting_EncounterHordeActivationChanceMultiplier:
Each action has it's own percentage chance to activate a horde ex. firearms, fireworks etc. This sets the multiplier that will either reduce or increase those chances.
Setting_EncounterHordeNoiseCheckCooldownMultiplier:
Sets multiplier on how often the encounter manager checks for trigger (this case noise) to activate the encounter.

Formula goes
base value * multiplier.

Base value is set in seconds and is different for each location type.
Setting_EncounterHordeSpawnDistanceMultiplier:
Multiplier that sets how far from the player normal puppets will start spawning (name is a bit misleading will be changed).

Formula goes
Base value * multiplier

END QUOTE

[ItsOnlySTU]

+100 sort it out devs!

[Kuriisu]

Heyo, we're aware that those settings descriptions are not up to par and are too vague.
We're looking into making them more intuitive and descriptive.

[oynlengeymer]

Originally posted by sniperone:

Sets the time needed between entity respawn:

Formula goes:
Base value * multiplier

Base value:
HTZ - From 0 to 0.5sec
MTZ - From 60 to 120 sec
LTZ - From 60 to 120 sec

Setting_EncounterCharacterRespawnBatchSizeMultiplier:
Sets the size of respawn waves for entities:

Formula goes
Batch size * Multiplier

Batch size:
HTZ - 0
MTZ - From 1 to 2 entities per wave.
LTZ - From 1 to 2 entities per wave.

note: For some of you that want to set the POI to be clear once cleared till everyone leaves the POI try setting this to 0.

Setting_EncounterCharacterAggressiveSpawnChanceOverride:
Sets chance to spawn an immediate aggressive entity which will attack the player:
Value is expressed in percentage and goes from 0-100

Setting_EncounterHordeActivationChanceMultiplier:
Each action has it's own percentage chance to activate a horde ex. firearms, fireworks etc. This sets the multiplier that will either reduce or increase those chances.

Setting_EncounterHordeNoiseCheckCooldownMultiplier:
Sets multiplier on how often the encounter manager checks for trigger (this case noise) to activate the encounter.

Formula goes
base value * multiplier.

Base value is set in seconds and is different for each location type.

Setting_EncounterHordeSpawnDistanceMultiplier:
Multiplier that sets how far from the player normal puppets will start spawning (name is a bit misleading will be changed).

Formula goes
Base value * multiplier

These are the main ones I would look at. And that last one, though wrongly named is still very important if not wanting to kill a regular pup and have another spawn right behind you, that coupled with timing edits should really allow quite a lot of changes and freedom. Sadly I might have to find a new rented server to play on, SP isn't that appealing to me and it seems Officials for now will remain at default settings


Although that last one is named wrongly, I hope we do indeed get a horde distance multiplier. I understand that might need extra work coz no point in a horde spawning in further away from player if they cant find/track the player till they are at the players destination.