Advanced AI Actors In Multi-player

Follow Freeman contains a large number of updates to the source SDK in order to facilitate the variety of techniques used by the original Half-Life 2, and other third-party content, to provide scripted elements to the games. These vary from small single-entity interactions with players (such as the scenes with Barney in the Trainstation levels), to multi-npc interactions with multiple players (such as Squad Following, etc). The adjustments take into account that multiple players are now involved in scenes that, originally, were aimed at a single (unseen) player. NPCs AI will now target all players, for example, the Attack Chopper will fire upon all players, Combine Soldiers will attack all players, Vital Allies can be commanded to follow by any player. In the application of multiplayer AI features we have tried to parallel the evolution of NPC interaction with players shown in Half Life 2 episode 1.