Question

I need a simple AI script to make a zombie object ‘walk’ around randomly. I’ve googled and googled but all I can find is stuff on the mathematics function ‘Random Walk’. Maybe it’s related?

I’m using my own JavaScript 2D engine and I need to have something like:

function update() {
    //Move using available physics engine stuff:
    // this.position, this.rotation, this.velocity, this.torque, this.acceleration
    // this.torqueAcceleration, this.drag, this.torqueDrag
}

Thanks! 🙂

Answer 1

I did do a similar script in C# XNA 2 years ago.

The logic is simple. Let’s talk about the logic of walking one zombie in pseudo-code:

The following is the walkable space / platform for the zombie:

x = 0 ___________________________ x = 100

1. Pick a random position to spawn the zombie.

2. If the position is more than half the walkable space, zombie face left. Otherwise zombie face right.

   x = 0 _____________________<_____ x = 100
   x = 0 _______>___________________ x = 100        
   

3. Pick a random distance to move between 5 to the end of the walkable space.

4. Start the walking the zombie for the distance picked.
5. Wait for a amount of time between 2 seconds to 15 seconds (15 seconds because some zombies just like to daze around).
6. Go to Step 2

This should help you to create your script for all the zombies to roam around the map aimlessly. You can vary the values I’ve written in the pseudo-code to suit your game.