Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Three Nodes SWOT Analysis

Entity:Proximity Trigger -

Strengths:

Easy to use and versatile - can be used to create an extensive variety of effects.

Weaknesses:

A character needs to physically walk through a proximity trigger - remote activation is not an option, which can be limiting.

Opportunities:

This node can be used for many things, including turning on lights and opening doors. The ability to activate an event simply by passing through a designated area is quite powerful, and will be perfect for my intentions of representing movement through visual effects.

Threats:

Care must be taken when setting proximity triggers, especially when you have multiple triggers in the same area, as you do not want the player or other characters accidentally triggering the wrong events.

AI:FollowPathSpeedStance -

Strengths:

Excellent tool for controlling the movement of AI characters. It is relatively easy to use, and can also be used to manipulate the alertness of the character, as well as his speed of travel. With these options, this node makes it easy to produce mobile enemies, or direct characters to perform other tasks to suit your purposes.

Weaknesses:

The node is only applicable when used in conjunction with an AI path, which can be limited in terms of movement. It is also only really suitable for moving an AI character from one spot to another, and therefore as a stand alone node, there are only so many things you can use it for.

Opportunities:

As stated above, this node is perfect for moving AI characters along a path, and therefore it opens up a whole raft of opportunities to create events or effects that build upon the movement of AI. A few possibilities could include patrolling enemies, AI characters turning on lights or opening doors, and enemies taking cover.

Threats:

The actual flow graph scripting for this node can get very complicated once you move beyond the basics, and the Sandbox editor has a few obscure features that can cause problems for generating AI navigation if you don't know what you are doing (for example, small boxes that need to be checked or unchecked that can frustratingly cause your AI to be completely unresponsive).

Time:Delay -

Strengths:

A very simple node that is nevertheless very useful in certain situations, with the ability to delay an event either finishing or beginning.

Weaknesses:

The node is not very useful as a stand alone tool, and is limited to dealing with the timing of certain events. It therefore has a very specialised role, that is perfect in some circumstances but useless in others.

Opportunities:

Time:Delay creates many opportunities within Sandbox 2. Attached to a proximity trigger, it can be used to delay the event that trigger is associated with. For example, a light may take a designated amount of time to turn on once activated, or a door might wait several seconds to close after being opened. Similarly, an AI character could be programmed to delay a certain action.

Threats:

As stated above, Time:Delay is very limited in what it can do, and may have no use.

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