Game/Sentinel.cs
namespace Monolith;
/// <summary>
/// A hovering gun emplacement, and the first thing in the game that shoots back.
///
/// Every other hazard is passive. Barriers sit in the way, leeches sit on the rock, the Spotter
/// watches. All of them can be ignored for a while, and mining is a thing you do *between*
/// dealing with them. A sentinel's shot arrives whether or not you looked at it, so it is the
/// first hazard that sets its own tempo rather than waiting for you to notice.
///
/// The orb is deliberately slow and destructible so the answer is a CHOICE, not a reflex:
///
/// - Move out of its path, which costs you your firing position.
/// - Spend one shot killing the orb, which costs you a shot.
/// - Spend six killing the sentinel, which costs a lot now and nothing later.
///
/// All three are correct in different situations, which is the point.
/// </summary>
public sealed class Sentinel : Component
{
private static readonly List<Sentinel> all = new();
public static IReadOnlyList<Sentinel> All => all;
private static Model bodyModel;
[Property] public float Radius { get; set; } = 78f;
public int Health { get; private set; } = Tuning.SentinelHealth;
private ModelRenderer renderer;
private PointLight glow;
private Vector3 wanderTarget;
private GameTimeSince timeSinceRetarget = 99f;
private GameTimeSince timeSinceShot;
private GameTimeSince timeSinceSpawn;
private float spin;
public static Sentinel Spawn( Scene scene, Vector3 position )
{
if ( scene == null ) return null;
var obj = new GameObject( true, "Sentinel" );
obj.NetworkMode = NetworkMode.Never;
obj.WorldPosition = position;
var sentinel = obj.AddComponent<Sentinel>();
obj.WorldScale = sentinel.Radius;
var mr = obj.AddComponent<ModelRenderer>();
mr.Model = GetBodyModel();
sentinel.renderer = mr;
var light = obj.AddComponent<PointLight>();
light.LightColor = new Color( 1f, 0.35f, 0.12f ) * 5f;
light.Radius = 700f;
light.Shadows = false;
sentinel.glow = light;
sentinel.wanderTarget = position;
// Staggered so a group that arrives together does not fire in a single volley, which
// would be one big dodge instead of a rhythm you have to keep track of.
//
// Capped at HALF the interval, not the whole of it. Rolling near the top meant a
// sentinel could arrive with its reload already finished and shoot you before you had
// seen it exist, which reads as being ambushed by the spawn rather than by the enemy.
sentinel.timeSinceShot = Game.Random.Float( 0f, Tuning.SentinelFireInterval * 0.5f );
Log.Info( "A Sentinel has arrived." );
return sentinel;
}
protected override void OnEnabled() => all.Add( this );
protected override void OnDisabled() => all.Remove( this );
protected override void OnUpdate()
{
// Frozen while a blocking screen or the pause menu is up. See GameTime.
if ( GameTime.Paused )
return;
var manager = MonolithManager.Instance;
if ( !manager.IsValid() || manager.World == null )
return;
Hover( manager );
Face( manager );
// Charge-up glow, so the shot is telegraphed. A turret that fires without warning is
// just damage; one that visibly winds up is something you can play around.
float charge = Math.Clamp( timeSinceShot / Tuning.SentinelFireInterval, 0f, 1f );
if ( glow.IsValid() )
glow.LightColor = new Color( 1f, 0.35f, 0.12f ) * (2f + charge * charge * 9f);
if ( renderer.IsValid() )
renderer.Tint = new Color( 1f, 0.42f, 0.18f ) * (1.2f + charge * charge * 2.5f);
// A beat after arriving before it can shoot at all. Even one second is the difference
// between "a turret turned up and I dealt with it" and "I was hit by something that did
// not exist a moment ago", and the second of those just feels like being cheated.
if ( timeSinceSpawn < Tuning.SentinelArmSeconds )
return;
if ( timeSinceShot < Tuning.SentinelFireInterval )
return;
TryFire();
}
private void TryFire()
{
var player = Scene.GetAllComponents<PlayerMovement>().FirstOrDefault();
if ( !player.IsValid() )
return;
var manager = MonolithManager.Instance;
var toPlayer = player.WorldPosition - WorldPosition;
float distance = toPlayer.Length;
if ( distance < 1f || distance > Tuning.SentinelRange )
return;
// Must actually be pointed at you. The charge glow plus the visible turn is the whole
// warning, and firing without facing would throw both away.
if ( !IsFacing( player.WorldPosition ) )
return;
// Line of sight, so the shape is cover against sentinels too. Consistency matters more
// than the individual rule: if the monolith blocks one threat it must block them all,
// or players cannot reason about cover at all.
if ( manager.World.TraceRay( WorldPosition, toPlayer.Normal, distance - 24f, out _ ) )
return;
timeSinceShot = 0f;
// CALLS IT IN. A sentinel with eyes on you tells every Spotter in range where to look.
//
// This is what turns two hazards into a system. A sentinel is cheap, close-range and
// survivable; a Spotter is the thing that actually costs you a stage but has to find you
// first. Alerting only steers the search, it never grants a lock, so leaving a sentinel
// alive does not kill you - it makes the Spotter that was going to miss you find you
// instead. Killing the cheap thing is now how you stay hidden from the expensive one.
Spotter.AlertAll( player.WorldPosition );
// Leads its target, but DELIBERATELY UNDER-LEADS. It aims at where you would be if you
// kept going, so holding a straight line gets you hit and changing direction beats it.
// A perfect lead would teach the opposite lesson and make movement pointless.
float flight = distance / Tuning.SentinelOrbSpeed;
var predicted = player.WorldPosition
+ player.Velocity * flight * Tuning.SentinelLeadFactor;
SentinelOrb.Spawn( Scene, WorldPosition, (predicted - WorldPosition).Normal );
Audio.Play( Audio.MetalHit, WorldPosition, 0.5f, 0.6f );
}
/// <summary>
/// Turns the barrel toward you at a capped rate, and idles by drifting when you are out of
/// range.
///
/// This is the telegraph. Previously it just spun on the spot and fired at anything in line
/// of sight, so a shot could arrive from a machine that had never appeared to be interested
/// in you. Watching a turret swing round to face you is a warning you can act on, and
/// because the turn is slow, walking around it genuinely spoils the shot.
/// </summary>
private void Face( MonolithManager manager )
{
var player = Scene.GetAllComponents<PlayerMovement>().FirstOrDefault();
// DOES NOT TRACK DURING THE ARM WINDOW.
//
// The arm delay stopped it FIRING but not TURNING, so it swung onto you the instant it
// appeared and then fired the moment the timer expired. From the player's side that is
// indistinguishable from no delay at all: what you read as "it locked on immediately" is
// the barrel movement, not the shot.
//
// Drifting until armed means the delay is something you can SEE. It also stacks: it has
// to spend the arm window idle and then still turn at SentinelTurnRate to find you.
bool armed = timeSinceSpawn >= Tuning.SentinelArmSeconds;
float wanted;
if ( armed && player.IsValid()
&& player.WorldPosition.Distance( WorldPosition ) <= Tuning.SentinelRange )
{
wanted = (player.WorldPosition - WorldPosition).WithZ( 0f ).Normal.EulerAngles.yaw;
}
else
{
// Not armed, or nobody in reach: drift, so it still reads as alive rather than
// switched off.
wanted = spin + 40f * Time.Delta;
}
// Shortest way round, capped. Turning the long way past 180 degrees would look like the
// turret had panicked.
float step = Tuning.SentinelTurnRate * Time.Delta;
spin += Math.Clamp( ShortestTurn( wanted, spin ), -step, step );
WorldRotation = Rotation.FromYaw( spin );
}
/// <summary>True when the barrel is pointed close enough at a target to fire.</summary>
private bool IsFacing( Vector3 target )
{
float wanted = (target - WorldPosition).WithZ( 0f ).Normal.EulerAngles.yaw;
return MathF.Abs( ShortestTurn( wanted, spin ) ) <= Tuning.SentinelViewCone;
}
/// <summary>
/// Signed degrees to turn FROM <paramref name="from"/> TO <paramref name="to"/>, in -180..180.
///
/// Written out rather than using MathX.DeltaDegrees because the docs do not say which way
/// round its arguments subtract, and a sign error here would make the turret rotate away
/// from its target forever. Cheap to spell out, impossible to get subtly wrong.
/// </summary>
private static float ShortestTurn( float to, float from )
=> (to - from + 540f) % 360f - 180f;
private void Hover( MonolithManager manager )
{
var bounds = manager.World.WorldBounds;
if ( timeSinceRetarget > 4.5f )
{
timeSinceRetarget = 0;
// Keeps its distance from the shape so it is never buried inside geometry, and so
// turning to shoot it always means turning away from what you were mining.
float spread = MathF.Max( 700f, bounds.Size.Length * 0.7f );
float angle = Game.Random.Float( 0f, MathF.PI * 2f );
wanderTarget = bounds.Center + new Vector3(
MathF.Cos( angle ) * spread,
MathF.Sin( angle ) * spread,
0f );
wanderTarget.z = bounds.Center.z + Tuning.SentinelHoverHeight;
}
var toTarget = wanderTarget - WorldPosition;
if ( toTarget.Length > 10f )
WorldPosition += toTarget.Normal * Tuning.SentinelSpeed * Time.Delta;
}
/// <summary>
/// Re-arms for a new stage: pushes the reload back and restarts the spawn grace.
///
/// Sentinels carry over between stages so their reload is not reset by a fast player, and
/// that is exactly what made them fire the instant a new stage condensed: a survivor arrives
/// with `timeSinceSpawn` long expired and its reload already full. The arm delay only ever
/// covered a FRESH spawn, which is not the case that needed covering.
///
/// A new stage should always open with a moment to look around, whoever is still in the sky.
/// </summary>
public void RearmForNewStage()
{
timeSinceSpawn = 0f;
timeSinceShot = Game.Random.Float( 0f, Tuning.SentinelFireInterval * 0.4f );
}
/// <summary>Re-arms every sentinel. Called when a new stage condenses.</summary>
public static void RearmAll()
{
for ( int i = 0; i < all.Count; i++ )
{
if ( all[i].IsValid() )
all[i].RearmForNewStage();
}
}
/// <summary>Sphere test for one projectile step, same shape as every other hittable.</summary>
public static bool TryHit( Vector3 start, Vector3 direction, float distance, out Sentinel hit )
{
hit = null;
float best = float.MaxValue;
for ( int i = 0; i < all.Count; i++ )
{
var candidate = all[i];
if ( !candidate.IsValid() ) continue;
var toCentre = candidate.WorldPosition - start;
float along = Vector3.Dot( toCentre, direction );
if ( along < -candidate.Radius || along > distance + candidate.Radius )
continue;
float perpSq = toCentre.LengthSquared - along * along;
if ( perpSq > candidate.Radius * candidate.Radius )
continue;
if ( along < best )
{
best = along;
hit = candidate;
}
}
return hit != null;
}
public void TakeHit( int damage )
{
Health -= damage;
if ( Health > 0 )
{
Audio.Play( Audio.MetalHit, WorldPosition, 0.5f, Audio.Vary( 1.3f ) );
return;
}
var progress = PlayerProgress.Local;
if ( progress.IsValid() )
{
progress.AwardDust( Tuning.SentinelDustReward );
progress.AddResonance( 2 );
progress.Data.SentinelsDowned++;
}
BlastEffect.Spawn( Scene, WorldPosition, 380f, true );
Debris.Burst( Scene, WorldPosition, 200f, true );
Audio.Play( Audio.Explosion, WorldPosition, 0.85f, Audio.Vary( 1.1f ) );
Log.Info( "Sentinel downed." );
GameObject.Destroy();
}
/// <summary>A blunt turret: a wide drum with a barrel stub, unmistakably a gun.</summary>
private static Model GetBodyModel()
{
if ( bodyModel != null ) return bodyModel;
var vb = new VertexBuffer();
vb.Init( true );
int index = 0;
Vector3[] tips = { Vector3.Up * 0.5f, Vector3.Down * 0.5f };
Vector3[] ring =
{
new( 1f, 0f, 0f ), new( 0.7f, 0.7f, 0f ), new( 0f, 1f, 0f ), new( -0.7f, 0.7f, 0f ),
new( -1f, 0f, 0f ), new( -0.7f, -0.7f, 0f ), new( 0f, -1f, 0f ), new( 0.7f, -0.7f, 0f ),
};
foreach ( var tip in tips )
{
for ( int i = 0; i < ring.Length; i++ )
{
var a = ring[i];
var b = ring[(i + 1) % ring.Length];
var (p1, p2) = tip.z > 0 ? (a, b) : (b, a);
var normal = Vector3.Cross( p2 - tip, p1 - tip ).Normal;
var tangent = (p1 - tip).Normal;
vb.Add( new Vertex( tip, normal, tangent, new Vector4( 0.5f, 0, 0, 0 ) ) );
vb.Add( new Vertex( p1, normal, tangent, new Vector4( 0, 1, 0, 0 ) ) );
vb.Add( new Vertex( p2, normal, tangent, new Vector4( 1, 1, 0, 0 ) ) );
vb.AddRawIndex( index + 0 );
vb.AddRawIndex( index + 1 );
vb.AddRawIndex( index + 2 );
index += 3;
}
}
var mesh = new Mesh( Material.Load( "materials/default.vmat" ) );
mesh.CreateBuffers( vb );
bodyModel = new ModelBuilder().AddMesh( mesh ).Create();
return bodyModel;
}
}