man I got chills at 2:33, that enraged mode is absolutely terrifying. sick video!! love the improvements you made to the behavior, they give it way more of a mind of its own. (also thanks so much for the shoutout!)
I think it would be even scarier and more unpredictable if it would sometimes take a different route to get to the player. Basically it would chase you for a bit then take an off path and come at you at a different angle or it could try to cut the player off. I have no idea if it’s even possible but it’s a cool concept.
I like this suggestion a lot and it’s definitely something I’ll look into more soon here, this was my first time ever tinkering with gmod modding or nextbots so I’m still a little new but I’ll take your suggestion to heart when I do the A.I rework
this made me remember about some clips of players running away so fast that the closest path to reach them was the direction they where running, so they would be running and the nextbot just appears in front of them
There's a few features in the Smiler nextbot that made it particularly scary to me. 1. It would change its image based on proximity. It would go from a humanoid silhouette to a gaping maw when it got close. 2. It was animated with some jittery frames that made it seem more uncanny 3. It would make your flashlight malfunction while in close proximity If even one of those features could be added it would really amp the visual terror.
the third one is already a thing, but it doesnt actually flick the flashlight, instead it does random effects on your screen whenever you're close to a nextbot the first one looks quite impossible the second one can be achieved by importing a gif into a VTF file if i remember correctly
first one just seems like its borderline easy if one can change a nextbots image/gif depending on proximity with something, and as i've seen there are ways to force a flashlight to shut off
Yeah, I really feel like some glitchy facial expressions or even something more body horror esque could really help improve the atmosphere for nextbots!
@@Polibo3836 I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The fact that there's just a still image while there's different sounds with different "emotions" just makes it look silly to me. It gives me an unfinished vibe. I think a good compromise would be to allow the player to toggle animations on or off, except in cases where the creator of the nextbot in question feels strongly about how it should behave
With the introduction of Gargitron and now this, I’m hopeful that this is the start of some kind of nextbot renaissance where we get a bunch of nextbots with behaviors beyond just “Run at the player really fast”
Yeah, I think beyond this is where the fun really starts Maybe getting nextbots that try to save you, scaring away other ones, stuff like that Or, a pack of nextbots, that work as a hive mind, the more there are, the faster/smarter they are Or maybe a nextbot that spawns other “mimic”nextbots, who can’t actually hurt you, but distract you from the main
There are *several* nextbots that already do other things than running at the player. What you really mean to say is *PNG* nextbots, not nextbots in general
The following are the best suggestions I've seen in the comments: 1: The nextbot will occasionally take a different route to get to the player, like taking an off path and coming at you at a different angle or even cutting you off 2: When in proximity to the nextbot, your flashlight malfunctions 3: While the nextbot is in its "false chase" mode, it will occasionally lower the chase volume to trick you into thinking you got away 4: When enraged, the nextbot will turn a red hue or give you a red fog 5: The nextbot's rage mechanic will operate on a 1-100 scale, and every time you escape, you add 10-34 rage to its meter 6: If hiding from the nextbot, it has a 50/50 chance of passing by you. If it passes by you, there's another 50/50 chance that it'll pretend to pass by you and instead stalk you from around the corner 7: While the nextbot is chasing you, it has a randomized timer, meaning it chases you for an unpredictable amount of time 8: The nextbot gains a preparation phase, in which it stands still for a few seconds upon sight, but then chases you at increased speed 9: On that note, the preparation phase is combined with the hiding phase for the "surprise attack" phase, in which it's preparing to barrel at you full speed 10: The nextbot "pounces", meaning it gains a moment of extreme speed as if it's a predator ambushing its prey 11: If multiple nextbots are spawned simultaneously, they will work in unison, taking more intelligent paths and branching out to cut off paths 12: Sometimes a nextbot can be a "mimic", in that it replicates the behavior of other nextbots but doesn't harm you, ultimately acting as a distraction 13: When the nextbot kills someone, it takes their form temporarily, mimicking their behaviour until another player gets too close and reverting to its original nextbot form And the following down here are some suggestions I thought of: 1: During its stalk phase, the nextbot studies your movement patterns, learning how to counter you 2: The nextbot occasionally plays sounds from different phases in order to trick you into thinking it's entered those phases, adding a level of unpredictability 3: The nextbot has a "friendly" phase where it follows you around as if it was your ally, but this phase very rarely activates 4: The nextbot has a "ghost" phase where it chases you and disappears right on contact, teleporting somewhere random on the map 5: During the nextbot's "friendly" phase, it will ward off other nextbots, tricking you into thinking it's become an ally
There's honestly some pretty good ideas there, but I think a few would be quite hard to implement. Like the first of your suggestions, it would involve adding a complex machine learning thing into it to even begin to predict possibilites, and even if it got one it would need a few good minutes before it could get enough samples to finally do it right.
if it was animated and if it's image changed it'd honestly be less scary because there's something even more uncanny, uncomfortable, and terrifying about a completely still creature moving at breakneck speed toward you when it's not moving.
A much easier and still unsettling feature would make it so that if you shot it, it would slow down temporarily and then speed up just slightly faster than you can run so it will inevitably get you in the end
I always imagined a wandering phase... Where he doesn't know where you are and wanders around the map until he finds you, thus proceeding to the stalking phase. Probably this wandering phase would be activated when you spawned it, it could make it even more unpredictable, since you don't know if it has already found you and is already going after you.
The gargitron and I believe this one does that too. When spawned in it will instantly teleport somewhere you don’t know and begin stalking you. So you don’t know how long until it gets to you..
@@PhantomOfficial07 I see what you mean. The wandering phase isn’t something it has but more so it simulates a wandering phase by acting like it wanders. It takes longer routes to get to you and scatters off when it sees you so that you don’t know if it found you or is still looking. And the teleporting replaces a need for wandering away because you have genuinely no idea if it’s across the map or in the next room
This feels like it’s gonna end up with like 10 other people reworking it to act like a normal player and then transforming into a nextbot form or something
Some suggestions I also left on Gargins video that you may also want to consider: Duplicate, ghost, stare, and vanish. Duplicate is where it spawns in an exact duplicate of itself that will exist for x number of seconds to chase you down. Ghost is similar but it moves faster and will despawn when it reaches its target. Stare adds an element common in a lot of folk tales where the creature just watches you from a distance without moving. Finally, vanish is where it will disappear entirely, and after so many seconds, and reappear in a random nearby chunk.
suggestions 1.) when in its toying chase mode, it will occasionally lower the chase volume to trick you into thinking you outran it 2.) when enraged the nextbot can also change visually like giving you red fog or turning red itself 3.) being near it will slowly drain health to add to tension
And make it so when it drains health the health it drains will regenerate back after a time making the damage this drain does only temporary so it can happen multiple times if you escape
i think one feature that would be cool is being able to fight back, but with a twist. if its hp reaches zero itll either retreat (enter its hiding phase) or become enraged. basically fighting back could be this last ditch effort you could make if its rly close to killing you
I hope this starts a chain of creators improving gargitron, it would be sick to see a ultimate ai made by tons of talented creators for the one purpose of the most pant shitting experience of your life.
I'm currently working on a spriteset and code ideas for a nextbot, I'll probably make a discord server for gargitron improvements sometime soon if anyone is interested
The original bot was already amazing...but wow, this version is a lot more deep. I love the fact you took the whole, "the AI has a mind of its own" and expanded upon it, making it have a personality of its own where it toys with you and gets angry when you escape from it too much. It honestly makes it a lot more spooky. And it ambushing the player is...just amazing.
There's a way to import gifs via the VTF generator to make your nextbot sprite animated. Doing that will add a level of intimidation when it's not just a static JPG sliding across at you. Whiteface as a sprite would work really well for a nextbot appearance in that regard. There's also 'music' you can incorporate into an enraged chase. Check out Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion, they've got some good OST. Overall, great video!
Wait doesn't that mean that if the bot is to for example peek a corner to look at the you it could like actually peek like slant to the side and stare at you and if you see it you it either hides or chases
i know for a fact animated nextbots are possible, i used to have this astro boy nextbot that had an actual animation. i think it was a series of images that formed an animation, similar to fire effects
Putting the enraged state to a coinflip for every chase after 3 would be spooky and a new "hiding" mode to make it vanish from sight after staring at you and maybe moving towards you. Could even have 2 jump scare modes added to its ambush mode where it becomes enraged when you find it in an ambush or stays very close to your back and vanishes when you turn around quickly and see it
And if you get lucky enough for it to pass you, theres another 50/50 where it either moved away from you, or stalks you at the next corner it see’s. So the nextbot wants you to THINK you’ve just escaped, but thats not true. It saw you, and its going to see you again.
@@lucasrhys0363 or a 33/33/33 where it either moves away from you, stalks you at the next corner it sees, or begins to move away but then chases you again
I think what would make this even better than it already is. Is maybe a chase time randomizer. Right now it seems to give up/stop at a predictable time. (Doesn't make it any less terrifying btw) But imagine it decides to start chasing you for double the time. Unless this is already a thing and I'm just finding patterns in things that aren't there.
I feel like if i chose between the two, i would choosr gargitron for a more basic nextbot but if i wanted this nextbot i would want a more complex situation
this is awesome, the only thing i feel nextbots like these need are more visual elements. new sprites for the enraged state, and even stuff like animations for coming out of hiding and wandering would be sick, but perhaps it could mess with you by placing what are essentially “dummies” that trick you into thinking the real one is chasing you
Suggestion for a new phase, “Preparing” The point of this phase is to let the nextbox get some extra speed like ambushing, but without needing to be found. When the player sees it, it will stand still for 2-3 before running towards the player with increased speed,
That should be combined with the hiding thing, where it would pretend to be going out of sight to hide, but it's actually preparing to come barrelling down at you at full speed
honestly a varied timescale between, say, 1-10 seconds would be great, especially if the bot is given spatial awareness. imagine walking into a large room. on the other end is a door, and in between you and the door is the bot, standing still. do you risk it and try to run past, or do you err on the side of caution and back out of the room, in case you rolled a short timer?
I love the additions to this version. The added bonus to the hiding mechanic is really creepy and sets it up for some amazing scares that feel natural because they ARE. Plus the rage mode even only just watching the video had me on EDGE, I can’t imagine how creeped out I’d get actually playing it. Also I kinda love the concept that more and more people will take Gargitron and add more to it as things go along. With each new iteration it’ll get more and more complex and add so many more ways to be scary. I hope someone takes up the mantle next to continue making it even more creepy in ways we never could have imagined
something to consider might be having it sometimes enter that ambush mode shortly after the player spots it and it chooses to hide instead of chase. there's plenty of clips where it hides, the player runs to check where it went, and its vanished or even teleported out of a position it doesnt seem it should be able to disappear from. this would create the situation where it spots the player, backs behind a corner, and then waits for the player to grow curious and walk directly into it
I love this movement for innovation in the Nextbot scene, but it also makes me fear for the one day where we've reached the ultimate Nextbot who's able to send you into a time paradox where it's an empty space with only it and you in it. The catch is that, you never get away and while the distances between both of you may vary, he will always be right on your tail, every single time you look back.
I personally believe adding in reactions to interactions such as getting shot or getting stuck would be an insanely welcome addition. Even if they don't have any effect, the bot pretending like it's hurt and fleeing only to come back again with no damage would be gorgeously scary
This is really nice! Maybe a bit more sound variety would make it feel less repetitive? Perhaps the toying chase has a subtle sound difference (like its laughing at you perhaps), or maybe when it ambushes you it makes an additional noise to get your attention before chasing.
Nothing compares to being chased by a nextbot. That stillness as you wait for it to show itself, the loud sounds as it chases you, hearing and seeing it right behind you... so close that a single mistake will cost you your life. Physically arching my back foward like there is actually something behind me, and i have to escape.
To add some detail, I think you can add "screen buffering" effect from nun massacre which implies that the killer is close. More extra little details can be text appearing such as "run" "look to the right/left/behind" "something is off" which can stress the player more into thinking that they could be in trouble.
i unknowingly of the depth of this bot put it in my list for nextbots that i wanted to use for a video, i got so many great clips from this bot in particular, you are a genius for enhancing it even further
Bro, these improvements are very good and integral for the *real* scary feel of the nextbot. I'm definitely going to make a video this on my channel as I feel this new nextbot is going to do well on the steam workshop due to it's hype of Gargin's original one and your version being hella scary and more advanced. I'm obviously going to credit you for making it *pog video dude*
Im liking the fact that those new nextbots arent just a normal Chase but also smart and teriffying and not made to be "oh my god guys look its super speed"
I love this, i always wanted some some more variety into gmod nextbots such as the trollge one, his behavior is different from most of nextbots in the workshop, and this improvement from gargitron is pure art. You need to keep upgrading this man fr, if im not too late, i would recommend adding to the nextbot the ability to have a chance of trying to open doors, he still would be able to go through them or destroying them, but i think it would add A LOT to the experience seeing stuff like the Nextbot trying to break into the room ur hiding, having a chance to actually success or leave u alone.
Something I thought about with the original Gargitron was: for its stalking behavior, where it flips a coin and has a 50% chance of running and hiding when seen, maybe it should have a quick burst of speed and handling for just one or two seconds when seen so that instead of lazily drifting behind cover when observed, it just ZOOMS behind cover and gives this... I'm not sure how to describe it, but th-cam.com/video/Fu2ZJ5iZSMU/w-d-xo.html this sort of vibe of just instantly disappearing. And then potentially, making it originally start with a much, MUCH higher chance of running and hiding when seen, but slowly increasing its chasing chances over time, with a larger increase when a chase is survived to give the idea of it getting consistently more aggressive and angry, and a very large decrease when it kills a player to invoke the idea of it being "pleased" or "satisfied" and backing off for a while. For Terminus here, I think I'd make the rage mode a coin flip that gets more weighted the more you escape it too. A zero percent chance on first escape, but add maybe 20% or 25% per escape, so you might get consistently lucky with avoiding rage mode or get caught off-guard by an early rage and the player wouldn't have any way to anticipate it.
The one thing about Gargitron's hiding phase is that it's slow on purpose. It'll even peek out to make sure you see it before it slips away. It _wants_ you to know it knows you saw it, it's more like a taunt and less like it's actually trying to hide
@@uncroppedsoop Oh, definitely. I suppose it's a matter of preference there; Gargitron (and Terminus) as it is seems WAY too slow to me when it runs to hide after being seen. It feels less like a taunt and more like it's just lazily drifting aimlessly at its current speed, rather than taunting you by giving you just a glimpse of it only for it to disappear to come at you from somewhere else.
Idea: "Hit 'n Run" *Nextbot will chase you with slightly faster speed and after short period of time will run away from the player.* If it's possible i would like to see that. Also huge props to you for improving Nextbots from being just a chase to something more complex
An idea I've thought of that probably won't get any traction but still worth noting is that what if the nextbot has a fourth mode where it goes invisible and sort of phantom follows the player, always sounding like it's far away even if it's inches from the player. basically, the mode is like stalk, but it remains completely invisible, until at an entirely random point in time (max 5 mins maybe) it goes out of invisibility and flips a coin for the main 4 choices again.
Maybe if you look behind you it would roll a d8 and if it hits 6-7 it will flash and make a loud noise before dissappearing but if it hits 8 it will go into chase after a split second
(Not gonna lie thought it was Moist when i first tuned in) Awesome video! Personally i love These types of nextbot more than the "run at you screaming various meme sounds". It gives a lot more unpredictability and fear, since you know it could be around any corner, waiting.
I like how he's taking suggestions that sound fun into account and (please don't take this the wrong way I mean no harm) since he is a smaller creator it gives it a sense of community almost Edit: also I really like this idea of people making all these advanced nextbotsaybe eventually we could have entire minigames based around all of them I'd personally like to see one that protects you from other nextbots (don't know how possible that is though lol) Wow sorry didn't mean to write an entire *thesis!*
Extra stuff that could be added: track the zones the player likes to spend the time the most and make it so it wanders, hides, ambushes and cuts corners in bias to those zones, and even to decide to chase you away or block the path to those safe places, basically making the bot able to flank, to take away the sense of security to the player in any place Prop play, basically give the bot the ability to throw props at you mid chase, or to store them to throw at you whenever it wants, or even to create obstacles depending on the zone, for example, putting a prop down between a zone of one big open area, a passage and another open area, also depending on the places the player likes to spend most time or scape to
Nice video! Hopefully you don't mind suggestions 1: A problem with the original version is that if he enters his hide state, sometimes he just walks by you and it's more awkward than scary. I'm not sure if this has been fixed or not but maybe it could keep track of player position or have something called "weighted RNG" where it'll be more likely to do A than B depending on circumstance, this would create that imagery of it just peeking around the corner or seeing it walk by at the end of a hallway, kinda like that scene in Bendy's chapter 2. 2: Maybe if it finds it's way behind the player or it just teleports there, it could quietly lurk behind and make sounds until the player looks behind 'em. Then it could do its coin toss thing, heck maybe have it be more likely it hides the closer it is to a corridor or corner . 3: Just a quickie, Perhaps it could have a small chance to teleport near a player, behind a corner or at the end of a hallway, then once spotted would quickly disappear. 4: Maybe whilst stalking it could teleport at random. 5: A bug I've found while playing multiplayer was it would not attack as frequently, almost never encountering it.
1. That’s definitely possible and something I actually meant to add but forgot about, I’ll add that very soon when I fix some of the many bugs that exists currently haha. I agree, definitely loses some spice if you think he’s running down the hall to clap your cheeks but he’s actually just hiding somewhere. 2. I had an idea similar to this when programming but had to scrap because of time constraints (school): a taunting mode. He follows behind you at a distance and laughs or giggle occasionally, and after a certain time he rolls a weighted dice (like above) to either hide or immediately chase. 3. Have you ever played identify theft on Roblox? Where the enemy peeks from behind the corner far away and rapidly disappears when spotted? Something like that? 4. I’m thinking of reworking stalking to just teleport him somewhere much closer to the player initially so that you can see him sooner to make it feel like an actual “stalk” vs. tons of “nothing time” between chases. 5. Multiplayer bugs are something I’m aware of. Not really a cut and dry fix for it other than rewriting a lot of code, so for now I’ll fix the issues with singleplayer and once that’s done I’ll move on to a full multiplayer release 💯
Great suggestions! Personally, I feel like it might be scarier if in taunting mode, he made no noise at all, or perhaps started out silent, but if following for long enough began playing some very quiet ambience, like brown noise. Almost unnoticeable, but subconsciously it makes you know something is wrong.
@@slireth_gunman5465 just the right amount of blank space builds tension, enough for you to think "Wait, I haven't seen it for a while... somethings up." Then you turn around and it's right behind you, immediately thrusting you into a chase. After an encounter like that, even blank space is suddenly ominous. You can't necessarily trust it anymore. Imagine how you would feel during the blank space, if there was a possibility it could be right behind you and you wouldn't even know it. Even if there really was nothing, it would keep you looking over your shoulder a little more.
@@Syhgma identity fraud was a great game. the fairy in the grass maze made me fall out of my chair when it transformed, jumping at me and and killing me instantly.
I would recommend having the nextbot make it's usual noises even whilst in hiding mode, just much more quietly, that way it doesn't feel unfair when it kills you from behind with no warning. And it might be fun to add some gameplay to your nextbot by having it have actual health, and therefore the ability to die if the player deals enough damage to it, however, if the nextbot kills you, it gets restored back to max health, just to make the gameplay more balanced.
Alternatively, having it coin flip (or other probability model) when it's health is depleted by damage enough to swap to a 'flee' behavior, then let it recover health while hiding could produce a more cat and mouse setup where you CAN repel it to a degree, without need for it to be killable. Throw in some objectives on the map to do (randomly placed perhaps) and you'd have a pretty solid game setup.
bro, hearing about the new chasing mechs is so scaresome, imagine thinking you ran away from it only to see it still behind you and rush you at full speed
you literally made a nextbot feel human, something i thought couldnt ever be done. the fact that it lets you live just to get angry when you beat it is so uncanny to the realm of funny jpg chasing you
Some ideas for potential alternate nextbots - Trickster - This nextbot tends to ambush the player a lot and rarely chases. This bot doesn't stalk the player and always knows where they are. It likes to run into hiding spaces and wait for the player to get close. When the player gets close, have it toss two coins; if there are any heads, it will lunge at the player when they enter its range at extremely fast speeds and maybe play a loud noise, but when it touches the player they won't die and it'll teleport away to hide again. However, if it gets two tails, it'll instead rush and start chasing the player to kill them when it makes contact. (So basically, it has a 25% chance of turning hostile and a 75% chance of just spooking them) Though maybe it'll get "disinterested" quickly and back off to go ambush them again if the player keeps away. If by some chance the player spots it while it's trying to find a suitable hiding spot to ambush the player, maybe it'll get very angry and start chasing them like an enraged normal bot. Though again, it would lose interest quickly if the player eludes it and will soon go back to trying to find a hiding spot. This behavior would be very tough to see though since it's usually very quick to find a hiding spot. The idea is that it likes to screw with the player and frighten them a lot before actually trying to kill them, but is less lethal than other types. Berserker - This nextbot is much more hostile and faster than others but is significantly easier to fool and avoid. When it searches for the player, the player has to be in its detection radius for longer than other types before it goes after them. If the player enters its radius, flip a coin. If the player gets out of the radius, depending on the coin flip the bot will either go towards where the player was after a moment, or just resume stalking and hunting the player. When the Berserker does detect the player fully, it's much more quick and aggressive than normal, kind of a slightly less proficient "enraged" state like the standard bot; maybe its top speed could be faster, but it would have a hard time changing speeds quickly and it could maybe make mistakes like bumping and getting stuck on walls for a bit. In addition, the player can fool it and elude it a bit easier than other types if they're smart. If the player does elude it, it'll enter an "angry stalk" state where it moves around to search for the player much faster. If the player enters its radius at all, it'll immediately go back in the hunt. Every few seconds, flip a coin, and depending on the result either stay in the angry stalk state or revert into the standard stalk state. This type wouldn't ambush or hide at all; it doesn't want to toy with you, it wants you dead. In a straight endless chase it would catch you quickly but as previously stated it's easy to elude in twisty areas with lots of turns and hiding spots. Stalker - This one can be considered a "cousin" to the Trickster in that it's somewhat less lethal than other bots. Again, this one doesn't hide at all, but during the stalking state it moves around silently very quickly. When it detects the player, depending on if the player is facing it or not it'll do one of two things. If the player is facing it, it'll quickly run away and get as far from the player as possible. If the player is dumb enough to go after it, after a while it'll just get immensely angry and pretty much go for the throat. If the player doesn't act stupid and go after it, it'll soon go back to the "stalking" state. If the player isn't facing it when it detects them however, it'll start following them around but not actually going for the kill. It'll just stay behind them and mirror their movement and speed. It'll even try to stay behind the player if they turn and look around, but it obviously isn't perfect. While it follows the player, it could make quiet noises every now and then. If the player doesn't notice it for too long, say between thirty seconds and a minute, it'll scream at them and go for the kill very quickly, practically unavoidable. If the player ever spots it, it'll pause for a second or two and flip two coins. 75% of the time it'll just make a loud noise and run away, behaving like it does if the player sees it during the stalking state. However, 25% of the time, it'll start chasing the player, generally a lot faster than the Trickster type. It's also a lot more persistent than the Trickster. If the player eludes it long enough it'll go back to the stalking state. This one also is there to mess with the player a lot, but it can be way more lethal than the Trickster.
To be honest, a nextbot that you could possibly hide from, but it always knows where you are, and has a phase where it fakes to not know where you are would be really good.
i think some things to make the nextbot even more terrifying is if it came equipped with some procedural animation procedural animation can make really realistic and organic looking animations which would really sell the tension as it would less like an AI and more like a living predator that somehow got into the game, this would demand a 3d body which would blast open a huge array of posibillities to make it even more disturbing another thing i'd recommend is giving it the ability to crawl upon walls and the ceiling which would cause even more paranoia as it can come from literally any direction and the map would greatly influence the way it thinks and acts one last thing i think would go a long way is if it could manipulate props within the environment to try and trap you, this would require it having an AI that could learn from your behaviours and as such likely another mode where it leaves you alone to set up those traps
Jeez this is horrendous haha. Great modifications man. This is all super interesting stuff! Any idea how you'd go about making this work for a co-op game? Would it be possible to make the next bot flip a coin and choose a random player as an obsession after each chase, changing its target once it catches someone or resets to stalking?
That shit was unnerving, what I thought was gonna happen in the end was it peek out and then hide taking a different route while enraged, this bot is on some next level mind games 😂
Idk if it's possible but you could give the player the ability to hide from the nextbot. Suppose you turn a corner and hide in the shadows like Syhgma does at 4:20, maybe the nextbot goes into a searching phase where it's unsure of your exact location.
I have an idea, maybe make it a 4th phase which is unseeable mode, basically he’s invisible and doesn’t make noise and cannot attack but when getting close enough to you he turns on to chasing so he tricks you into thinking he’s gone.
Nextbots move with ice physics, the longer they're in a straight line, the faster they'll Go, so making it as fast as the player by base would make it way too fast.
random ideas i had: during chase, chance to disable sounds and take a longer route to the player and catch them off guard when hiding, small chance to teleport somewhere nearby
I can just imagine how terrifying nextbots will start to be if more people start using this AI and even improving it more, like damn this AI with a 3d model will give me a heart attack
@@Destion-oq1hu Its more of an preference to be honest, the thing that it actually gives me "fear" is just know that something is tracking me down and i don't know where he will come, not a spooky png or 3d model with a loud sound
Working on a nun massacre bot that will have a custom model and sounds, this one was more of a proof of concept for some improvements to the original gargitron, but I’m definitely looking into some asset swaps for sure
Even when I deliberately gave myself the upper hand by flying and noclipping and stalked the nextbot the enraged mode always caught me off guard. The improvements made is really good!
Could you add multiplayer functionality? I was using the original nextbot with my friend and I think it had trouble choosing who to hunt so anytime we saw it when it was hiding it would just stay there. I hope you make it, so it doesn't get glitched when in a server with multiple people.
An issue I’m aware of, once I patch out some bugs and add some of the features that have been requested I’m going to make it multiplayer compatible. Should be pretty soon here!
I don't know how feasible this would be, but I had a fun idea. If the bot can see you, but YOU can't see IT (if that's even a thing you can detect), it goes silent and sneaks up behind you without attacking you. When you look at it while it's doing this, it screams and freezes for a second before starting a chase. If you take too long to look at it, it enrages and chases you anyway. Nothing is scarier than turning around and seeing something suddenly appear where you thought nothing was just a second ago.
Here’s my idea to through into the ring. Peeping, if the bot is in a chase mode and the player breaks visual line of sight(hides behind a wall) and attempts to hide(crouches in a corner), the bot has a low(90-10)chance to to choose to peep, where it slowly crawls the wall between the player and bot as ambience slowly builds. Once it reaches the end it jumps out, but not completely, from behind the wall. It briefly pauses before resuming chase. If the player stops hiding it resumes the chase. If it fails it does another check to see if the player has successfully avoided the monster. Second mechanic, stealth. This is a mechanic for the player to tip the scales in their favor. Basically , when a player decides to crouch, it puts them in a hiding state. This hiding state has a base effective ness of 0, but goes for x amount y times. Where x is distance, and y is number of obstructions between the bot and player. In other words, the farther you are from the next bot the more effective hiding is, but only if your behind cover, multiple of which can hiding more effective. Type of chase also would affect levels of effectiveness. Toying might Choose to set up an ambush peep, where it hides behind the wall to ambush the player. Normal will not effect levels or strategy. Enraged by nature would make stealth much harder, and choose not to peep. When the player enters hiding state the nextbot is basically prompted this: (For reference I’m learning Python) When receiving PLAYERHIDE: -IF playerstealthcheck() == TRUE #if player fails to hide --IF peeporchaseflip()== TRUE THEN: ---peep() --ELSE: ---continue chase -ELSE: --hideorchaseflip() If you have any ideas on how to improve or make this idea work please let me know.
![[LIVE] BABYMONSTER(베이비몬스터) - DRIP | 두시탈출 컬투쇼](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UG05pxLGwzc/mqdefault.jpg)
![⭐️( ลอยกระทง 2024 ) Ver. แดนซ์ Remix BY [ ดีเจกิต รีมิกซ์ ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rMWOLhgXUHc/mqdefault.jpg)
man I got chills at 2:33, that enraged mode is absolutely terrifying. sick video!! love the improvements you made to the behavior, they give it way more of a mind of its own. (also thanks so much for the shoutout!)
yoooo it's gargin
nice
woah its the man him self
Gebagiginbin grabin grain bin :)
hello there
I think it would be even scarier and more unpredictable if it would sometimes take a different route to get to the player. Basically it would chase you for a bit then take an off path and come at you at a different angle or it could try to cut the player off. I have no idea if it’s even possible but it’s a cool concept.
wouldn't be too hard i think?
That would be scary as fuck
The cyan ghost from pac-man does that, but then again, it qas a 2D game.
I like this suggestion a lot and it’s definitely something I’ll look into more soon here, this was my first time ever tinkering with gmod modding or nextbots so I’m still a little new but I’ll take your suggestion to heart when I do the A.I rework
this made me remember about some clips of players running away so fast that the closest path to reach them was the direction they where running, so they would be running and the nextbot just appears in front of them
There's a few features in the Smiler nextbot that made it particularly scary to me.
1. It would change its image based on proximity. It would go from a humanoid silhouette to a gaping maw when it got close.
2. It was animated with some jittery frames that made it seem more uncanny
3. It would make your flashlight malfunction while in close proximity
If even one of those features could be added it would really amp the visual terror.
the third one is already a thing, but it doesnt actually flick the flashlight, instead it does random effects on your screen whenever you're close to a nextbot
the first one looks quite impossible
the second one can be achieved by importing a gif into a VTF file if i remember correctly
first one just seems like its borderline easy if one can change a nextbots image/gif depending on proximity with something, and as i've seen there are ways to force a flashlight to shut off
Yeah, I really feel like some glitchy facial expressions or even something more body horror esque could really help improve the atmosphere for nextbots!
I honestly feel that would take away from the fear more than anything, the fact that it's a still png makes it a lot creepier to me
@@Polibo3836 I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The fact that there's just a still image while there's different sounds with different "emotions" just makes it look silly to me. It gives me an unfinished vibe. I think a good compromise would be to allow the player to toggle animations on or off, except in cases where the creator of the nextbot in question feels strongly about how it should behave
With the introduction of Gargitron and now this, I’m hopeful that this is the start of some kind of nextbot renaissance where we get a bunch of nextbots with behaviors beyond just “Run at the player really fast”
Yeah, I think beyond this is where the fun really starts
Maybe getting nextbots that try to save you, scaring away other ones, stuff like that
Or, a pack of nextbots, that work as a hive mind, the more there are, the faster/smarter they are
Or maybe a nextbot that spawns other “mimic”nextbots, who can’t actually hurt you, but distract you from the main
@@pacg1801 a group of 3 or 4 nextbits are already very deadly, with the capability to work together you would stand no chance
@@pacg1801 yeah…
*cough cough* DrgBase *cough cough* VJ Base *cough cough*
There are *several* nextbots that already do other things than running at the player. What you really mean to say is *PNG* nextbots, not nextbots in general
@@artemis1993 Yeah, I was referring to this specific type of nextbot only, not to all nextbots in general
We have entered an arms race for the most terrifying nextbot in gmod
You know what they say
_”Competition fuels innovations”_
Can't wait to see the cuban missle crisis
Germany gonna lose again
And I fckn love it
Germany L again
This makes nextbots more intelligent like if it was an actual creature. Nice job
You know what else makes it more intelligent? Realizing the name Syhgma is Syhgma balls
@@iliketurtles89-c6v why just why?!?!?
Why the light joke
@@iliketurtles89-c6v bruh creepy asf
@@iliketurtles89-c6v you do realise y isn’t the same as u
Nextcreatures
The following are the best suggestions I've seen in the comments:
1: The nextbot will occasionally take a different route to get to the player, like taking an off path and coming at you at a different angle or even cutting you off
2: When in proximity to the nextbot, your flashlight malfunctions
3: While the nextbot is in its "false chase" mode, it will occasionally lower the chase volume to trick you into thinking you got away
4: When enraged, the nextbot will turn a red hue or give you a red fog
5: The nextbot's rage mechanic will operate on a 1-100 scale, and every time you escape, you add 10-34 rage to its meter
6: If hiding from the nextbot, it has a 50/50 chance of passing by you. If it passes by you, there's another 50/50 chance that it'll pretend to pass by you and instead stalk you from around the corner
7: While the nextbot is chasing you, it has a randomized timer, meaning it chases you for an unpredictable amount of time
8: The nextbot gains a preparation phase, in which it stands still for a few seconds upon sight, but then chases you at increased speed
9: On that note, the preparation phase is combined with the hiding phase for the "surprise attack" phase, in which it's preparing to barrel at you full speed
10: The nextbot "pounces", meaning it gains a moment of extreme speed as if it's a predator ambushing its prey
11: If multiple nextbots are spawned simultaneously, they will work in unison, taking more intelligent paths and branching out to cut off paths
12: Sometimes a nextbot can be a "mimic", in that it replicates the behavior of other nextbots but doesn't harm you, ultimately acting as a distraction
13: When the nextbot kills someone, it takes their form temporarily, mimicking their behaviour until another player gets too close and reverting to its original nextbot form
And the following down here are some suggestions I thought of:
1: During its stalk phase, the nextbot studies your movement patterns, learning how to counter you
2: The nextbot occasionally plays sounds from different phases in order to trick you into thinking it's entered those phases, adding a level of unpredictability
3: The nextbot has a "friendly" phase where it follows you around as if it was your ally, but this phase very rarely activates
4: The nextbot has a "ghost" phase where it chases you and disappears right on contact, teleporting somewhere random on the map
5: During the nextbot's "friendly" phase, it will ward off other nextbots, tricking you into thinking it's become an ally
If someone actually added all of these features to a nextbot, it would be the most indepth and terrifying nextbot to have been created in ages.
There's honestly some pretty good ideas there, but I think a few would be quite hard to implement. Like the first of your suggestions, it would involve adding a complex machine learning thing into it to even begin to predict possibilites, and even if it got one it would need a few good minutes before it could get enough samples to finally do it right.
if it was animated and if it's image changed it'd honestly be less scary because there's something even more uncanny, uncomfortable, and terrifying about a completely still creature moving at breakneck speed toward you when it's not moving.
Number 8 is what I was thinking of.
A much easier and still unsettling feature would make it so that if you shot it, it would slow down temporarily and then speed up just slightly faster than you can run so it will inevitably get you in the end
I always imagined a wandering phase... Where he doesn't know where you are and wanders around the map until he finds you, thus proceeding to the stalking phase. Probably this wandering phase would be activated when you spawned it, it could make it even more unpredictable, since you don't know if it has already found you and is already going after you.
The gargitron and I believe this one does that too. When spawned in it will instantly teleport somewhere you don’t know and begin stalking you. So you don’t know how long until it gets to you..
@@paranormallettuce7227 That's not how it works, this guy was talking about a wandering phase, not teleporting when you spawn it
@@PhantomOfficial07 I see what you mean. The wandering phase isn’t something it has but more so it simulates a wandering phase by acting like it wanders. It takes longer routes to get to you and scatters off when it sees you so that you don’t know if it found you or is still looking. And the teleporting replaces a need for wandering away because you have genuinely no idea if it’s across the map or in the next room
so kind of like the hide and seek gamemode in it steals
@@rapidfirefox911 Yooo, glad to see someone else who remembers "It Steals" :P
bro, the enrage state + the sample noises from nun massacre is such a terifying but well combined combo.
Jellyfish pfp brotherhood
💪💪💪💪
Why are yall everywhere with that pfp?!?!
@@NoviRacoon We are legion
@@NoviRacoon its a free image I think
when you buy a computer
Tell ya what. I never had a Nextbot make me quit a game 💀
just wait for the update to hit bro…..
👀👀👀
@@Syhgmahas the update released
This feels like it’s gonna end up with like 10 other people reworking it to act like a normal player and then transforming into a nextbot form or something
That is actually a really good idea.
yes this is just the beginning
Honestly one that takes the form of what they kill and then dropping the facade once it’s close enough would be amazing
That’s just Zeta Players but Horror edition
1 year from now people would have accidentally made nextbots so smart it becomes irl skynet lmao
Some suggestions I also left on Gargins video that you may also want to consider: Duplicate, ghost, stare, and vanish. Duplicate is where it spawns in an exact duplicate of itself that will exist for x number of seconds to chase you down. Ghost is similar but it moves faster and will despawn when it reaches its target. Stare adds an element common in a lot of folk tales where the creature just watches you from a distance without moving. Finally, vanish is where it will disappear entirely, and after so many seconds, and reappear in a random nearby chunk.
suggestions
1.) when in its toying chase mode, it will occasionally lower the chase volume to trick you into thinking you outran it
2.) when enraged the nextbot can also change visually like giving you red fog or turning red itself
3.) being near it will slowly drain health to add to tension
the health draining part makes my skin crawl thinking about it, that's such a genuinely great idea!
the screen should flash black when he's enraged
There should be screen shake the closer he gets in enraged mode
And make it so when it drains health the health it drains will regenerate back after a time making the damage this drain does only temporary so it can happen multiple times if you escape
did you just say turning red
i am shaking in anger
i think one feature that would be cool is being able to fight back, but with a twist. if its hp reaches zero itll either retreat (enter its hiding phase) or become enraged. basically fighting back could be this last ditch effort you could make if its rly close to killing you
Actually, nextbots do have health, it’s just that a lot of Mod makers make them invincible
@VriekeZennI don't think sanic-styled nextbots have health though
@@royalblanket They do, it’s just some don’t
The point of the creepiness of the next it is that you have a feeling of dread, you can’t fight back nor escape it.
Nah that would ruin it, makes it less scary
I hope this starts a chain of creators improving gargitron, it would be sick to see a ultimate ai made by tons of talented creators for the one purpose of the most pant shitting experience of your life.
YES PLEASE!!!
I'm currently working on a spriteset and code ideas for a nextbot, I'll probably make a discord server for gargitron improvements sometime soon if anyone is interested
That would be fantastic
@@smnio5619 ME ME US WE ARE
A nextbot so advanced and terrifying it causes people to completely stop playing after spawning it in.
The original bot was already amazing...but wow, this version is a lot more deep. I love the fact you took the whole, "the AI has a mind of its own" and expanded upon it, making it have a personality of its own where it toys with you and gets angry when you escape from it too much. It honestly makes it a lot more spooky. And it ambushing the player is...just amazing.
There's a way to import gifs via the VTF generator to make your nextbot sprite animated. Doing that will add a level of intimidation when it's not just a static JPG sliding across at you. Whiteface as a sprite would work really well for a nextbot appearance in that regard.
There's also 'music' you can incorporate into an enraged chase. Check out Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion, they've got some good OST.
Overall, great video!
I’ll look into it, thanks!
@@Syhgma Shygma balls
@@Syhgma this would be great to implement in an enraged state or chase, while the flat png remaining in stalking mode
Wait doesn't that mean that if the bot is to for example peek a corner to look at the you it could like actually peek like slant to the side and stare at you and if you see it you it either hides or chases
i know for a fact animated nextbots are possible, i used to have this astro boy nextbot that had an actual animation. i think it was a series of images that formed an animation, similar to fire effects
This is absolutely the next step to creating the ultimate nextbot
I think duplicating itself after a number of succesful escapes would improve its unpredictability
Genius!
bumping so uploader sees this
amazing
@ireallylike memes allow the player to set it with a menu
Yes but that would cause a bit of a problem in smaller maps
....oooo a options menu would be nice
im glad we're on that phase where people are making nextbots based on its complexity rather than just trying to make the fastest nextbot
That last clip, jfc. Nice to know that nextbot are now more than just "goofy png of character" and now are genuinely kinda terrifying.
jfc?
@@alessiobrlol98 jesus fucking christ
@@alessiobrlol98 "Jesus Fucking Christ"
@@Mantoisful oooh thamks stranger
@@alessiobrlol98 jesus fried chicken
Putting the enraged state to a coinflip for every chase after 3 would be spooky and a new "hiding" mode to make it vanish from sight after staring at you and maybe moving towards you. Could even have 2 jump scare modes added to its ambush mode where it becomes enraged when you find it in an ambush or stays very close to your back and vanishes when you turn around quickly and see it
what if you made it so you could hide from it during a chase and theres a 50/50 chance of it not finding you but passing right by you?
Pass by but from our pov. It like looking us while walk away.
And if you get lucky enough for it to pass you, theres another 50/50 where it either moved away from you, or stalks you at the next corner it see’s.
So the nextbot wants you to THINK you’ve just escaped, but thats not true. It saw you, and its going to see you again.
@@lucasrhys0363 bro that would be crazy
so
a small chance of it just intentionally missing you by a bit, and immediately going to a hide phase afterwards
@@lucasrhys0363 or a 33/33/33 where it either moves away from you, stalks you at the next corner it sees, or begins to move away but then chases you again
That little headshake at the nextbot as it was chasing you in the Backrooms was surprisingly adorable
weird-ass comment homie
wtf
kawaii, even
I think what would make this even better than it already is. Is maybe a chase time randomizer. Right now it seems to give up/stop at a predictable time. (Doesn't make it any less terrifying btw) But imagine it decides to start chasing you for double the time.
Unless this is already a thing and I'm just finding patterns in things that aren't there.
The fact that it keeps playing that sound even when it wasnt chasing is seriously terrifying
I feel like if i chose between the two, i would choosr gargitron for a more basic nextbot but if i wanted this nextbot i would want a more complex situation
Working on adding more complex behaviours soon here. Thanks for the comment!
been looking at the suggestion comments that you reply to, I would love to see what's to come of this nextbot if you add them.
@@Syhgma what program did you used to change the image like the MDL file?
this is awesome, the only thing i feel nextbots like these need are more visual elements. new sprites for the enraged state, and even stuff like animations for coming out of hiding and wandering would be sick, but perhaps it could mess with you by placing what are essentially “dummies” that trick you into thinking the real one is chasing you
I'm not sure about animations, buy maybe just changing the png would work
Suggestion for a new phase, “Preparing”
The point of this phase is to let the nextbox get some extra speed like ambushing, but without needing to be found. When the player sees it, it will stand still for 2-3 before running towards the player with increased speed,
That should be combined with the hiding thing, where it would pretend to be going out of sight to hide, but it's actually preparing to come barrelling down at you at full speed
honestly a varied timescale between, say, 1-10 seconds would be great, especially if the bot is given spatial awareness. imagine walking into a large room. on the other end is a door, and in between you and the door is the bot, standing still. do you risk it and try to run past, or do you err on the side of caution and back out of the room, in case you rolled a short timer?
I love the additions to this version. The added bonus to the hiding mechanic is really creepy and sets it up for some amazing scares that feel natural because they ARE. Plus the rage mode even only just watching the video had me on EDGE, I can’t imagine how creeped out I’d get actually playing it.
Also I kinda love the concept that more and more people will take Gargitron and add more to it as things go along. With each new iteration it’ll get more and more complex and add so many more ways to be scary. I hope someone takes up the mantle next to continue making it even more creepy in ways we never could have imagined
something to consider might be having it sometimes enter that ambush mode shortly after the player spots it and it chooses to hide instead of chase. there's plenty of clips where it hides, the player runs to check where it went, and its vanished or even teleported out of a position it doesnt seem it should be able to disappear from. this would create the situation where it spots the player, backs behind a corner, and then waits for the player to grow curious and walk directly into it
The only good suggestion i've found in this comment section
I love this movement for innovation in the Nextbot scene, but it also makes me fear for the one day where we've reached the ultimate Nextbot who's able to send you into a time paradox where it's an empty space with only it and you in it. The catch is that, you never get away and while the distances between both of you may vary, he will always be right on your tail, every single time you look back.
Can't believe its taken 7 years for Nextbots to finally become more interesting and have a little more depth.
yea i remember back in 2016 where sanic was the main meme of the nextbot lmao
If a PNG image that chases you is a literal meme for a while, maybe don't expect that for another while.
I love those jumpscare sounds from puppet combo games. They're crazy loud and unnerving. The nun massacre one is arguably the loudest.
Wow syhgma this is really cool, and I like what you could possibly do in the future with this. And as always it was a pleasure watching your video.
This is awesome! I would love to see this visual programming of next bots idea! Very cool!
Hope ya two keep improving nextbots to the next level
That moment when nextbots get so advanced they find your location and start chasing you in real life :(
@@AstoQ And here, they've already analyzed your patterns in gameplay. They know where you're going. They will catch you.
I personally believe adding in reactions to interactions such as getting shot or getting stuck would be an insanely welcome addition. Even if they don't have any effect, the bot pretending like it's hurt and fleeing only to come back again with no damage would be gorgeously scary
really excited to see that people like gargin and you are beginning to launch nextbots into a new era
making it more terrifying was downright devious
im not even playing but watchign this gameplay is giving me bad chills
This is really nice! Maybe a bit more sound variety would make it feel less repetitive? Perhaps the toying chase has a subtle sound difference (like its laughing at you perhaps), or maybe when it ambushes you it makes an additional noise to get your attention before chasing.
Nothing compares to being chased by a nextbot. That stillness as you wait for it to show itself, the loud sounds as it chases you, hearing and seeing it right behind you... so close that a single mistake will cost you your life. Physically arching my back foward like there is actually something behind me, and i have to escape.
To add some detail, I think you can add "screen buffering" effect from nun massacre which implies that the killer is close.
More extra little details can be text appearing such as "run" "look to the right/left/behind" "something is off" which can stress the player more into thinking that they could be in trouble.
That would make it less scary in my opinion because it ruins the surprise and it also feels a bit cliche
@@alecz3843 Agreed. It's basically Roblox horror games
Nah, too cliche
At that point just create an actual horror game
At that point just turn it to 3D Monster Maze
i unknowingly of the depth of this bot put it in my list for nextbots that i wanted to use for a video, i got so many great clips from this bot in particular, you are a genius for enhancing it even further
Bro, these improvements are very good and integral for the *real* scary feel of the nextbot. I'm definitely going to make a video this on my channel as I feel this new nextbot is going to do well on the steam workshop due to it's hype of Gargin's original one and your version being hella scary and more advanced. I'm obviously going to credit you for making it
*pog video dude*
@Blobber yes it is
Im liking the fact that those new nextbots arent just a normal Chase but also smart and teriffying and not made to be "oh my god guys look its super speed"
The nun massacre chase sound when the gargitron got enraged gave me ptsd flashbacks to that horribly terrifying game.
I love this, i always wanted some some more variety into gmod nextbots such as the trollge one, his behavior is different from most of nextbots in the workshop, and this improvement from gargitron is pure art.
You need to keep upgrading this man fr, if im not too late, i would recommend adding to the nextbot the ability to have a chance of trying to open doors, he still would be able to go through them or destroying them, but i think it would add A LOT to the experience seeing stuff like the Nextbot trying to break into the room ur hiding, having a chance to actually success or leave u alone.
4:10 bro took a pictore from panicking
lmao 4K 📸
@@Syhgma lol
I think adding in the possibility of it slowing down and laughing as it approaches a completely cornered player would haunt my nightmares
Something I thought about with the original Gargitron was: for its stalking behavior, where it flips a coin and has a 50% chance of running and hiding when seen, maybe it should have a quick burst of speed and handling for just one or two seconds when seen so that instead of lazily drifting behind cover when observed, it just ZOOMS behind cover and gives this... I'm not sure how to describe it, but th-cam.com/video/Fu2ZJ5iZSMU/w-d-xo.html this sort of vibe of just instantly disappearing.
And then potentially, making it originally start with a much, MUCH higher chance of running and hiding when seen, but slowly increasing its chasing chances over time, with a larger increase when a chase is survived to give the idea of it getting consistently more aggressive and angry, and a very large decrease when it kills a player to invoke the idea of it being "pleased" or "satisfied" and backing off for a while.
For Terminus here, I think I'd make the rage mode a coin flip that gets more weighted the more you escape it too. A zero percent chance on first escape, but add maybe 20% or 25% per escape, so you might get consistently lucky with avoiding rage mode or get caught off-guard by an early rage and the player wouldn't have any way to anticipate it.
The one thing about Gargitron's hiding phase is that it's slow on purpose. It'll even peek out to make sure you see it before it slips away. It _wants_ you to know it knows you saw it, it's more like a taunt and less like it's actually trying to hide
@@uncroppedsoop Oh, definitely. I suppose it's a matter of preference there; Gargitron (and Terminus) as it is seems WAY too slow to me when it runs to hide after being seen. It feels less like a taunt and more like it's just lazily drifting aimlessly at its current speed, rather than taunting you by giving you just a glimpse of it only for it to disappear to come at you from somewhere else.
Idea: "Hit 'n Run"
*Nextbot will chase you with slightly faster speed and after short period of time will run away from the player.*
If it's possible i would like to see that. Also huge props to you for improving Nextbots from being just a chase to something more complex
last clip he wasnt acting.
*You could tell and feel he was actually scared the hell of it because of the screech*
How come watching this is genuinely and unironically scarier than actually playing a lot of modern mainstream "horror" games?
I hope this nexbot continues to be upgraded by youtubers for generations until we have created the most pristine sense of horror in gmod
I like the idea of the community slowing adding and building on gargin's and now syhgma's version of the nexbot. Cant wait to see it grow
An idea I've thought of that probably won't get any traction but still worth noting is that what if the nextbot has a fourth mode where it goes invisible and sort of phantom follows the player, always sounding like it's far away even if it's inches from the player. basically, the mode is like stalk, but it remains completely invisible, until at an entirely random point in time (max 5 mins maybe) it goes out of invisibility and flips a coin for the main 4 choices again.
Maybe if you look behind you it would roll a d8 and if it hits 6-7 it will flash and make a loud noise before dissappearing but if it hits 8 it will go into chase after a split second
it shouldn’t _kill_ the player in that state but definitely could be just moments away from it
@@aether-music Right. The entire purpose of the invisibility is to build up tension as you never know when the thing will attack.
(Not gonna lie thought it was Moist when i first tuned in) Awesome video! Personally i love These types of nextbot more than the "run at you screaming various meme sounds". It gives a lot more unpredictability and fear, since you know it could be around any corner, waiting.
I like how he's taking suggestions that sound fun into account and (please don't take this the wrong way I mean no harm) since he is a smaller creator it gives it a sense of community almost
Edit: also I really like this idea of people making all these advanced nextbotsaybe eventually we could have entire minigames based around all of them I'd personally like to see one that protects you from other nextbots (don't know how possible that is though lol)
Wow sorry didn't mean to write an entire *thesis!*
Extra stuff that could be added:
track the zones the player likes to spend the time the most and make it so it wanders, hides, ambushes and cuts corners in bias to those zones, and even to decide to chase you away or block the path to those safe places, basically making the bot able to flank, to take away the sense of security to the player in any place
Prop play, basically give the bot the ability to throw props at you mid chase, or to store them to throw at you whenever it wants, or even to create obstacles depending on the zone, for example, putting a prop down between a zone of one big open area, a passage and another open area, also depending on the places the player likes to spend most time or scape to
7:13 found footage tier of scary.
The idea of a "toying" chase is fucking terrifying
Nice video! Hopefully you don't mind suggestions
1: A problem with the original version is that if he enters his hide state, sometimes he just walks by you and it's more awkward than scary. I'm not sure if this has been fixed or not but maybe it could keep track of player position or have something called "weighted RNG" where it'll be more likely to do A than B depending on circumstance, this would create that imagery of it just peeking around the corner or seeing it walk by at the end of a hallway, kinda like that scene in Bendy's chapter 2.
2: Maybe if it finds it's way behind the player or it just teleports there, it could quietly lurk behind and make sounds until the player looks behind 'em. Then it could do its coin toss thing, heck maybe have it be more likely it hides the closer it is to a corridor or corner .
3: Just a quickie, Perhaps it could have a small chance to teleport near a player, behind a corner or at the end of a hallway, then once spotted would quickly disappear.
4: Maybe whilst stalking it could teleport at random.
5: A bug I've found while playing multiplayer was it would not attack as frequently, almost never encountering it.
1. That’s definitely possible and something I actually meant to add but forgot about, I’ll add that very soon when I fix some of the many bugs that exists currently haha. I agree, definitely loses some spice if you think he’s running down the hall to clap your cheeks but he’s actually just hiding somewhere.
2. I had an idea similar to this when programming but had to scrap because of time constraints (school): a taunting mode. He follows behind you at a distance and laughs or giggle occasionally, and after a certain time he rolls a weighted dice (like above) to either hide or immediately chase.
3. Have you ever played identify theft on Roblox? Where the enemy peeks from behind the corner far away and rapidly disappears when spotted? Something like that?
4. I’m thinking of reworking stalking to just teleport him somewhere much closer to the player initially so that you can see him sooner to make it feel like an actual “stalk” vs. tons of “nothing time” between chases.
5. Multiplayer bugs are something I’m aware of. Not really a cut and dry fix for it other than rewriting a lot of code, so for now I’ll fix the issues with singleplayer and once that’s done I’ll move on to a full multiplayer release 💯
Great suggestions! Personally, I feel like it might be scarier if in taunting mode, he made no noise at all, or perhaps started out silent, but if following for long enough began playing some very quiet ambience, like brown noise. Almost unnoticeable, but subconsciously it makes you know something is wrong.
@@bubbsterr4967 Meh, might leave too much blank space
@@slireth_gunman5465 just the right amount of blank space builds tension, enough for you to think "Wait, I haven't seen it for a while... somethings up." Then you turn around and it's right behind you, immediately thrusting you into a chase. After an encounter like that, even blank space is suddenly ominous. You can't necessarily trust it anymore. Imagine how you would feel during the blank space, if there was a possibility it could be right behind you and you wouldn't even know it. Even if there really was nothing, it would keep you looking over your shoulder a little more.
@@Syhgma identity fraud was a great game. the fairy in the grass maze made me fall out of my chair when it transformed, jumping at me and and killing me instantly.
This is the first video I’ve watched of yours and you just sound like deeper voiced moistcritikal and it’s great
I would recommend having the nextbot make it's usual noises even whilst in hiding mode, just much more quietly, that way it doesn't feel unfair when it kills you from behind with no warning.
And it might be fun to add some gameplay to your nextbot by having it have actual health, and therefore the ability to die if the player deals enough damage to it, however, if the nextbot kills you, it gets restored back to max health, just to make the gameplay more balanced.
Alternatively, having it coin flip (or other probability model) when it's health is depleted by damage enough to swap to a 'flee' behavior, then let it recover health while hiding could produce a more cat and mouse setup where you CAN repel it to a degree, without need for it to be killable. Throw in some objectives on the map to do (randomly placed perhaps) and you'd have a pretty solid game setup.
POKÉMON SNAP MUSIC I DIDN’T EXPECT TO GET NOSTALGIA HERE
1:43 MY SOUL WENT TO A FBI MOMENT
bro, hearing about the new chasing mechs is so scaresome, imagine thinking you ran away from it only to see it still behind you and rush you at full speed
This is fucking terrifying, 100% clench factor
5:40 I nearly shat myself after that XD
7:05 Yes and me seeing this at 2:45 AM . (When I saw the message I've paused every second lol 😅)
you literally made a nextbot feel human, something i thought couldnt ever be done. the fact that it lets you live just to get angry when you beat it is so uncanny to the realm of funny jpg chasing you
Some ideas for potential alternate nextbots -
Trickster - This nextbot tends to ambush the player a lot and rarely chases. This bot doesn't stalk the player and always knows where they are. It likes to run into hiding spaces and wait for the player to get close. When the player gets close, have it toss two coins; if there are any heads, it will lunge at the player when they enter its range at extremely fast speeds and maybe play a loud noise, but when it touches the player they won't die and it'll teleport away to hide again. However, if it gets two tails, it'll instead rush and start chasing the player to kill them when it makes contact. (So basically, it has a 25% chance of turning hostile and a 75% chance of just spooking them) Though maybe it'll get "disinterested" quickly and back off to go ambush them again if the player keeps away. If by some chance the player spots it while it's trying to find a suitable hiding spot to ambush the player, maybe it'll get very angry and start chasing them like an enraged normal bot. Though again, it would lose interest quickly if the player eludes it and will soon go back to trying to find a hiding spot. This behavior would be very tough to see though since it's usually very quick to find a hiding spot. The idea is that it likes to screw with the player and frighten them a lot before actually trying to kill them, but is less lethal than other types.
Berserker - This nextbot is much more hostile and faster than others but is significantly easier to fool and avoid. When it searches for the player, the player has to be in its detection radius for longer than other types before it goes after them. If the player enters its radius, flip a coin. If the player gets out of the radius, depending on the coin flip the bot will either go towards where the player was after a moment, or just resume stalking and hunting the player. When the Berserker does detect the player fully, it's much more quick and aggressive than normal, kind of a slightly less proficient "enraged" state like the standard bot; maybe its top speed could be faster, but it would have a hard time changing speeds quickly and it could maybe make mistakes like bumping and getting stuck on walls for a bit. In addition, the player can fool it and elude it a bit easier than other types if they're smart. If the player does elude it, it'll enter an "angry stalk" state where it moves around to search for the player much faster. If the player enters its radius at all, it'll immediately go back in the hunt. Every few seconds, flip a coin, and depending on the result either stay in the angry stalk state or revert into the standard stalk state. This type wouldn't ambush or hide at all; it doesn't want to toy with you, it wants you dead. In a straight endless chase it would catch you quickly but as previously stated it's easy to elude in twisty areas with lots of turns and hiding spots.
Stalker - This one can be considered a "cousin" to the Trickster in that it's somewhat less lethal than other bots. Again, this one doesn't hide at all, but during the stalking state it moves around silently very quickly. When it detects the player, depending on if the player is facing it or not it'll do one of two things. If the player is facing it, it'll quickly run away and get as far from the player as possible. If the player is dumb enough to go after it, after a while it'll just get immensely angry and pretty much go for the throat. If the player doesn't act stupid and go after it, it'll soon go back to the "stalking" state. If the player isn't facing it when it detects them however, it'll start following them around but not actually going for the kill. It'll just stay behind them and mirror their movement and speed. It'll even try to stay behind the player if they turn and look around, but it obviously isn't perfect. While it follows the player, it could make quiet noises every now and then. If the player doesn't notice it for too long, say between thirty seconds and a minute, it'll scream at them and go for the kill very quickly, practically unavoidable. If the player ever spots it, it'll pause for a second or two and flip two coins. 75% of the time it'll just make a loud noise and run away, behaving like it does if the player sees it during the stalking state. However, 25% of the time, it'll start chasing the player, generally a lot faster than the Trickster type. It's also a lot more persistent than the Trickster. If the player eludes it long enough it'll go back to the stalking state. This one also is there to mess with the player a lot, but it can be way more lethal than the Trickster.
Remember:
Gargatron is *faster* than you.
Gargatron is *stronger* than you.
Gargatron is *smarter* than you.
If you see Gargatron, *run.*
To be honest, a nextbot that you could possibly hide from, but it always knows where you are, and has a phase where it fakes to not know where you are would be really good.
To make it scarier, you should make the enraged phase more unpredictable
1:42 That actually jumpscared me, I didn't know terminus was still chasing him lol
If anyone wants to know what the scream is when it’s enraged, search nun massacre chase theme. Turn your volume down though, I warned you.
It’s a fantastic game haha, I have a poster of it on my wall
i think some things to make the nextbot even more terrifying is if it came equipped with some procedural animation
procedural animation can make really realistic and organic looking animations which would really sell the tension as it would less like an AI and more like a living predator that somehow got into the game, this would demand a 3d body which would blast open a huge array of posibillities to make it even more disturbing
another thing i'd recommend is giving it the ability to crawl upon walls and the ceiling which would cause even more paranoia as it can come from literally any direction and the map would greatly influence the way it thinks and acts
one last thing i think would go a long way is if it could manipulate props within the environment to try and trap you, this would require it having an AI that could learn from your behaviours and as such likely another mode where it leaves you alone to set up those traps
Jeez this is horrendous haha. Great modifications man. This is all super interesting stuff! Any idea how you'd go about making this work for a co-op game? Would it be possible to make the next bot flip a coin and choose a random player as an obsession after each chase, changing its target once it catches someone or resets to stalking?
That shit was unnerving, what I thought was gonna happen in the end was it peek out and then hide taking a different route while enraged, this bot is on some next level mind games 😂
Imagine watching this at 3am.
Me at 3am at full volume like a moron.
Me at 3am getting all of those clips in the video and having a pulmonary embolism from the scares:
Idk if it's possible but you could give the player the ability to hide from the nextbot. Suppose you turn a corner and hide in the shadows like Syhgma does at 4:20, maybe the nextbot goes into a searching phase where it's unsure of your exact location.
I’m pretty sure you would have to recode the entire thing cause nextbots know where you are at all times
@@davidsmith9217 You can hide from the DrGBase ones just fine
4:17 the scariest part of this sequence is that hiding didn't save you, the nextbot deciding to stop suddenly did.
I swear Syhgma kinda sounds like Charlie
I have an idea, maybe make it a 4th phase which is unseeable mode, basically he’s invisible and doesn’t make noise and cannot attack but when getting close enough to you he turns on to chasing so he tricks you into thinking he’s gone.
What if it sometimes matches your movement speed when ambushing? It stays right on you until you turn around, then either kills or chases?
Nextbots move with ice physics, the longer they're in a straight line, the faster they'll Go, so making it as fast as the player by base would make it way too fast.
Maybe some voice lines like it whispering “hey over here” or “psst behind you”
Thank you moistcritikal
random ideas i had:
during chase, chance to disable sounds and take a longer route to the player and catch them off guard
when hiding, small chance to teleport somewhere nearby
I can just imagine how terrifying nextbots will start to be if more people start using this AI and even improving it more, like damn this AI with a 3d model will give me a heart attack
nah i feel like it being a png makes them unique and scary the most would be like the png animating
@@Destion-oq1hu Its more of an preference to be honest, the thing that it actually gives me "fear" is just know that something is tracking me down and i don't know where he will come, not a spooky png or 3d model with a loud sound
I might need to make a second trailer, when I get internet on my PC again.
This is going to be cool but it needs new sound effects and a better model
Pretty nice tho
Working on a nun massacre bot that will have a custom model and sounds, this one was more of a proof of concept for some improvements to the original gargitron, but I’m definitely looking into some asset swaps for sure
Even when I deliberately gave myself the upper hand by flying and noclipping and stalked the nextbot the enraged mode always caught me off guard. The improvements made is really good!
It just a png sanic clone
facts
on god
totally!
this one has diffirent ai
All of them are.
I am happy that its the nun massacre chase sound, puppet combo is terrifying
Could you add multiplayer functionality? I was using the original nextbot with my friend and I think it had trouble choosing who to hunt so anytime we saw it when it was hiding it would just stay there. I hope you make it, so it doesn't get glitched when in a server with multiple people.
An issue I’m aware of, once I patch out some bugs and add some of the features that have been requested I’m going to make it multiplayer compatible. Should be pretty soon here!
hello based soldier
I don't know how feasible this would be, but I had a fun idea. If the bot can see you, but YOU can't see IT (if that's even a thing you can detect), it goes silent and sneaks up behind you without attacking you. When you look at it while it's doing this, it screams and freezes for a second before starting a chase. If you take too long to look at it, it enrages and chases you anyway. Nothing is scarier than turning around and seeing something suddenly appear where you thought nothing was just a second ago.
7:20 HOLY FUUUCK!!!
OH GOD THAT TERRIFYING
Here’s my idea to through into the ring.
Peeping, if the bot is in a chase mode and the player breaks visual line of sight(hides behind a wall) and attempts to hide(crouches in a corner), the bot has a low(90-10)chance to to choose to peep, where it slowly crawls the wall between the player and bot as ambience slowly builds. Once it reaches the end it jumps out, but not completely, from behind the wall. It briefly pauses before resuming chase. If the player stops hiding it resumes the chase. If it fails it does another check to see if the player has successfully avoided the monster.
Second mechanic, stealth. This is a mechanic for the player to tip the scales in their favor. Basically , when a player decides to crouch, it puts them in a hiding state. This hiding state has a base effective ness of 0, but goes for x amount y times. Where x is distance, and y is number of obstructions between the bot and player. In other words, the farther you are from the next bot the more effective hiding is, but only if your behind cover, multiple of which can hiding more effective. Type of chase also would affect levels of effectiveness.
Toying might Choose to set up an ambush peep, where it hides behind the wall to ambush the player.
Normal will not effect levels or strategy.
Enraged by nature would make stealth much harder, and choose not to peep.
When the player enters hiding state the nextbot is basically prompted this:
(For reference I’m learning Python)
When receiving PLAYERHIDE:
-IF playerstealthcheck() == TRUE #if player fails to hide
--IF peeporchaseflip()== TRUE THEN:
---peep()
--ELSE:
---continue chase
-ELSE:
--hideorchaseflip()
If you have any ideas on how to improve or make this idea work please let me know.
The 1:30 clip fuckin got me I thought the nextbot was gonna go hide lmao