Marauders’ developers looked to the Fear games for AI behaviour The Loadout The Loadout Marauders’ developers looked to the Fear games for AI behaviour Small Impact's upcoming extractor shooter Marauders based its AI on Monolith Productions' Fear games to give them behaviours that are consistent with real life Jess Wells Updated: Mar 23, 2022 09:02 ET Marauders One of the best things about playing an extraction shooter game are the interactions you have with others in-game. In Escape From Tarkov, real players and AI scavs patrol the map as you do, and distinguishing who's who during a tense firefight is part of the fun. Marauders is looking to replicate that success by basing its AI on the enemies of one of its biggest influences – Fear. Monolith Productions' first-person shooter might look a little dated these days, but it really helped set the bar for having realistic non-playable characters. In Fear, the AI could dodge, fire from cover, and communicate with each other in order to set up ambushes. These skills made the AI seem more realistic – and at times, you felt like you were playing against real players. This is something Small Impact Games is looking to replicate in Marauders, a new extraction shooter that'll be making its debut at WASD next month. James Rowbotham, Small Impact's UI, animation, and design developer, says Fear served as an inspiration for the team, especially in making their raids – which can accommodate up to 16 players – more lifelike. "Escape From Tarkov is obviously a key inspiration as an extraction shooter, but when you look at what the best AI systems are, Fear has one of the best," he tells The Loadout. "So we took that concept and made it our own." In Marauders, every action you take has a consequence and much like other players, the AI will react to it. "It's complicated, but they have their own behaviours," Rowbotham continues. "They make decisions like humans would. If they're low on health or they're afraid, they behave more like that. The idea is that it makes AI more interesting to play against and for a small fraction of time, you might think it's a player." As you'll know from reading our Marauders preview, your heart will be in your mouth as you hear footsteps on a metal floor. By making AI more realistic, Small Impact is adding more tension into its already dramatic game, forcing players to think on their feet and diversify their playstyle. It's an interesting concept and one that's perfect for this genre. If you're looking for more information on the game, make sure to check out opur guide to the Marauders release date. More from The Loadout Marauders early access launch includes 80 hours of mission content Marauders developers didn't expect anyone to cheat in the Steam alpha Marauders is much more than Escape From Tarkov in space Marauders upcoming closed beta will let you fold your bags Marauders new prison map was influenced by board games and Half Life 2 Marauders alpha only featured 25% of the FPS game's total content Jess Wells When Jess isn't playing competitive FPS games, she's updating our guides to the best Valorant crosshair, CS:GO ranks, upcoming PS5 games, or writing Escape From Tarkov news. Popular now Orianna has been disabled for League of Legends Worlds 2022 The FIFA 23 meta has quickly become all about Lengthy players Blizzard assures Overwatch 2 players their OW1 skins aren’t lost Network N Media earns commission from qualifying purchases via Amazon Associates and other programs. We include affiliate links in articles. View terms. Prices correct at time of publication. More stories Odoamne says Rogue is taking LoL Worlds 2022 “one game at a time” Best Warzone Loadout of the Week – battle with Modern Warfare’s best The LoL Worlds 2022 final is headed to a cinema near you More from The Loadout Follow us for daily videogame news on Facebook, Twitter, Steam, and Google News. Marauders release date, platforms, trailers, and more Marauders tips: how to become the ultimate space pirate Free shooting games Best PS5 games Best Xbox games