Men in Black: Most Wanted

Jack Bird
31 minutes ago
2 min read

Role: AI Programmer

Engine: Unity (C#)

Overview

I served as an AI programmer for 'Men in Black: Most Wanted'. My primary focus was on architecting complex enemy behaviours for boss encounters and building robust visual scripting tools that empowered the design team to implement mission logic without requiring constant code support.

The "Berserker" Boss AI

My flagship contribution to the project was the "Berserker," a multi-phase tank enemy. I engineered the decisions and considerations required to drive its core loop, managing complex state transitions between invulnerability and aggression to stunned and vulnerability.

The Combat Loop: The encounter was designed to escalate in difficulty across three distinct stages, requiring the AI to adapt its navigation and aggression dynamically:
- Phase 1 (Charge): This utilises Line of Sight to trigger the high-speed, straight-line charge attacks toward the player.
- Phase 2 (Spin): Increases the "fear factor" by introducing a Spin Attack. This behaviour increases the agent's movement speed and enables a target-tracking mechanic, forcing the player to focus on evasion.
- Phase 3 (Frenzy): A chaotic mixture of both previous behaviours, testing the player's mastery of the mechanics.
- The Stunner: The AI system was coupled with environmental gameplay logic. To progress the fight, I implemented the "Berserker Stunner", an in-world machine featuring a 'waveform matching' puzzle. Successfully solving this objective broadcasts a stun event to the AI, transitioning the Berserker out of its invulnerable state and exposing its weak points for player damage.
Feedback Loops: To sell the rampaging weight of the character and animalistic tendencies, I synchronised FMOD audio events and granular haptic feedback profiles to specific animation frames (via AnimationClip Extensions), ensuring every charge and melee hit felt impactful.

Mission Flow & Designer Tools

A portion of my time was spent extending the project's visual scripting system, "Mission Flow."

Custom Node Architecture: I developed a suite of custom nodes Conditions, Actions, and Triggers that allowed level designers to control game logic. This included nodes for managing wave spawns, checking enemy health thresholds, and triggering cinematic sequences.
Gameplay Systems: I built the underlying logic for interactable world elements such as vending machines (used for distractions), security keypads, and elevator systems, all of which were fully integrated into the Mission Flow toolset.

NPC Behaviours & Polish

Beyond combat, I refined the behaviour of allied and neutral NPCs. This involved debugging complex behaviour transitions for key story characters (like "Agent L" and "Wren") to ensure they seamlessly transitioned between patrolling, dialogue, and following the player. I also optimised the project's "Hearing System" and "Vision" detection to allow for stealth mechanics, such as creating audio distractions to lure enemies away from patrol routes.