News | 3/27/2014 at 10:00 AM

Skeleton Smarts: Enemy AI Explained in New Hellraid Trailer

Not just fodder anymore!

The undead enthusiasts making Hellraid want you to believe in the power of skeletons to work together as a team. We are all acutely aware just how coordinated skeletons can be. That is to say, as coordinated as a bunch of shambling bones with no brains can possibly be. Or, if they do have brains, they probably aren't in any state to produce thought. 

Hellraid aims to shatter the notion that mostly decayed corpses cannot work together as a team. The devs are so dedicated to the cause of promoting undead companionship they've gone ahead and produced a trailer, showing how the AI and animations work together for these bags of bones.

Check it out:

I wonder if they have a Necromancer on staff to animate piles of bones to get that mocap down perfectly.

Perhaps the video left you craving more information. Or maybe you are just left wondering "What exactly does this mean for my valiant hero? Is he not to slaughter skeletons while they mindlessly swing at him?" The devs have also dedicated two pages detailing the processes to you for review. Here's part one, and part two

This definitely means a lot on the co-op front. Look, if the skeletons can band together and at least form some semblance of strategy, surely you and your teammates can too. Your collective big, fat people brains have got to be able to outsmart those bad guys, right?