Threat Detection

Track player camera attention and react when being observed.

The AI knows when you're watching, and changes behavior accordingly.

When to Use This

• Soulslike games where enemies react to player attention
• Stealth/horror games with awareness mechanics
• Dynamic difficulty that punishes passive observation
• Any AI that should behave differently when the spotlight is on them

This component can be used independently of the other plugin systems.

Core Concepts

How It Works

The component checks if the player's camera is pointing at the AI:

Player Camera
      \
       \  < 15° (configurable)
        \
         ↘ [AI]  ← "I'm being watched!"

When the player looks at the AI:

1. Threat level starts accumulating (0.0 → 1.0)
2. The longer they stare, the higher the threat
3. When threat reaches threshold, the AI reacts

When the player looks away:

• Threat level decays over time back to 0

Threat Level

A normalized value from 0.0 to 1.0:

Use this value to:

• Modify action scores (defensive actions score higher when threatened)
• Trigger strafe direction changes
• Enable/disable certain behaviors

Quick Setup

The component is automatically added to AEnemyControllerBase.

Configure Thresholds

In your AI Controller Blueprint → ThreatDetectionComponent:

PlayerLookAngleThreshold = 15.0f;   // Degrees - how directly must player look
PlayerLookTimeThreshold = 3.0f;     // Seconds to reach max threat

Read Threat Level

// In StateTree, Blueprint, or C++:
float Threat = ThreatDetection->GetCurrentThreatLevel();
 
if (Threat > 0.7f)
{
    // Player is really staring - do something about it
}

Key Properties

Key Functions

// Current threat level [0.0 - 1.0]
float GetCurrentThreatLevel() const;
 
// Is player actively looking at this AI right now?
bool IsPlayerLookingAtMe() const;
 
// Enable/disable detection
void SetThreatDetectionEnabled(bool bEnabled);
 
// Reset threat to zero
void ResetThreat();

Usage Examples

Strafe Direction Swap

The Movement System automatically uses threat to trigger strafe swaps:

// When threat exceeds threshold, AI changes strafe direction
// This prevents the player from predicting movement
if (ThreatDetection->GetCurrentThreatLevel() > 0.8f)
{
    MovementEvaluator->SwapStrafeSide();
}

This is built-in to the Movement System. No extra code needed if you're using both.

Defensive Action Bonus

Modify action scores based on threat:

// In your action scoring (or use context modifiers):
float ThreatBonus = ThreatDetection->GetCurrentThreatLevel();
DefensiveAction.RuntimeScoreBonus = ThreatBonus * 0.5f;  // Up to +50% when threatened

"I See You" Bark

Trigger audio/visual feedback:

void OnThreatLevelChanged(float OldThreat, float NewThreat)
{
    if (OldThreat < 0.5f && NewThreat >= 0.5f)
    {
        PlayBarkSound("ISeeYou");
    }
}

Debug Tools

Enable Logging:

ThreatDetection->bDebugLog = true;

Console Command:

SEC.Debug.Threat.DrawDetection 1   // Visualize detection cone

Integration Points