[MUD-Dev] New topic: AI and NPCs

[Matt Chatterley]

On Sat, 6 Sep 1997 clawrenc at cup.hp.com wrote:

> In <3.0.2.32.19970901122333.00b88a80 at mail.tenetwork.com>, on 09/01/97 
>    at 12:22 PM, Jeff Kesselman <jeffk at tenetwork.com> said:
> 
> >Speaking of Centaur's and Judo/Jujitsu, I fidn it hard to believe you
> >coudl throw any four legged creature.  Judo throws are based on the
> >inhearent instability of human beings.  Things topple when their
> >center of gravity moves beyond its base.  In the case of a quadraped
> >yo uhavea very large, very stable base.
> 
> I've thrown horses.  Its not terribly difficult and doesn't require
> immense strength.  The big requirements are speed and height -- short
> guys just don't have the leverage or the ability to directly the force
> properly (well, except on short horses).  Any reasonably fit man
> should be able to muster the strength involved.  Mostly its a question
> of snapping past the horse's neck muscle reactions -- thus the speed
> requirement.

First question. Why on earth would you want to throw a horse, JCL?
Cow-tipping I can understand, but.. ;)

Shorter guys could have sufficient leverage, save for body mass - a short,
fat guy might have more of a chance, and depending on your definition of
'throw' it is not necessarily a strength requirement.
 
> The trick is to make the horse lead with his head very quickly,
> downward at about a 20 degree angle forward of a line drawn thru his
> front shoulderblades.  Done right, the front leg will not be able the
> come out and brace and will instead fold to prevent injury.  The
> result is that the front of the torso will start to fall.  As you lead
> his head sideways the balance of his torso over his now fallen front
> knees unbalances and his rear legs have no choice but to topple.  They
> can't brace as his torso has already started to twist sideways as he
> falls over his front knees.

This is accurate IMHO - and observes a classic point of interest in
unarmed combat, in any case - the most effective attacks are those used in
defence, turning an opponents own speed/strength/energy to your favour.
Eg, the above, and that turning a punch is far easier (and more useful)
than catching or absorbing it in some way.
 
> I suspect that centaurs wouldn't be much different, except that their
> disproportional upper torso weight might make it easier.

Plus in any society with martial arts, which has evolved near Centaurs,
they would be more equipped to dealing with them, than we are to throwing
horses. Aka, this sort of knowledge would be more commonplace among
proponents.

Regards,
	-Matt Chatterley
	http://user.itl.net/~neddy/index.html
"In space, you never know when to expect danger.. except when an
Enterprise away team beams down on a routine mission." -Greg Proops