Games - Monster infighting

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	Games - Monster infighting

In certain video games such as Doom, Doom II, and similar games released in the 1990s, some of the enemy monsters can be tricked into fighting each other, or infighting. This can usually be accomplished by moving so that the player and two monsters are colinear. Since a monster does not have the intelligence to cease fire in the event that a fellow monster blocks his line of sight, said fellow monster will be subject to friendly fire. Monster infighting, as it is called, will soon follow. This has the triple benefits of reducing the number of enemies attacking the player, conserving ammunition, and often being amusing for the player to watch.

According to Doom logic, however, monsters of the same type or species are immune to each other's projectiles (with the exception of firearms that use bullets, such as those used by the zombies). This means that getting two of the same monster to fight each other is very difficult due to the fact that the above procedure will be ineffective. To cause homogeneous monsters to fight each other, the player must somehow get one of the monsters to mêlée attack and hit the other. This may be possible with the help of the invisibility power-up, which causes enemies to fire or attack the wrong direction. Monsters will also go after monsters that have caused them indirect damage by exploding a nukage barrel. In version 1.1 of Doom, a monster that had caused itself damage by destroying a nearby barrel would commit suicide.

A Lost Soul is an exception to the general rules of infighting due to its 'charging' method of attack; if it charges into another Lost Soul, the injured Soul will retaliate once. If hit, the first Soul will then retaliate back, and so on, until one misses (at which point the Souls will resume attacking the player) or dies. Lost Souls will fight to the death any other class of monster that attacks it as usual.

Interestingly, Spider Masterminds who shoot bullets will also engage in combat with one another if hit. However, being a boss monster, it is extermely rare to find two Spider Masterminds so close to one another that would allow them to fight. In the original Doom levels the only such place is in Level 28 of Doom II - "The Spirit World".

Note that the game logic that renders monsters immune to their own projectiles is controlled by a simple flag in the executable file and can be toggled on or off by DeHackEd
or similar executable-editing tools.

Monster infighting has become a novel aspect of Doom and its sequels, add-ons, and spin-offs. Indeed, most games do not give the enemies the ability to hurt each other, much less the ability to retaliate. In more recent first-person shooters, however, enemies are intelligent enough not to fire if a fellow soldier is in the way.

Roguelike games

Monster infighting, while not ubiquitous in roguelike games, is common enough in the genre that it is not considered unusual. In some games, such as Angband, only certain powerful monsters have the capability and inclination to initiate mêlée fighting with their comrades; this kind of infighting is considered a disadvantage for the player, because it means that a powerful monster cannot be corralled behind a "buffer" of weaker monsters — it will simply fight its way through to the player.

In other games, such as certain variants and patches of NetHack
, certain kinds of monsters carry an innate animosity toward other kinds; for example, in some games an orc will attack an elf in its line of sight, regardless of what the player is doing. This is typically considered an advantage for the player, although it can turn into a disadvantage if one (or both) is a pet of the player.

Final Fantasy XII

In the upcoming Final Fantasy XII it has been revealed that monsters may attack each other in battles with the player.

MMORPG

In some MMORPGs
some of the monsters may end up attacking each other, such as wolves attacking rabbits, in World of Warcraft. In City of Heroes, rival gangs will fight each other to the death in the streets, leaving small piles of bodies. In EverQuest 2, guards will violently attack all hostile creatures near them.

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