How the game behaves · R.E.P.O. v0.4.0 · read from a local copy

The body every monster shares

A shared physical body follows a target rather than each monster owning its movement.

R.E.P.O.'s monsters do not each carry their own movement code: a shared physical body follows a target, switches between idle and chase speeds, decides how hard a grab has to be, swaps its surface by state, and grades every impact into a light, a medium or a heavy one.

What the game establishes

• A shared physical body follows a target rather than each monster owning its movement. (checked against the game's own files)
• The body can use gravity or a gravity value of its own. (checked against the game's own files)
• Idle and chasing each have their own position and rotation speeds with their own smoothing, plus rotation damping. (checked against the game's own files)
• There are separate warp distances for idle and for chasing, and a distance below which the body counts as not moving. (checked against the game's own files)
• Holding a monster takes a force and a time, with a maximum time and separate position and rotation strengths. (checked against the game's own files)
• Being held can stun or be overridden, and a monster can shake itself free. (checked against the game's own files)
• A fall can stun a monster, a stun can override its mass by a multiplier, and there is a speed curve and a reset speed afterwards. (checked against the game's own files)
• There are separate physical materials for normal, disabled, stunned, grabbed and jumping states, and a player collider. (checked against the game's own files)
• Impacts are graded with separate shake strengths for light, medium and heavy hits and a fragility value. (checked against the game's own files)
• The body raises events for impacts of each weight, for touching the player, for touching what the player holds and for touching another physical object. (checked against the game's own files)

In play

The monsters are not built one by one. A shared physical body sits behind them, following a target rather than owning its own movement, which is why so many of them behave alike when they are pushed.

It decides how heavy they are. The body can be given gravity or a gravity value of its own, so one monster can float while another is pulled down without either of them needing its own idea of falling.

Idle and chasing are different speeds. There is a position speed and a rotation speed for being idle and another pair for chasing, each with its own smoothing, plus damping on rotation, which is why a monster turns differently depending on whether it has seen you.

It can move further than it appears to. There are separate distances for warping while idle and while chasing, and a distance below which the body counts as not moving at all.

A grab has to be earned. It takes a force and a time before a monster can be held, with a maximum time and separate strengths for how hard it is pulled by position and by rotation, and being held can stun it or be overridden entirely.

A monster can shake itself free, and it can be reset. Being caught raises an event, and after a stun there is a speed curve and a speed to reset to rather than an instant return to normal.

Falling and stun go together. A fall can stun a monster, and a stun can override its mass by a multiplier, which is why a body that has just been dropped behaves differently from one that is standing.

Its surface changes with its state. There are separate physical materials for being normal, disabled, stunned, grabbed and jumping, and a collider of its own for touching players, so friction and bounce are decided by what the monster is doing.

Impacts are graded. There are separate shake strengths for a light, a medium and a heavy hit, along with a fragility value, which is why a small bump and a hard landing do not feel the same.

It reports what happens to it. The body raises events for a light, medium and heavy impact, for touching the player, for touching something the player is holding and for touching another physical object, and the monsters use those to react.

What this entry does not tell you: how much force a grab needs, what any monster weighs, or how much damage an impact does. We have not verified those numbers, so we do not print them.

Related

MonstersEnemies and what they doThe game defines several distinct monsters rather than one enemy type.MonstersWhat a monster is doingA monster is always in one of a fixed set of named states.

Version and sources

A local copy of the game, read only. The grounding for each fact is listed on the technical reference pages; nothing here is estimated. Documented build: 0.4.0.