IT seems like one of those urban legends, something too funny or silly to be true; that the AI of the titular acid-blooded aliens in the 2013 game “Aliens: Colonial Marines” was derailed by a one-letter typo in a single line of code.
And to add to the story, it has also been claimed that the typo in the once-touted officially recognised sequel to the 1986 James Cameron blockbuster “Aliens” was in fact discovered by dedicated fans of the Aliens franchise and not by the game's developers
However, is there any truth to any of this?
Verdict:
TRUE
Yes, this is in fact true - and what happened was that the word “tether” was in fact spelled “teather” in the original source code of “Aliens: Colonial Marines” and it came to light thanks to modders who were trying to improve a game savaged by both fans and critics alike.
In the original game as released, the “Aliens” would stand around and only attack if attacked first, and they often did so in highly predictable patterns unlike what was advertised by the developers or what fans were expecting from one of the most terrifying creatures in science fiction.
The story first came to light in 2018, tech site ArsTechnica writes when attention was drawn to the game again after it went on sale with a 90% discount on the gaming site Fanatical.
As ArsTechnica writer Sam Machkovech wrote in their article on the typo, the cheap sale also drew attention to a 712MB fan-made patch at popular modification (or mod) hosting site moddb.com that addresses many of the game's graphical and gameplay glitches.
Machkovech wrote that people on the ResetERA gaming forum not only noticed the game but researched the patch and then noticed that there was a one-letter typo that radically changed how the “Aliens” - also known by fans as “xenos” - hunted the player.
This was highlighted in a moddb article dated Nov 1, 2017 by @jamesdickinson963 who writes that “inside your games config file (My DocumentMy GamesAliens Colonial MarinesPecanGameConfigPecanEngine.ini) is the following line of code:
ClassRemapping=PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachXenoToTether -> PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachPawnToTeather”
The writer then adds that a simple change from “teather” to “tether” creates a difference that is “pretty crazy” and also explains why.
“Why is this line important? There are two reasons; AttachXenoToTether doesn't do anything. It's basically empty or stripped (while) AttachPawnToTether does a lot. It controls tactical position adjustment, patrolling and target zoning,” says @jamesdickinson963.
They then go on to explain just how the typo affects the game.
“When a Xeno is spawned, it is attached to a zone tether. This zone tells the Xeno what area is its fighting space and where different exits are.
In combat, a Xeno will be forced to switch to a new tether (such as one behind you) so as to flank, or disperse so they aren't so grouped up etc,” they add.
“Whenever the game tried to do this, nothing happened. Now it does,” they go on to conclude.
Ultimately, this is a lesson for programmers - and perhaps writers too. Always, always read for typos, or your mistakes could very well become a part of history!
Sources:
The biggest BUG in the game is just one letter long
A years-old, one-letter typo led to Aliens: Colonial Marines’ weird AI
Aliens: Colonial Marines’ xenos get a lot smarter by fixing one misspelling
Aliens: Colonial Marines PC Review
