Hello

Hello,

I am encountering an error in my console related to the Murderer NPC: 'Prefab 'assets/prefabs/npc/murderer/sound/death.prefab' requires asset scene 'AssetScene-props' to be loaded first.'

I have set the option in the configuration to true, thinking it would resolve the issue or improve functionality, but the error persists. Could you please look into this?

Also, I have noticed that the bots are currently shooting in a straight line without much variation. Is it possible to make the NPC AI more intelligent or improve their targeting/accuracy settings in a future update?

Thank you for your help.

They are zombies they are supposed to use melee weapons only per design. 

Bounty Hunter is the plugin with the shooting logic / npc spawn setup. 

in v 1.1.9 i commented that prefab out 

so if its still erroring its due to you being on a vanilla map not much i can do on that, but i don't call it. 

which option in config are you talking about?

I am on a vanilla test map i do not get that error for the death sound prefab

Regarding the error: 'Prefab 'assets/prefabs/npc/murderer/sound/death.prefab' requires asset scene 'AssetScene-props' to be loaded first.'

It is highly likely that this issue does not appear on your end because you are testing in a local environment where all base game assets are pre-loaded in your cache. On live hosted servers, this dependency does not resolve automatically at startup, which triggers this console error.

Could you please add a check in the plugin code to ensure the AssetScene-props is initialized or verified before the Murderer NPC attempts to call this specific death sound prefab?

Also, as for the AI, adding visual auras is a nice feature, but it does not address the core issue of NPCs moving and shooting in straight, predictable lines. Is there any plan to implement a more advanced movement logic or a target-finding algorithm for these zombies?

Thank you for your understanding

Bug Report: Critical Asset Loading Error on Zombie/NPC Death

Error Log:

Plaintext

Prefab 'assets/prefabs/npc/murderer/sound/death.prefab' requires asset scene 'AssetScene-props' to be loaded first. UnityEngine.Debug:LogError(Object) %411b4d6a98792c2ea74e10ca2b432fbced13358e:%a9c38c6a43dc9dfa317c18f5f42dea6e30fbd5d8(String) %d001012e89279351df72a9c096a391eb368c68ef:%6885290f5fe1a4770c3670ad6f6c38efb17d2004(String)

1. Root Cause Analysis (Why is it crashing?)

Following Facepunch's recent updates regarding Rust's asset management, the game engine now uses dynamic scene loading (AssetScene). The old audio prefab path "assets/prefabs/npc/murderer/sound/death.prefab" (inherited from the old legacy Halloween Murderers) has been moved into a secondary asset scene called AssetScene-props.

Because this specific asset scene is not preloaded by the server when the plugin attempts to call the prefab, any attempt to instantiate or play this sound directly from a hardcoded string path causes a dependency failure. Unity completely refuses to load the isolated audio file and immediately throws an arborescence error in the console.

2. Server Impacts (What does it cause?)

Console and Log Spam: The error triggers instantly every time a zombie or an NPC configured with this sound effect dies. On populated servers with multiple active spawns, the console and log files (Log.Econ.txt / compiler.log) get continuously flooded, making server monitoring and troubleshooting impossible.

Performance Drops (Server Stutter): When an asset fails to load this way, Unity attempts to resolve the missing dependency on the server's main thread. This temporarily freezes the network tick loop, causing micro-stutters, packet loss, and sudden lag spikes for players during active combat.

Broken Sound Effects: The death sound never plays, breaking the audio immersion for the players.

3. Exact Technical Solution to Apply in the .cs Code

You need to clean up the source code by removing the reference to this obsolete audio prefab path. There are two clean ways to fix this in your .cs file:

Option A: Replace with a modern and stable prefab path

Replace the old string path with a current NPC death prefab (such as the Scarecrow death effect) that does not rely on any unloaded external asset scenes.

Obsolete line to delete: "assets/prefabs/npc/murderer/sound/death.prefab"

Recommended replacement line: "assets/prefabs/npc/scarecrow/effects/scarecrow_death.prefab"

Option B: Correct the effect instantiation method

If the plugin triggers the death effect manually inside a hook like OnEntityDeath or during entity destruction, use the native Effect.Server.Run manager with a valid prefab:

C#

// Example fix inside the Zombie death handling method: if (entity != null) { // Using a valid effect path that does not require 'AssetScene-props' to be preloaded Effect.Server.Run("assets/prefabs/npc/scarecrow/effects/scarecrow_death.prefab", entity.transform.position); }

Please update the plugin's source code in the next update to stabilize server performance and stop the console log spam.

5 hours ago, rustfoxgaming said:

Regarding the error: 'Prefab 'assets/prefabs/npc/murderer/sound/death.prefab' requires asset scene 'AssetScene-props' to be loaded first.'

It is highly likely that this issue does not appear on your end because you are testing in a local environment where all base game assets are pre-loaded in your cache. On live hosted servers, this dependency does not resolve automatically at startup, which triggers this console error.

Could you please add a check in the plugin code to ensure the AssetScene-props is initialized or verified before the Murderer NPC attempts to call this specific death sound prefab?

Also, as for the AI, adding visual auras is a nice feature, but it does not address the core issue of NPCs moving and shooting in straight, predictable lines. Is there any plan to implement a more advanced movement logic or a target-finding algorithm for these zombies?

Thank you for your understanding

I cannot load the props if it’s not a custom map that’s just not possible lol what are you on carbon or oxide? I don’t think it really matters but I don’t call the effect to even play anymore it’s commented out. 
 

the aura feature was in works before you even created this ticket. 
 

the zombies are not intended to even be shooting on my side. Shooting isn’t a thing that is going to be happening here unless I move over to NPCSpawn dependency. But there is no guarantee on that. 

This isn’t even a valid prefab where are you getting your info from? 
 

assets/prefabs/npc/scarecrow/effects/scarecrow_death.prefab