A) Behavioural modelling is an important part of NPC development for games. Should emotive modelling be part of that development?

As video games are right now, I don’t think that emotive modelling needs to be a part of development but as technology progresses I think new types of genres will emerge that properly utilise these types of mechanics. (Stuart, 2016)

Open world RPG’s strive to create an immersive and believable world and for the most part they can achieve this, however NPC’s have never quite been believable enough. One of the restraints is memory; having one character that can remember player actions and react in meaningful ways isn’t too bad, but it becomes far too overwhelming when there’s a whole world full of these characters. Games, in the past, have found workarounds to try and mimic some sort of emotive behaviour.

For example, the Nemesis System in the Middle Earth series lets previously defeated enemies come back for revenge having remembered and adapted to how you defeated them before. This mechanic gives the illusion that each individual enemy that you kill has its own ‘AI’ but in fact there is just a general algorithm to generate these adaptions.

Shadow of Modor

‘Think of the Nemesis System as your opponent’s turn in a board game. On your turn, you kill a bunch of the captains in an area’s orc army ranks. Your turn ends when you die (or when you choose to advance time at a fast travel location). On your “opponent’s” turn, new orcs are promoted into those vacated positions and others advance up the hierarchy. These promoted orcs become captains.’ (Parkin, 2017)

B) Consider your favourite video game. If it contains AI controlled agents how individualistic are they and their behaviours, and, how might you set about improving them?

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been one of the most influential open world RPG’s of recent times; it is well known for its immersive lore and engaging story lines but also its strange and often quite hilarious character interactions.

The world of Skyrim is home to an impress number of interesting characters with unique motivations, so it would be nearly impossible for Bethesda make sure each NPC behaves like the player would expect an actual human to behave all the time. Most emotions portrayed by the NPC’s are either scripted or are extremely polarising. One minute a guard could be congratulating for saving the village from a dragon, the next they could be trying to arrest you for killing a chicken. It all comes down to the lack of individual NPC memory; if a villager remembered you completing a long quest for them, they might not get as mad if you steal a cabbage from their market stand. (Anon., 2015) Not many interactions have lasting value in the game, it usually comes down to recent events.

References

Anon., 2015. Reddit. [Online]
Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/3br2rl/what_are_your_best_stories_of_ai_incompetence/
[Accessed 29 November 2017].

Parkin, J., 2017. Polygon. [Online]
Available at: https://www.polygon.com/middle-earth-shadow-of-war-guide/2017/10/9/16439610/the-nemesis-system-and-you
[Accessed 29 November 2017].

Stuart, K., 2016. The Guardian. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/12/video-game-characters-emotional-ai-developers
[Accessed 29 November 2017].