Question pair 5

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

Emotive modelling should defiantly be a part of behavioural modelling for NPCs otherwise the NPC cannot convey emotion through behaviour alone effectively. Emotive modelling must be a part of that development process since a NPC uses expressions to convey emotions which synergise with the physical actions of the NPC for example if an NPC is angry they might say a dialogue which is angry or aggressive, but they need also change their physical manner meaning the stance of them standing might become more firm and confrontational this emotive body language further adds depth into the NPC making it more lifelike. But certain occasions may require less emotive language for example the robot in Portal 2 Glados doesn’t seem to have much emotive language this is because she is a life less manipulative robot who is made so the player can dislike her and create detachment from her therefore feel more emphatic for the characters they are playing, so in certain situations using less emotive modelling can be useful. An example of when emotive language needs to be a part of behavioural modelling development is in games like Borderlands 2 where the villain Handsome Jack always has a very mischievous and conniving personality, and this shown through he emotive language where he constantly insults the players with slurs, this emotive language makes his character more believable and unlikable.

Sources and references

https://captainfez.com/2016/03/24/farewell-handsome-jack/

https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/27/5455382/watch-glados-from-portal-explain-the-difference-between-fission-and

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?

One of my favourite video games is World of Warcraft this game has many NPCs in the world as it is a MMO where your role plays as one of the selected heroes who must save the day. Most of the newer NPCs in the new expansion have very believable personalities this due to them using very emotive language to convey the threat that you face as a player in the World or Warcraft and also their behaviour is very individualistic for example in one quest you have a very important character from the Lore as a NPC help you charge through a portal into a new world full of new threats and enemies this behavioural modelling and the expressions on his face is very telling of how strong he is and how much he believes in saving the day. But there is one way I believe I could improve the NPCs this by looking at the older NPCs in the older expansions these are just lifeless still NPCs who say some vague forgettable dialogue and give quests for you to do. This can in turn make the game very mundane to play and very lacklustre in terms of story because you feel disconnected from these NPCs but adding more behavioural modelling like getting the NPCS to follow you around and talk while doing the given quests furthermore adding emotive language like making changes to the tone of their voices to show how importance of the quest can make these NPCs more convincing and likable.