Category Archives: Games Design & Art

Week 6 – Artificial Intelligence

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

I believe emotive modelling should be hugely considered when designing NPCs depending on whether or not the emotion is necessary in terms of interaction with the player. Emotion and behaviour go hand in hand because it closely relates to human interaction which immerses the player on a deeper level. “In most games, AI is about controlling and directing non-player characters to provide a certain level of challenge to the player.”(Stuart, 2016) As a game designer, should you want the player to do a certain thing it helps to have emotion as it can be persuasive. Depending on the feeling of the scenario, if the NPC were to be hostile towards the player, it could force the player to make decisions against the NPC and move in the direction the designer had in mind. It does depend on whether the NPC plays a moderate part in the game, otherwise there could be the minor NPCs getting involved in the main gameplay when it is not necessary for them to do so.

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

Skyrim, alongside a few other well-known Bethesda games, are full of NPCs aiding the player in their quests and overall experience of the game. Players have previously noted how limiting Skyrim’s NPCs have been as there is only so much “conversation” and interaction one can have with such characters. Should two players make the exact same choices, they will receive the exact same outcome, thus making this aspect of AI controlled agents not so individual. However, as of August 2017, a new tool, “built on the Comme il-Faut AI model developed in 2012”, called CiF-CK, was developed by computer scientists to allow NPCs more personal, variable and flexible interactions between themselves and the player. Skyrim was the chosen game to test out the programmes success, in which it proved itself to be popular. “The mod creates greater variability in NPC interactions by allowing them to act on their changing opinions of other NPCs, which are shaped by their interactions with the rest of the NPCs and the player. The original CiF architecture would keep track of NPCs’ feelings but didn’t turn those feelings into action.” (Good, 2017)

(Steamcommunity.com, 2017)

What is interesting is how this tool seems to provide a better experience and a higher player satisfaction then Bethesda’s own ‘Radiant AI’, a system first seen in Oblivion which deals with the NPCs and how they act and react to the world. ” Actors are now somewhat closer to living beings and follow simple schedules, such as “work-eat-sleep,” or react to the environment in a way that was never possible to implement in Morrowind…In principle this should go some way towards the creation of a more immersive and more believable environment; however, in practice its execution really seems nothing more than regurgitated heuristic-algorithms with a polished marketing name.” (Mullon and Hartman, 2012)

(MobyGames, Bosky, 2006)

I believe programmes such as CiF-CK will and are paving the way to creating more individual and diverse AI controlled agents and I think implementing tools such as CiF-CK will greater the game-play in games such as Skyrim. I also think by thinking beyond the experiences the singular player will go through, paying attention to the universe of the game could lead to more avenues in which the player and AI can interact, creating further individual gaming experiences.

References

Bosky, T. (2006). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Screenshots for Windows – MobyGames. [online] MobyGames. Available at: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion/screenshots/gameShotId,158751/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Good, O. (2017). Skyrim mod makes NPC interactions less scripted, more Sims-like. [online] Polygon. Available at: https://www.polygon.com/2017/8/5/16101700/social-skyrim-mod-ai-research [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Mullon, R. and Hartman, M. (2012). Radiant AI and Radiant Story in the Elder Scrolls V. [online] Elder Scrolls @ Altered Gamer. Available at: http://elder-scrolls.alteredgamer.com/tes-5-skyrim/116302-whats-new-in-skyrim-new-radiant-ai-and-radiant-story/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Steamcommunity.com. (2017). Steam Workshop :: Social NPCs. [online] Available at: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=751622677 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Stuart, K. (2016). Video games where people matter? The strange future of emotional AI. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/12/video-game-characters-emotional-ai-developers [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

 

Bibliography

Alderman, N. (2017). Why can’t we talk to the characters in games? Careful what you wish for…. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/11/games-computers-conversation-characters [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Bosky, T. (2006). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Screenshots for Windows – MobyGames. [online] MobyGames. Available at: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion/screenshots/gameShotId,158751/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

En.uesp.net. (2017). Skyrim:NPCs – The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP). [online] Available at: http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:NPCs [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Frome, J. (2017). Eight Ways Videogames Generate Emotion. [online] Digra.org. Available at: http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/07311.25139.pdf [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Good, O. (2017). Skyrim mod makes NPC interactions less scripted, more Sims-like. [online] Polygon. Available at: https://www.polygon.com/2017/8/5/16101700/social-skyrim-mod-ai-research [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Guimaraes, M., Santos, P. and Jhala, A. (2017). CiF-CK: An Architecture for Social NPCs inCommercial Games. [ebook] IEEE. Available at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8080425/?reload=true [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Jhala, A. and Shipman, M. (2017). Tool Increases Adaptability, Autonomy of Skyrim NPCs. [online] News.ncsu.edu. Available at: https://news.ncsu.edu/2017/08/skyrim-npc-tool-2017/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Mullon, R. and Hartman, M. (2012). Radiant AI and Radiant Story in the Elder Scrolls V. [online] Elder Scrolls @ Altered Gamer. Available at: http://elder-scrolls.alteredgamer.com/tes-5-skyrim/116302-whats-new-in-skyrim-new-radiant-ai-and-radiant-story/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

reddit. (2013). Skyrim – What happened to Radiant AI? • r/truegaming. [online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/1ial3z/skyrim_what_happened_to_radiant_ai/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Reith, G. (2017). 10 Most Memorable AI Characters In Video Games « GamingBolt.com: Video Game News, Reviews, Previews and Blog. [online] Gamingbolt.com. Available at: https://gamingbolt.com/10-most-memorable-ai-characters-in-video-games?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_30705 [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Steamcommunity.com. (2017). Steam Workshop :: Social NPCs. [online] Available at: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=751622677 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Stuart, K. (2016). Video games where people matter? The strange future of emotional AI. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/12/video-game-characters-emotional-ai-developers [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Reflective writing

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Over the past several weeks I have been reporting on various different subjects. The brief was to write a 500 word essay on each subject alongside appropriate sources and research. The first thing I do when exploring the area of interest is take extensive notes in the lecture. I write down core names, companies, locations and other important details. I tend not to write down what was on the slide as it is readily available on Blackboard. The other thing I do is write a list of questions I want to ask. I either ask these in the lecture or search online for them. I try to use a focusing research style where I start on something as broad as Wikipedia and then pull key words from that site. I then google those terms and narrow down my research until I find that I am close to researching something else. I then stop and reflect on what I read. The only thing I wished I had done from the beginning is referencing my sources correctly. By the time I was told the correct way I had already completed most of the essays. Next time I will do that from the very beginning.

I found the areas that interested me most was the lecture on AI and HCI. I particularly enjoyed the level of psychology and the “human element” of both of them. During my research I discovered that AI is more to do with people than computers, which was a revelation to me and as soon as I started thinking of it in that way I found it easier to understand why people are working so hard to create AI’s. I also loved the fact that HCI and AI pair extremely well and I would have loved a question pair combining the two. I really respond to the human elements in things which is why I also enjoyed learning about The Bauhaus. I appreciated the way that artists, craftsmen and designers were pulled together and revolutionised the way we see modern design. I struggled a little with pulling my research into my own words. As I read something that somebody else already wrote it felt a little like I was rewriting what was already said. I tried instead to research first and then type. Once I had finished typing I would re-read the essay whilst reading the research and checked my facts. For every single essay I used OneNote and it was unbelievably useful. The ability to just drag and drop Links, Videos and research into one document is amazing.  I think next time I will use a Dictaphone to record audio notes as these can be placed in OneNote.

Overall I enjoyed most of the modules, I feel that I need to practise Harvard referencing a bit more and I also need to build a list of reliable online sources for information. I think my strengths have been my research, when I get a lead on a subject I find it very easy to follow up on it and learn more information.

 

Sources

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/gamification-at-work-designing-engaging-business-software/chapter-11-58-curated-list-of-research-techniques

Reflect

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Upon finishing all the required research questions, I’m now taking time to review my work process and critically evaluate what I might have done wrong or where I could improve in terms of my research work.

I’d firstly comment on the Harvard referencing and giving evidence for my work in terms of where I have stated some facts. I feel like where I can read through sources to improve my knowledge on the give subject, I would then get carried away with the written work and forget that I might be writing about a topic and stating facts that I feel are correct from my given sources. I would like to improve my proof reading for the future. To find any facts or statements without a reference to rectify this. I should be vigilant in terms of recording every website that I have visited. Keeping these separate from the actual referenced materials within my work. I have only realised that I have had bibliography and references mixed up the wrong way round all this time. (DifferenceBetween.net, 2017) So for the future, I can remember this little lesson and use the correct formatting. This said, I still know that I should include both of these and am confident in my respect for correct referencing.

Since completing these questions, it has made me more aware of when I am designing gameplay to remember aspects of player involvement. Using HCI correctly can greatly increase the player’s information thus improving their experience. Also gaining a better understanding about artificial intelligence, making sure when it is used, to give it the required level of intelligence within it’s context. A 2D enemy should simply be able to seek and destroy the player. whereas a NPC that hands out quests would want to be designed with more attention, thinking about their manner, personal quarrels and style of speech. All important to creating AI that is more recognisable as a human to the player.

Overall the module has been very interesting and I have enjoyed the questions. They have enabled me to research into subjects I might not have usually looked at and lead me to find out knew interests. Skill, Stamina, Luck introduced me to the Fighting Fantasy novels which have made me realise what an important role narrative and immersion has when it comes to particular genres “side quests also fill up the surrounding universe with incredible lore, leading to deeper immersion for players.”(Kemme, 2016). Creating choice for players lets them feel like they are in control. That and learning about copyright which will be useful for me when working in the creative industry. Keeping me from making a mistake and making copyright infringement.

References

DifferenceBetween.net, 2017. Difference Between Bibliography and References. [Online]
Available at: http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-bibliography-and-references/
[Accessed 06 12 2017].

Kemme, S., 2016. What Makes Us Love Role Playing Games?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.gamersdecide.com/pc-game-news/7-reasons-why-we-love-rpg-games
[Accessed 07 12 2017].

The Problem With Copyright

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What do you see as the positives and negatives around copyright? Is it possible to make anything new?  

My initial, knee-jerk reaction when considering copyright is towards the negative. The origin of copyright itself was an attempt by the authorities in 1662 which “sought to control the publication of books by granting printers a near monopoly on publishing” (Eshgh, 2015). Not exactly an encouraging start. Since then there has been a continual tug of war performed on copyright laws dragging it across a spectrum which favours the every-day creator one one end and media giants on the other.  

The Statute of Anne, 1710

Before I jump into this, it’s worth clarifying that I am on the side of the every-day creator, meaning my perception of the positives and negatives of copyright will be skewed by personal biased. Nonetheless, let’s take a look at the different aspects of copyright and their relative worth.  

Copyright, at its best, should allow control of the creator over their work until no longer necessary, at which point the work is given to the public domain. The Statute of Anne, implemented in 1710, “prevented a monopoly on the part of the booksellers and created a “public domain” for literature” (Eshgh, 2015) by allowing a fixed term of copyright protection with the ability to renew if the creator was still living once it expired. It meant that the creator could have autonomy over their work for a set time, but meant that other creators down the line wouldn’t be punished for referencing or taking inspiration from that work.  

The next big change I’d like to focus on is almost three centuries down the line, in 1998, when a 56-75 year term put companies like Disney at risk of having their 1920’s creations fall into the public domain. The argument at the time was that by further extending the copyright protection term, it encouraged other creators to make new things. However, as expressed by Senator Hank Brown, “The real incentive here is for corporate owners that bought copyrights to lobby Congress for another 20 years of revenue—not for creators who will be long dead once this term extension takes hold.” However, the people who opposed this proposal of extending the term were in the minority. The proposal for an extension was passed, and “life plus 70” (Lee, 2013) became the new copyright term. 

Disney’s Steamboat Willie, copyright due to expire 2024

So it feels like copyright laws were made for sour purposes, and have been reclaimed by those with sour purposes over the years, despite the public occasionally trying to claw back restrictions on other people’s work, and sample and play with ideas from those that came before them. That said, to claim that this inhibits creators for making anything is absurd, as is the proposition that making something new is impossible. Whilst we are all creatures moulded by our experiences, our experiences themselves are unique, and by drawing from them and not necessarily the work of people around you, I do believe it’s still possible to make something new and individual, if only you have the courage to try. 

 

Reference list: 

Eshgh, A. (2015) Copyright Timeline: A History of Copyright in the United States, Association of Research Libraries 

Sen. Brown, H. (1996) Senate Judiciary Report on S.483, July 10, 1996 

Lee, T.B. (2013) 15 years ago, Congress kept Mickey Mouse out of the public domain. Will they do it again? The Washington Post 

 

Helpful links: 

http://www.trutv.com/shows/adam-ruins-everything/videos/how-mickey-mouse-destroyed-the-public-domain.html 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/10/25/15-years-ago-congress-kept-mickey-mouse-out-of-the-public-domain-will-they-do-it-again/?utm_term=.53755560ef8b 

http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/legmats/s483rep104-315.html#Brown 

http://www.arl.org/focus-areas/copyright-ip/2486-copyright-timeline#.WigVerGnyhA 

 

 

Emotional AI in Gaming

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Behavioural modelling is an important part of NPC development for games. Should emotive modelling be part of that development?
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 purpose of AI, by definition, is creating technology that can “to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). So when games designers are creating non-player characters (NPCs) the focus is on the emulation of human behaviour. At this point, game designers are getting pretty good at it, NPCs can move, talk, and over-all behave like human beings on a relatively superficial level. But in order to truly capture the human condition, I believe it should be vital to include emotive modelling in the development process, as all decisions we make are based on varying degrees of emotion. If we take into account that “emotions are an essential part of the believability of embodied characters that interact with humans” (Bartneck, 2017), if a designers goal is to evoke an emotional response towards their NPC, then emotion is vital to the equation.

Take The Last of Us, for example (again, I know). With a game that relies so strongly on a character driven plot, its essential to the experience that the NPCs are tangible, believable characters. In the first half of the game, focusing on NPCs Ellie and Tess, both are standout, individual characters who’s constant dialogue makes their personalities distinct. I personally connected with Ellie immediately, but it took me a while to connect to Tess, because her character is written in such a way that makes her stand-offish, sharp tongued and a little petty. Their emotional modelling is fantastic, however. They are both real, believable characters that the player acknowledges as separate entities, and proves the point – at least in my personal opinion – that if a designers goal is to evoke an emotional response towards their AI, emotive modelling is key to that experience.

The Last of Us 2013, Joel and Tess arguing

That being said, there’s a lot about The Last of Us AIs that aren’t perfect. There are plenty of moments, in my experience, in which I have been caught yelling at my TV screen because one of the NPCs has followed me into a dangerous territory that I was sneaking through and just started firing shots at the NPC enemies. Moments like this undermine the intuition and innovation of putting a stealth mechanic in the game to begin with – if an uncontrollable entity is going to compromise your position the game becomes somewhat frustrating to play. It’s a good example of when a programmed “humanistic” behaviour goes awry: the player does want the NPC to follow them, but they don’t want to be tripping over said NPC every time they turn around. In this specific instance it might be helpful to have the AIs recognise that the character was in stealth-mode, activated by a specific button, and lag behind just a touch more instead of charging into the fight guns blazing.

The Last of Us stealth mechanic

So despite AIs and NPCs having come so far in terms of behaving like humans both physically and emotionally, there is still a way to go in creating a truly believable AIs that blend so seamlessly into their surroundings you could forget they were there.

Reference list:
Anon, (2017) Oxford Dictionary, 3rd ed
Bartneck, C. (2017) The Relationship Between Emotion Models and Artificial Intelligence

Helpful links:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/artificial_intelligence

Click to access 1706.09554.pdf

Human Computer Interfacing

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Select one game of your interest and explain why it has good/bad game UI. Discuss how technology augments human abilities. Reflect upon the implications of the future of HCI. 

When I think about the games that became the cornerstone of my understanding of just what a game could be, The Last of Us is always the first one that comes to mind. The UI of the game was almost obnoxiously intuitive, there wasn’t a moment in game that pulled me out of the experience. So how is it that a game that only started focusing on the UI of their game in the last eight months of a four year development ended with an interface so seamlessly intuitive that you barely notice it’s there?

Breaking down the whole UI of The Last of Us is obviously a heavy task, so I’ll focus mostly on the HUD. The HUD felt like an extra limb that I’d spent my whole life learning to use, it stayed out of the way and it never overcomplicated anything. Naughty Dog UI designer for The Last of Us, Alexandria Neonakis, said herself that “the main thing you generally hear people complain about with UI is not how it looks, but that there’s too much cluttering the screen” – and taking that on board she eliminated that clutter almost entirely. Another thing that works beautifully is that the position of elements of the HUD relate to their controlling buttons on the controller, e.g. the weapon selection area is at the bottom right corner and is changed by the d-pad. All of these design features combined make for an intuitive, non-distracting user interface, in which the controller is simply an extension of your hands, merging you together with the game that you’re playing.

But video game controllers are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to technology that augments human abilities. Innovega, a small start-up company, have been working on a pair of contact lenses that work in conjunction with glasses to produce its very own Heads Up Display. The technology works by putting a screen on the inside of a pair of glasses, but unlike a lot of VR set-ups that require the screen to be a certain distance from the wearer’s face in order to focus on it, it incorporates a pair of contact lenses which are “outfitted with dual focal planes similar to bifocals, let wearers focus on the screen without its having to be set inches away from their eyes” (Lerman, 2017).

What makes this idea particularly innovative is that the company recognises the issues with current human-augmenting technology and works to make it more intuitive, closer to the human body itself. It seems to me that the further time goes on, the more designers are starting to realise the key to incredible HCI is to make the technology a further extension of the human body, rather than a fresh piece of technology that requires fresh learning of its nuances to properly experience. If it’s possible to do with contact lenses, what other possibilities could there be?

 

Reference List:

Neonakis, A. (2014) How We Made The Last of Us’ Interface Work So Well, kotaku.com

Lerman, R. (2017) Startup Sees Contact Lenses as the New VR Screens, The Seattle Times

 

Helpful links:

https://kotaku.com/how-we-made-the-last-of-uss-interface-work-so-well-1571841317

https://www.cnet.com/news/augmented-reality-contact-lenses-to-be-human-ready-at-ces/

http://www.govtech.com/products/Startup-Sees-Contact-Lenses-as-the-New-VR-Screens.html

https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/10/3863550/innovega-augmented-reality-glasses-contacts-hands-on

 

Copyright and Originality

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Copyright is one of these things that in concept should be quite easy to enforce, in reality however this is often not the case. In a world where everything is copyrighted it is often difficult to be original or create something that is truly original. We all become inspired by other’s work and that is never a bad thing the issue arises when we begin copying other’s work and claiming it is ours. This is why copyright laws where brought into place.

The Positives and Negatives of Copyright

Positive

Negative

Automatic Copyright Protection:

As a creator anything you create is automatically copyrighted. This is why it’s good practise to document and evidence your process.

Ambiguity: The Copyright laws at the moment can be vague and ambiguous allowing for some wiggle room on the definitions and terms. What defines fair use can often change. Cases such as “Ice Ice Baby” vs “Under Pressure” (Rolling Stone. 2017) constantly probe the definition of this term and bring it to the public eye.

Protects the Creator: Copyright is good because it protects works and makes sure the creator benefits from the use of their works. It protects their ownership of the item.

Limiting: Because everything is copyrighted it is becoming increasingly difficult to use others works in your own. This is often prevalent in the music industry when a similar beat or jingle is used.

Control: Copyright allows the original owner to have control over their work. If they object to the use of their work for any reason they have the right to stop their work being used. This is good because it means for things like music and Art the creator has a say in where and how these pieces are displayed.

Accidental Infringement: It sometimes occurs that an artist or musician will create a piece that accidently infringes copyright of someone else’s work. Now that copyright is an automatic thing it means that it is quite difficult to produce original work. It is why research is extremely important. Blurred lines is an exceptional example of this in action. (The Guardian, 2017)

So as we can see there are clear advantages and benefits from copyright law. There are, however, some very big problems with copyright. The major one being originality and ownership issues. Copyright stops people combining pre-generated artefacts to create something new. Everything now is automatically copyrighted, whether or not it has been shown or displayed. This is an issue as it means that being original is extremely difficult and even if you’re sure you made something original it could steal be infringing copyright laws accidently.

I think that in an age of immediate information and social media it is unlikely that anything is original anymore. We learn by copying and watching others, so by that logic everything we create is going to be heavily inspired by something else that we have seen or heard. I think the knack to making something seem original is do your research and try to abstract from the original source of information as much as possible.

C.S. Lewis writes, “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two-pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”(Lewis, C.S. 1973)

 

Sources

Pros & Cons of Copyright Laws | Your Business. 2017. Pros & Cons of Copyright Laws | Your Business. [ONLINE] Available at: https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/pros-cons-copyright-laws-5170.html. [Accessed 06 December 2017].

Pros & Cons of Copyright Laws | Your Business. 2017. Pros & Cons of Copyright Laws | Your Business. [ONLINE] Available at: https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/pros-cons-copyright-laws-5170.html. [Accessed 06 December 2017].

Business Insider. 2017. Nothing We Do Is Original Anymore, So Find Things Worth Imitating – Business Insider. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/nothing-we-do-is-original-anymore-so-find-things-worth-imitating-2012-8?IR=T. [Accessed 06 December 2017].

Rolling Stone. 2017. Vanilla Ice vs. Queen and David Bowie (1990) | Songs on Trial: 10 Landmark Music Copyright Cases | Rolling Stone. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/songs-on-trial-10-landmark-music-copyright-cases-20160608/vanilla-ice-vs-queen-and-david-bowie-1990-20160608. [Accessed 06 December 2017].

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 2017. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents. [Accessed 06 December 2017].

The Guardian. 2017. Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke to pay $7.4m to Marvin Gaye’s family over Blurred Lines | Music | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/10/blurred-lines-pharrell-robin-thicke-copied-marvin-gaye. [Accessed 06 December 2017].

Mere Christianity:

Ann, K., 1973. C. S. Lewis. Regal Books.

 

The history of Indie and whether the term still has meaning today

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Why would you say that the “Indie” game scene is not a new thing and explain, give examples?

We can all agree that the term “Indie” is used a lot in modern times, both to describe games as well as music & film. However, when we talk in terms of video games, the term dates back to the 1960’s with the creation of Spacewar! The game was developed by Steve Russell for the PDP-1. I feel that this is as far back as we can go in regards to an Indie game as this is essentially the first game, before an industry of video games had started. We can also look into what the term indie actually means, and then evaluate Spacewar! in this way. If we assume that the word “indie” describes a game with a very small development team, with a very little budget, if any, and designed around the developers want, not the public, we can safely assume that Spacewar! is an indie game. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar!#/media/File:Spacewar!-PDP-1-20070512.jpg

With the increasing development of indie games throughout the decades, new options for obtaining these games were starting to appear. One of the first ways of distributing these games were via code, printed into a magazine, that you then had to manually enter into the device. Obviously, over time, these distribution methods improved with the introduction of local video game stores.

So, yes, the indie game scene is definitely not a new concept, as it helped start and shape what is the games industry today.

Has the term indie become meaningless?

I wouldn’t like to think that the term indie has become meaningless, however, I do understand why some people may think this is the case. With huge AAA titles like Star Wars Battlefront and Call of Duty taking over the media, it could often shadow the news about upcoming indie titles. I feel as though the indie game scene is one that is still growing as with the introduction of free game engines like Unity Personal, and Unreal Engine 4, people are able to create games in their bedroom with relative ease.

Take Unturned as an example. This game, released in July 2014 is a simple, zombie survival game which has become one of the most popular free-to-play games on Steam with a 90% positive rating on Steam (Store.steampowered.com, 2017) The game was created by Nelson Sexton, which at the time of release, was only 16. This shows how easy it is for small indie developers to get a start into the gaming industry.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/

Unturned not only has been in constant development since it’s release, with regular updates, it allows for members of the community to create mods and maps for the game. This helps increase the community and turns what once started as a single person’s game, into one that is being influenced by thousands of people. Because of this, I don’t believe the term “indie” has become meaningless at all, however with the constant media attention of big game companies, it can make it hard for the small indie developers to get noticed.

Bibliography

Anderson, N. (2017). First encounter: COMPUTE! magazine and its glorious, tedious type-in code. [online] Ars Technica. Available at: https://arstechnica.com/staff/2012/12/first-encounter-compute-magazine-and-its-glorious-tedious-type-in-code/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Store.steampowered.com. (2017). Unturned on Steam. [online] Available at: http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Spacewar!. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar! [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Useful Links

http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/

 

 

 

Week 6 – Artificial Intelligence

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

As stated behaviour modelling IS an important aspect of NPC development, it exists outside of the video game industry as a social learning theory, where so people learn and develop through experience, and therefore arguably to create realistic NPC’s within video games such an ideology should be included as well. This would mean that an NPC would be coded to learn and adapt to the actions of the player. In the case of emotive modelling, I must say that I also believe that emotive modelling should be part of the process. It makes a game more immersive when the player can believe an NPC is performing how we would expect. “Fundamentally, its not about reality, its about the illusion of reality; creating the feel of something being real.”. (Anon, N/A)

In some cases, in my opinion, games lack that illusion of reality, and immersion is broken when an NPC surprisingly does something ridiculous and unrealistic. For instance if an NPC attempts to stay and fight even when the odds are highly stacked against them. In such a case I believe that emotive modelling could or should be implemented to allow judgements to be made and the possibility for an NPC to flee, the more realistic action in the case of fight or flight.

Some developers do attempt to implement some emotive modelling, as I believe they should, however the problem remains that, “Quite often game AI is developed in a generic manner per character type rather than for a particular character“(Stallwood, James and Ranchhod, Ashokkymar, 2017), making most NPC’s act too similarly, a flaw to emotive modelling…

(262 Words)

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

My favourite game is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The game came out in 2006, so obviously it doesn’t have the most up to date NPC AI, however for its time it did well, especially with the use of Radiant AI. The game has features with the NPC’s that try to make the game for realistic. NPC’s will call for help if they witness you commit a crime, have habits, and some will flee when in danger. Additionally, for  such functions the whole AI are not coded to behave in such a way, guards for instance won’t back down from a fight if you’re caught breaking the law. Whilst merchants on the other hand who may try to intervene won’t stay around for long if they take too much damage. This sense of panic and chaos that surrounds criminal activity in the game, for example, makes the game feel that little bit more realistic.

(Source: http://oceanofgames.com/the-elder-scrolls-4-oblivion-free-download/)

 

Granted the game isn’t perfect, codes for behaviours are generally categorised and shared by large groups of NPC’s which removes the sense of individuality, additionally the AI are limited to a certain amount of lines of dialogue so the player will often overhear the same repetitive lines. Additionally the behaviour of NPC’s can create problems, especially if you’re trying to talk to an NPC character who wont stop fleeing an area.

Therefore, to improve the game I would suggest improvements within dialogue, and a wider range of characteristics, both would add more personalities and iconic characters, making the AI feel more individual, and the game feel that extra bit more immersive.

(265 Words)

 

References:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/behavior-modeling-workplace-10980.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220982219_Emotional_agent_model_and_architecture_for_NPCs_group_control_and_interaction_to_facilitate_leadership_roles_in_computer_entertainment

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/941875-the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-game-of-the-year-edition/72084091

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_The_Elder_Scrolls_IV:_Oblivion

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim/b/xbox360/archive/2011/01/17/the-technology-behind-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim.aspx

Bibliography:

Anon, (N/A) Creating Intelligent, Emotive NPC’s [Online] Available from: http://www.virtualworldlets.net/Resources/Hosted/Resource.php?Name=IntelligentEmotiveNPC  [Accessed 05 December]

James Stallwood and Ashokkumar Ranchhod  (2017) The right to remember: Implementing a rudimentary emotive-effect layer for frustration on AI agent gameplay strategy Computers  [Online] Available from: http://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/6/2/18/htm [Accessed 05 December]

Emotive AI

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

I think for some games emotive modelling is very important, especially in storytelling games and interactive games; where your actions matter. Characters emotions are a part of their personality and could influence your decisions. Until dawn had really good emotive characters that kept you guessing about who the ‘killer’ was and may convince you to kill off certain people, affecting the way you play and remember the game.

When you have set decisions this works very well as they have already thought about the AI’s reaction, however in real play-time with too much options the programmed response would try to find something it recognised and build a reaction from that; not completely understanding what you was trying to do. A good example of this is Facade. The story is based on your communication with the AI and you get to decide what you talk about. The design of the game is very simple apart from the facial expressions of the AI and this is to try and mimic the response from human beings when they understand something. Cleverbot is another good example as it picks up on most of the language used but doesn’t understand more complex language and so can repeat itself or start another conversation.

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

Final fantasy would be one of my favourite games, and I feel like you don’t impact the story at all through gameplay. If I was able to communicate with the characters and get response I feel it would be very minimal but could still be a cute idea. For those that love finding out the backstory through exploring it could be a new avenue of the game to enjoy. If the game was to include as much detail it would deter the players from the concept of the game which is battle tactics.

if all the characters were to have individualistic behaviours it would be overlooked by the amount of other aspects the game has. for a lot of work it would be dismissed within a minute so the user can progress to other aspects. I would however improve some of the characters dialect, if they had mentions of locations or people I think it would help me to imagine the world and sense of civilization that the game was set in. Other than this, the main characters have unique personalities and behaviours which are shown throughout the game and I think that the focus works better on them.

I think unless the game is solely focused around the interaction with AI its unnecessary and deters the players attention.

 

Sources:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/behavioral-

modeling.asphttp://www.interactivestory.net/screenshot5.html

http://www.cleverbot.com