Game Design and Artificial Intelligence - Bournemouth University
Game Design and Artificial Intelligence - Bournemouth University Game Design and Artificial Intelligence - Bournemouth University
Game Design and Artificial Intelligence David Hopkins human behaviour through artificial intelligence. Many of these games however never seem to be entirely believable due to a lack of memory in the AI characters of player events. Understandably, many recent games are designed to leave only a small amount of processor speed dedicated to the Artificial Intelligence due to high quality graphics, large scenes and the game engine physics. This in turn means that the AI is left to emulate human behaviour using as little processor time as possible. It is up to the programmer to develop effective and efficient ways of representing human decision making through the AI. Many strategic Roll Playing Games often revolve around a central character aided by a small group of other chosen individuals, allowing the player to select a team that suits his methods and favoured strategies. This is a vital factor of the game design and if the player selects an unbalanced team, he will regret his actions later on. “Baldurs Gate” is the main reference here, although there are many others that use similar approaches (“final fantasy” , “ albion” etc.). Baldurs Gate uses a “ reputation” statistic which measures how famous/infamous the posse are. The non player characters (NPC) then use this number to build an opinion on the player. If there is a great difference between the teams reputation and the characters personality, the character will threaten to leave the group. This is a form of artificial emotion. Artificial Emotion is an intriguing feature which many games now use to assist the non player characters. It can be used for an NPC to keep track of specific player interaction, and thus allows some specific memory. It is an effective way of emulating some human emotions and therefore can be used to give effective and believable responses. The purpose of this project was to research computer game design and artificial intelligence as well as constructing a game design based on a concept I had been developing over the summer 2004. The concept for the game is based on working alongside a temperamental crew which reacts to the player actions, but through both small events and large alike. Through use of the artificial emotion rules, the non player characters will judge the player'sactions and will react accordingly based on its statistics. The final product will hopefully show some resemblance to the concept and provide a basis for much of the playability. Design The Concept Team based Roll Playing Games are often about selecting your squad and developing them through combat situations to give them experience allowing them to advance through levels and skills. It could be considered a form of man management in selecting your team and keeping the group balanced, but this project intends to take it a level further. The stories in these games tend to unravel based on the characters in the team through the prescripted story. This makes a game interesting the first time round, but once the player has seen the repercussions of having a specific character in his team, it is easy to adapt a second time round. For this game, although some stories are an inevitability, it would be a real innovation to have more unpredictable developments based on the characters. The best manner to address this would be through having the characters not only react to you, but with their fellow compatriots. The setting is sciencefiction. The players objective is to build a reputation. A reputation of good Page 2 of 22
Game Design and Artificial Intelligence David Hopkins will and peace by becoming one of the greatest traders in the pirate lands, or an egregious arrogant leader of a terrorist pirate organisation. The story is open ended and it is up to the player how he wishes to develop the narrative. The player acts as the leader of a small trading project and has the responsibility of rounding up a team of followers who can assist in the running of a starship. At the foremost stages of the game, the majority of the crew is chosen for him, so as to educate the basic functionality. However, the option then arises to restructure the team. The player then has to search for potential employees and it is here where the challenge begins. The main game elements involve: • Judging the non player characters; • Man management during missions; • Strategic space combat actions; • Earning money; • Developing a world reputation. Somewhere in between a historical naval battle and science fiction shows such as Star Trek is how the vision of the space combat sequence can best be described. The action should be viewed real time, although the damage is done sequentially. This is to allow the player to be able to react to any events that may occur in the ship. When events in the ship combat get tough, a poorly lead crew will exacerbate the situation. The more damage done to the ship, the less experienced characters become more likely to panic and the composure levels become of greater significance. Design Research “ This is just one of the as yet unsolved questions in games – if death is indeed trivial, if we can always have another chance, then how do we make a life a valuable commodity? We also never have any real consequences for our actions, so the lives of other ingame characters are likewise instantly devalued.” Lee Uren, [Uren00] This comment by Lee Uren provides a good foundation for the game idea. Many modern commercial games veer towards cinema in style of dramatics and these are expressed clearly through narrative stories and the characters. However with these overly emphasized situations the sense of believability can be degraded as most of these changes in plot may not be edited by a players actions. This is the same for many in game characters, no matter how the player interacts with them, they will always act the same way. The player often has little effect in changing the atmosphere within a game. This is something that this project wanted to explore. “ For every choice, a consequence” – Fable, Lionhead studios, box slogan. Peter Molyneux of Lionhead studios has attempted to fulfill this problem in “ fable” . The game promised more than it could deliver, but still ended up being a fun encounter. The main character carries two main “s ocial” attributes in the game which the NPCs react to, renown and alignment. The NPCs reaction do seem fairly believable in the game, although none of the characters have a Page 3 of 22
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<strong>Game</strong> <strong>Design</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Artificial</strong> <strong>Intelligence</strong><br />
David Hopkins<br />
will <strong>and</strong> peace by becoming one of the greatest traders in the pirate l<strong>and</strong>s, or an egregious arrogant<br />
leader of a terrorist pirate organisation. The story is open ended <strong>and</strong> it is up to the player how he<br />
wishes to develop the narrative. The player acts as the leader of a small trading project <strong>and</strong> has the<br />
responsibility of rounding up a team of followers who can assist in the running of a starship. At the<br />
foremost stages of the game, the majority of the crew is chosen for him, so as to educate the basic<br />
functionality. However, the option then arises to restructure the team. The player then has to search<br />
for potential employees <strong>and</strong> it is here where the challenge begins.<br />
The main game elements involve:<br />
• Judging the non player characters;<br />
• Man management during missions;<br />
• Strategic space combat actions;<br />
• Earning money;<br />
• Developing a world reputation.<br />
Somewhere in between a historical naval battle <strong>and</strong> science fiction shows such as Star Trek is how<br />
the vision of the space combat sequence can best be described. The action should be viewed real<br />
time, although the damage is done sequentially. This is to allow the player to be able to react to any<br />
events that may occur in the ship. When events in the ship combat get tough, a poorly lead crew<br />
will exacerbate the situation. The more damage done to the ship, the less experienced characters<br />
become more likely to panic <strong>and</strong> the composure levels become of greater significance.<br />
<strong>Design</strong> Research<br />
“ This is just one of the as yet unsolved questions in games – if death is indeed trivial, if we can<br />
always have another chance, then how do we make a life a valuable commodity? We also never<br />
have any real consequences for our actions, so the lives of other ingame characters are likewise<br />
instantly devalued.”<br />
Lee Uren, [Uren00]<br />
This comment by Lee Uren provides a good foundation for the game idea. Many modern<br />
commercial games veer towards cinema in style of dramatics <strong>and</strong> these are expressed clearly<br />
through narrative stories <strong>and</strong> the characters. However with these overly emphasized situations the<br />
sense of believability can be degraded as most of these changes in plot may not be edited by a<br />
players actions. This is the same for many in game characters, no matter how the player interacts<br />
with them, they will always act the same way. The player often has little effect in changing the<br />
atmosphere within a game. This is something that this project wanted to explore.<br />
“ For every choice, a consequence” – Fable, Lionhead studios, box slogan.<br />
Peter Molyneux of Lionhead studios has attempted to fulfill this problem in “ fable” . The game<br />
promised more than it could deliver, but still ended up being a fun encounter. The main character<br />
carries two main “s ocial” attributes in the game which the NPCs react to, renown <strong>and</strong> alignment.<br />
The NPCs reaction do seem fairly believable in the game, although none of the characters have a<br />
Page 3 of 22
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