Efficient, Realistic NPC Control Systems using Behavior-Based Techniques

Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Entertainment II

Volume

Papers from the 2002 AAAI Spring Symposium

Contents

Computer games are an application in which the perception of intentionality is often more important than intentionality itself. Players often attribute more intelligence to non-player characters than is actually warranted. Therefore, rather than investing more AI complexity in the system, we propose an approach which refines and extends the finite-state machine techniques already prevalent in commercially available games. Taking advantage of the similarities between robots and NPCs in dynamic environments, we describe two NPC control systems that uses behavior-based techniques.