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[Moonkey]

Heheh.  The point was that if there is some way that the world state can be cheated then the AI is just as likely (in fact in some ways more likely) to find it as a player.  For certain kinds of state.

The AI will be working with a simplified version of the world, after all.  It might know all of the different ways that it can open a door but not realize that it will knock over a vase, for example.  But, if it turns out that you can open a door by bumping into it a few times or something then the AI would find bugs like that.

(late response) So, your plan is to make a creative AI that will do things like hack (With an axe, not a computer) open a stuck/locked door to save his family?

Edit: From a fire or something. So you don't have an NPC stuck in a house yelling and burning alive without an idea of what to do.

[pspeed]

Heheh.  The point was that if there is some way that the world state can be cheated then the AI is just as likely (in fact in some ways more likely) to find it as a player.  For certain kinds of state.

The AI will be working with a simplified version of the world, after all.  It might know all of the different ways that it can open a door but not realize that it will knock over a vase, for example.  But, if it turns out that you can open a door by bumping into it a few times or something then the AI would find bugs like that.

(late response) So, your plan is to make a creative AI that will do things like hack (With an axe, not a computer) open a stuck/locked door to save his family?

Edit: From a fire or something. So you don't have an NPC stuck in a house yelling and burning alive without an idea of what to do.

If that is an action that the NPC has available to him then he will consider it in his planning process.

[belgariad87]

Heheh.  The point was that if there is some way that the world state can be cheated then the AI is just as likely (in fact in some ways more likely) to find it as a player.  For certain kinds of state.

The AI will be working with a simplified version of the world, after all.  It might know all of the different ways that it can open a door but not realize that it will knock over a vase, for example.  But, if it turns out that you can open a door by bumping into it a few times or something then the AI would find bugs like that.

(late response) So, your plan is to make a creative AI that will do things like hack (With an axe, not a computer) open a stuck/locked door to save his family?

Edit: From a fire or something. So you don't have an NPC stuck in a house yelling and burning alive without an idea of what to do.

If that is an action that the NPC has available to him then he will consider it in his planning process.

if you can make an AI like that, why dont other games have such a thorough system?

[pspeed]

if you can make an AI like that, why dont other games have such a thorough system?

They kind of do.  GOAP (Goal Oriented Action Planning) is becoming more common.
http://web.media.mit.edu/~jorkin/goap.html

I don't know how strategic I'll be able to make it yet, but I've found it's mostly how the goals are encoded.  I kind of have a loose multi-layer design at this point.  It may be too slow and I'll fall back on more conventional high-level thinking with goap for the tactical level.  But we'll see.

Either way, if an NPC wanted to get into a house (the want already being decided in some way) and one of the actions he has available is "bash down the door" then that will be considered in his tactical planning.

[G1ZMO]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

[belgariad87]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

hey yeahhh thats a good question! i remember in games like Skyrim and Radiata Stories people did things that made sense during certain times, like sleep at night and work and such.

[pspeed]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

Yes, NPCs will have a general daily schedule.  This is also how I will guess where they are when you come near a town that no player was near before, etc.

[belgariad87]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

Yes, NPCs will have a general daily schedule.  This is also how I will guess where they are when you come near a town that no player was near before, etc.

why would you need to know that?

[pspeed]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

Yes, NPCs will have a general daily schedule.  This is also how I will guess where they are when you come near a town that no player was near before, etc.

why would you need to know that?

Because running the AI for 200,000+ NPCs is impossible.  But running the AI only for the NPCs that a player can interact with or can nearly interact with is possible.  When the player is not around, most NPCs will "go to sleep"... meaning they are just doing their "standard routine" and no calculations are required.  If you visit a town at night then Joe the Blacksmith is sleeping.  If you visit a town during the day then Joe the Blacksmith is working.  If you hang around in the town you can watch him go through his whole day but when you aren't in the town there is no reason the computer needs to keep track of Joe from minute to minute.

[belgariad87]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

Yes, NPCs will have a general daily schedule.  This is also how I will guess where they are when you come near a town that no player was near before, etc.

why would you need to know that?

Because running the AI for 200,000+ NPCs is impossible.  But running the AI only for the NPCs that a player can interact with or can nearly interact with is possible.  When the player is not around, most NPCs will "go to sleep"... meaning they are just doing their "standard routine" and no calculations are required.  If you visit a town at night then Joe the Blacksmith is sleeping.  If you visit a town during the day then Joe the Blacksmith is working.  If you hang around in the town you can watch him go through his whole day but when you aren't in the town there is no reason the computer needs to keep track of Joe from minute to minute.

ohhh ok that makes sense

[Teknonick]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

Yes, NPCs will have a general daily schedule.  This is also how I will guess where they are when you come near a town that no player was near before, etc.

why would you need to know that?

Because running the AI for 200,000+ NPCs is impossible.  But running the AI only for the NPCs that a player can interact with or can nearly interact with is possible.  When the player is not around, most NPCs will "go to sleep"... meaning they are just doing their "standard routine" and no calculations are required.  If you visit a town at night then Joe the Blacksmith is sleeping.  If you visit a town during the day then Joe the Blacksmith is working.  If you hang around in the town you can watch him go through his whole day but when you aren't in the town there is no reason the computer needs to keep track of Joe from minute to minute.

ERROR, ERROR, ERROR!

WE NEED MORE CPU, FEED US CPU!!!

[ayoriceball]

Do you plan to give the NCPs set tasks based on the time of day? (sleep, eat, hunt/search for food) and season (sunbathe/ski (jk lol))

Sounds great so far, can't wait for the next release!

Paul

Yes, NPCs will have a general daily schedule.  This is also how I will guess where they are when you come near a town that no player was near before, etc.

why would you need to know that?

Because running the AI for 200,000+ NPCs is impossible.  But running the AI only for the NPCs that a player can interact with or can nearly interact with is possible.  When the player is not around, most NPCs will "go to sleep"... meaning they are just doing their "standard routine" and no calculations are required.  If you visit a town at night then Joe the Blacksmith is sleeping.  If you visit a town during the day then Joe the Blacksmith is working.  If you hang around in the town you can watch him go through his whole day but when you aren't in the town there is no reason the computer needs to keep track of Joe from minute to minute.

Soo looking forward to this. I believe TES Skyrim basically does the same thing, but Skyrim doesn't have a randomly generated world.

[pspeed]

Soo looking forward to this. I believe TES Skyrim basically does the same thing, but Skyrim doesn't have a randomly generated world.

Yeah, at some point it's the only way to do the AI because the scripting complexity explodes otherwise.  Even if only used at the tactical level (cannot shot bow unless I pick up arrows from over there then hold my bow... etc) it still simplifies a lot of stuff for an AI designer.

[Michael]

by the time mythruna is alpha, my computer will not be able to run mythruna

[Moonkey]

by the time mythruna is alpha, my computer will not be able to run mythruna

All you would need is a decent CPU. I'm guessing an AI complexity slider could help with performance on lower end computers. (Along with a setting for simple physics/basic water)