All You Need to Know About Anticipatory AI…
…And I’m not talking about that creepy movie with the “I See Dead People” kid. That movie was just super weird.
As I was cruising about the Gamasutra (and no, that is not a kinky position you can try… perverts), I came across an interesting article about Anticipatory AI and how it should be approached.
This article mostly talks about how another character, other than the main character that you play, should act under different circumstances. If it’s raining, they should have their hands over their heads, trying desperately to deflect the drops of rain that relentlessly bash them in the head… or if it’s sunny, they’d be walking around in their flip flops and shorts, skipping happily. Or perhaps, if you decide your character should flash this other person, the other person will look at you with complete shock… and maybe slap you. Yeah, definitely slap you. You shouldn’t be flashing people! Sicko!
Okay, these may not be the best examples ever, so take a look at the examples Bruce Blumberg from Gamasutra gives:
Examples of such behaviors include: the shift in gaze, and widening eyes as a result of perceived motion just on the periphery, the slight stiffening of a cat’s tail that presages a predatory pounce, the slinking gait of a fearful dog in expectation of being punished; the catch in breath in response to a startling noise. In traditional animation, these movements and behaviors would be labeled as secondary anticipatory actions. And yet, as Isla puts it, “much of the low-level animation described is significant precisely because it is indicative of some kind of emotional or knowledge state internal to the character. If a character frowns and continually glances towards a door, we might infer that it is because the character is anxious about someone soon coming through it.”
So, basically, he’s talking about developing a game with all the reactions that you may face in the real world. The article talks about how most games of the future will be going this route, so you may want to take a look at the article.
And if you don’t, my AI dog will pee on your shoe.
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