Artificial intelligence or living worlds

Artificial intelligence is a very complex topic, but at the same time, it plays an extremely important role in the existence of almost any game. At least in a basic context, every part and system of the game can be compared in some way to the human body. Individual scripts are the brain, graphics are the body as such, the engine is, of course, the heart, and artificial intelligence is something like a nervous system.

However, we will not talk about the individual complexities of artificial intelligence in this topic, but will immediately move on to what we would like to point out. And especially for such titles with artificial intelligence and complex scenarios, which can at least basically mimic life and the living world.

Of course, we are not the only ones who are noticing more and more of those games that we think will not go anywhere without us. That everything stands still unless you do something predetermined; that everything around you looks like an imitation of the MCU series WandaVision.

But there are just such games that can somehow mimic the living world, or at least seem believable enough to still create a beautiful and unique illusion of something more. And today we will consider such names and their functioning.

Create an artificial intelligence that could perfectly mimic life and work in some kind of ecosystem, of course impossible. The name “artificial” suggests this. However, this hasn’t stopped many developers from trying to create scripts and AI systems that are complex enough to at least to temporarily create this illusion. And there are more such games than it might seem at first glance.

However, on one side of the spectrum are games that create this illusion purely through scripting, and a form of artificial intelligence is not fully involved. A great recent example is the open-world RPG Elex 2. It works fairly typically in many ways, but the whole world is filled with certain little stories that play out more or less regardless of your progress or participation in them. Of course you can join carefully exploring the environment and listening to random dialogues, but you can also skip them completely. So you can later meet a character who goes to execution hanged. And you never know if you could save her.

In a similar relation, we can look, for example, at the giant Red Dead Redemption 2. Have you ever noticed new buildings in and around the city of Valentine as you progress through the story? There is also a father whom you can help build, but regardless of your participation in his story, the house continues to be built. Killing him ensures that the hut will never be built, but if you, on the other hand, help him, the stately estate will stand the stronger and faster. The same goes for railroad tracks, which are gradually being built around the world in de facto real time. You can slowly see the builders pounding on the pieces. And completion can indeed happen. The only pity is that the train will never go on new tracks.

But these anyway just two of several exampleswhen a game can use relatively simple scenarios to appear alive, but it really isn’t; it’s enough to keep the world functioning without you.

But many games go even further. There are more than enough titles in which you are the protagonist, the protagonist of the story, and all the more important to the world around you, but you’re definitely not the center of the universe.

In this case, we can look, for example, 4X strategy, which operate on a relatively more limited playing field than open-world games, for example, but serve our purpose perfectly. In them, you inhabit one piece of the game map, while other factions inhabit other parts. No matter how fast and efficient you play – or if you play at all, with the exception of turn-based games – other factions expand, expand, upgrade, conquer and intrigue. With you, without you, about you, behind your back. You are just another cog in the big colossus, not its engine.

Similarly, we can look at the popular sandbox RPG series, for example. mountain and blade. You start as an ordinary citizen and your task is quite simple – survive and survive. You can have ambitions to become a king and conquer the whole world, but you can also be a traveling merchant and make money, have a business in cities, or be a bandit and raid caravans. But whatever you do, armies will fight each other, villages will be burned, you will be hunted, and kings will be imprisoned by their opponents after defeat.

You can play your game, but so does the artificial intelligence around you.. Like in a life simulator Sims or successfully Dispute, where in the stages of evolution you are trying to turn from a single-celled organism along with others into the actual ruler of the universe. And so do they.

Of course, a certain living world is created for a reason. that the AI ​​imitates what the player himself does, should or can do. Basically, this brings us to the other side of the spectrum and the games that take this to another level and that we want to highlight with this video, among other things.

Series STALKER he does a great job with it. You have your own task in the world, but also the NPCs around you. Someone wants just trade, someone is at war with mutants, someone just sits somewhere and chats; the atmosphere of the living world was seriously succeeded by Ukrainian developers, and this is just one of these games. Not to mention mods that push the level of self-sufficient life in the Zone several orders of magnitude ahead.

Rimworld or Dwarf Fortress colony simulators are similar; artificial intelligence constantly monitors various aspects around you. What will happen, with or without your help, is a big question, and you never know for sure in advance. Constantly changing situations create a presumption that that the world around you has a life of its ownand when and how you intervene in it is up to you; because he still will.

This Rimworld is trying to differentiate itself precisely with the help of a special artificial intelligence, the so-called “AI storyteller“. He allows you to play, build your colony and create your own stories. But from time to time he himself will intervene to help you, or throw a stick at your feet, which will lead to the need for a reaction and maybe something will work out for you The world suddenly feels more alive, because no matter how well you master the game itself, you can’t predict what will happen. And your reaction to external influences complements the feeling that you are not in the center of attention. Suddenly, extreme weather can set in and cause the abrupt death of half of your settlement, and the surviving psychopath will not collapse from it, which can help you survive. Probably no. Something is constantly happening around you, and your presence is just an additional variable..

But our video was all the time directed towards one lesser known game, namely rain world. And without torment, we admit that a rather fresh video of a minor youtuber Htwo brought us here just on the topic of artificial intelligence of the game. Rain World is something incredible.

At first glance, Rain World seems so interesting to look at, but in the end it’s quite an ordinary action platformer. It differs in several ways, as much as possible — and at the same time, what is difficult to imagine in marketing or just show on video — her living world. The artificial intelligence in this game is very complex and plays with many different factors.

The whole point of the game is basically to survive and explore the world around you. You can achieve this with a relatively simple movement system that allows you to clamber across different parts of the environment. In about 1600 rooms and as you progress you will discover how there is an ecosystem around you with which you gradually interact.

For example, if we take a look at some of the most common enemies in the game − such lizards – so they are usually aggressive towards you. But the difference is how. green lizard represents a rather slow and almost passive archetype of lizards that have not acquired much intelligence and are limited to movement on the ground. Rare red lizards they are almost the opposite yellow they can communicate with each other in a pack with the help of a leader. But individual interaction with them becomes interesting. most lizards territorial and may fight each other for food. So if someone in his mouth leads you into his nest to eat you, he might run into another to fight over you and you might run away. In turn, cooperative yellow lizards will go completely insane if you manage to kill said pack leader, greatly reducing their threat.

RainWorld offers several types of these lizards. and you have to adapt to each type a little differently and, above all,. You are not an experienced hunter and you do not have a mission to save the world. You are an ordinary animal trying to survive in an inhospitable and ever-changing world.. And each decision can drastically affect everything around you.

As an example, let’s take the much more sophisticated scavengers that you may encounter from time to time. You build reputation with them when you play, according to which their behavior subsequently develops. If you see how they compete with, for example, lizards, and help them, your reputation will increase. If you take the risk and kill everyone, the reputation will decrease. But if, for example, you decide not to fight at all, scavengers might notice and your reputation will drop just because you choose to ignore their problems. In other cases, you may run into their camp and try to give them something to boost their reputation; sometimes they make you do it. And regardless of reputation, you will find people who will be more forgiving of you, and people who will simply not like you, no matter what.

Scavengers live in groups of two to nine and always have a leader. Each group may have a different relationship with you, and individuals in the group may have additional relationships. A scavenger from a neutral group who goes hunting and you help him can have a very positive relationship with you. He can follow you for a while and help you.he can also occasionally appear and help you out of nowhere.

If you actively behave negatively towards them, on the contrary, they are able to look for you. If you piss them off enough, they will actively hunt you in different ways around the world, which can cause them more trouble themselves, which creates more options for how you interact with them and how the world around you works.. Because he lives whether you see him or not. Even if you hide somewhere and leave the game running, the events around you will not stop or stop.

The way a small indie game like Rain World works is really exciting, and the way it nuances the AI ​​and how it creates a vibrant, believable, and functioning world is amazing to say the least.

Using this topic, we wanted to point out this fact and, in fact, briefly show how some games with the ability to create a living world work. Whether it’s just using relatively simple scripts that reinforce the feeling of something bigger; or a real ecosystem that constantly works on the basis of reputations and interactions.