Kentucky presentation at CGAMES USA 2011

Model of social believable NPCs for teacher training Using Second Life

Magnus Johansson, Harko Verhagen Department of Computer and Systems Sciences Stockholm University KISTA, SWEDEN [email protected]

Mirjam P. Eladhari Department of Game Design, Technology and Learning Gotland University GOTLAND, SWEDEN [email protected]

Bartle

“From the point of view of world design, AI promises great thing. If virtual worlds could be populated by intelligent NPCs, all manner of doors would open” [Bartle 2003 p.616].

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Two-parted motivation for developing believable and more complex NPCs First create the basis for a new kind of interaction in games between NPCs and players And secondly creating believable NPCs for serious games applications.

Agenda

• Teacher training Scenario • Pre study

– Method – Complexity of NPCs – Are there social NPCs?

• The Model social game agent • Discussion/Conclusion

Teacher training Scenario • Currently, training of handling problem situations

within a classroom is based on role-playing if trained at all.

• Classroom problems in general and the role of the teacher.

• Allow teachers in training to test different strategies and see the effects of their actions and the interactions between students and teachers without causing harm to real students.

• The tool would also allow debriefing and walk-through to discuss the interactions.

Presenter

Presentation Notes

This is the reason why the model social game agent should be used in the creation of a serious games scenario. Currently in Sweden the teacher education do not train how to deal with stress-full classroom experiences, and if They get training it’s done through role-playing. This application would address these problems and get a better tool for supporting feed back on their experiences And assessment that would point out how different strategies may influence the classroom experiences of the students.

Pre Study

• Observations in game • Scenarios to trigger certain behaviours • Inspired by Carley and Newell • 10 games studied

Carley and Newell

Presenter

Presentation Notes

- The pre study was aimed at finding evidence for social behavour, Dynamic behaviour All games where studied with carley and newel in mind. Model social agent WE DO NOT FOCUS ON THE CONVERSATIONAL ASPECTS!!!

Research questions

- What aspects of games AI have developed during a 15 year period?

- Are NPCs social?

First Person Shooters

Type of game Game Type of NPC Behaviour repertoire Knowledge Processing First Person Shooters Quake Enemies (Ogres) one strategy for

attacking, fixed set of weapons, telepathic information sharing, recognize allies, no prediction of enemy's choice, no cooperation

stimulus-response

Duke Nuke'em 3D Enemies (Assault troopers)

no communication, does not recognize allies

stimulus-response

Deus Ex Enemies (Terrorists) choice of weapon depends on context, fixed set of weapons, communication/mob behaviour, does not recognize allies, no cooperation, visual and audio cues

stimulus-response

NO COOPERATION

Third Person Shooters

Type of game Game Type of NPC Behaviour repertoire Knowledge Processing Third person shooter - stealth

Metal gear Solid Enemies mode switching upon visual cue, automatic switching back

stimulus-response

3 basic modes Splinter cell Enemies, fill-out (civilians)

mode switching upon visual and audio cue, no automatic switching back, limited communication

stimulus-response

Assassins creed: Brotherhood

Enemies, fill-out (civilians)

mode switching upon "attack" cues, players are remembered

stimulus-response

Third person shooter - sandbox

Mafia: City of lost heaven

Enemies (police) mode switching upon observed crime cues, no memory or communication

stimulus-response

2 basic modes Grand Theft Auto 4 Enemies (police) mode switching upon observed crime cues, no memory, automatic mode switching

stimulus-response

NO COOPERATION

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Splinter cell cone shaped line of sight and hearing

Multiplayer Battle Arena

Type of game Game Type of NPC Behaviour repertoire Knowledge Processing Multiplayer Online Battle Arena

League of Legends Enemies (heroes, minions), allies (heroes, minions)

2 teams, AI skills dependant on difficulty level, different attack strategies, no cooperation, limited communication

stimulus-response NO COOPERATION

Example crisis response

Presenter

Presentation Notes

This is an example of a more dynamic NPC that will run for help if its “Health” will reach a Certain percentage of its maximum health, something that could be explained as some type of crisis response. As we can see in this video, npcs unfortunately seem too try to find help randomly instead Of trying to find the nearest npc.

Complexity of NPCs Results from pre study

• Static behaviour • Scripted dialogues • Path finding algorithms or pathing • Attempts at creating crisis responses or

alternative behaviour.

Presenter

Presentation Notes

These are the results from the observations in World of warcraft.

Complexity of NPCs Results from pre study

• Path finding algorithms • Poor/No Cooperation, Coordination • More extensive behaviour repertoire • Amnesia a problem in some cases • Not all NPCs need to be complex or believable • We need strategies to develop NPCs further for

future game genres

Presenter

Presentation Notes

What was interesting with the observations since they cover a 15-year period is to see the Development in pathfinding algorithms but it is also obvious that the social aspects of NPCs Are fairly left out.

Carley and Newell

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Adaption – deus ex.

The Model Social Game Agent

REPEAT

Carley and Newell

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Adaption – deus ex.

Discussion/Conclusion

• Cognitive model not yet decided • Many details still missing • Functionality/implementation of consumat 2 • Explorative implementation • And we do not know what complexity we will

introduce yet..

Thank you for listening!

Questions ?

Magnus Johansson Department of Computer and Systems Sciences Stockholm University KISTA, SWEDEN [email protected]

Kentucky presentation at CGAMES USA 2011

Entertainment & Humor

Transcript of Kentucky presentation at CGAMES USA 2011