9/10/12 - Journal Notes

Immediate notes on Robin Sloan's Journal on the character performance of NPC's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwZcHdbYXCg&feature=related
Milo and Kate Ted Talk

Janet Murray hamlet on the holodeck the future of narrative in cyberspace

alyx in half life <-- good example of emotional attachment

play fable 2

heavy rain- sacrifices user input time based events affect story but limits choices

facade <-- look into, conceptual game

Other (possibly useful) Journals

http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1930000/1920823/p257-shen.pdf?ip=193.60.166.69&acc=ACTIVE%20SERVICE&CFID=124626080&CFTOKEN=44318561&__acm__=1349705209_c103320dbea38609239ae9b6631acd9e
(could be wrong) Looks to be about analysing the players emotions and gestures so that the character can react, adding an extra level of dynamism?


http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1550000/1541908/a28-hartley.pdf?ip=193.60.166.69&acc=ACTIVE%20SERVICE&CFID=124626080&CFTOKEN=44318561&__acm__=1349705551_9f3bc10c59d5d388972eba92e8832dde

Appears to be talking about a computer system that helps to predict the players actions so that the NPC's can be programmed accordingly. Hopes to move away from AI that follows paths and predictable movements. Mainly in FPS games. As interesting as this is.. not really relevant to me as it's more about the programming of AI than the animation.

"Unfortunately for games developers, human players are intelligent, responsive, and adaptable
beings, consequently they are able to exploit NPC errors, repetitive behaviors,
and poor decision making. This reduces the enjoyment for the players, and is
likely to lead them to discard the game in pursuit of more challenging game play
experiences. Game developers need to overcome these inadequacies if they are
to make game characters more believable and responsive to the game player"

. "The ability of a human player to adapt to an opponent’s
tactics is an important skill and one that separates an expert game player
from a novice. NPCs that incorporate this ability have the potential to adapt
to a human player’s actions, generate new behavior according to past experiences, overcome poorly developed “conventional AI,” and scale their difficulty
according to a human player’s ability"


http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1550000/1541902/a22-bostan.pdf?ip=193.60.166.69&acc=ACTIVE%20SERVICE&CFID=124626080&CFTOKEN=44318561&__acm__=1349706909_b8d5ba8a19373f432eae9ff9c24531c1

Player Motivations: A Psychological
Perspective

Maybe has a psychological motivation to do with attachment to characters within games?

Talking about NPCs in MMORPGs
"These NPC characters or creatures 17 that join the party may become especially handy in combat situations, but relationships with these characters are more believable if they have their own personalities, emotions, goals, and motivations; if they are perceptive of environmental changes; if they keep track of their own social interactions (memories); and if they are capable of reacting to player choices and actions throughout the game [Kline and Blumberg 1999; Romano and Wong 2004; Livingstone 2006; Cutumisu et al. 2006].

For example, characters that join the player in Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, all have different backgrounds and distinctive personalities, and it is their phrases, 18 arguments, and battle cries that obtain the player’s loyalty. If such characters become dissatisfied with the player’s decisions, they can leave the party and never come back.

Psychological need of affiliation

http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1180000/1178892/a58-nakano.pdf?ip=193.60.166.69&acc=ACTIVE%20SERVICE&CFID=124626080&CFTOKEN=44318561&__acm__=1349708366_985eed50ced8f73dc62237e0cbf3b556

Talks about using layered animation to add unconscious movements and poses to NPC characters so they don't just repeat the same movements over and over again. Would help make them seem more lifelike. It's more technical but it shows that there could be a method available to produce an affect i might want to replicate?