+ An outline of the presentation and each discussion topics
+ brief description of each
What is the project about?
+ Bringing replay value to the horror game genre with emergent behaviour AI – unpredictable for the players
Why is it a problem?
+ Players are expecting greater AI counterparts to test their skills – usually left to the end of a development cycle
+ Horror games are lacking in replay value due to the predictable nature of their AI among other things, this shortens their life span/popularity period
+ Horror games are not consistently popular like games from other genres WoW, LoL etc.
Why did you undertake the project in the first place (rationale)?
+ The desire to create an AI that brings out emotions from the players, the horror genre was a great fit
What were the original aims and objectives of the project?
+ To determine the state of the art in game AI and behavioural techniques by undertaking a detailed review of relevant research publications and case studies from the game industry.
+ To design test bed scenario for demonstrating emergent behaviour within a survival horror game environment
+ The design and development of an emergent AI system
+ The testing and evaluation of the emergent AI system
Key Findings
+ This chart of the most watched games on twitch, june 2016 shows only 1 horror game which was recently released
+ If a game isn’t predominantly skill based, creative or social then players want aspects of unpredictability
+ popularity among players
+ industry developers forced into basic/predictable AI due to the low risk involved
What was the method to your madness?
How did you determine the requirements of the system?
+ “More replay value” was the thought that constantly percolated in my mind
+ The mechanics of the game would offer a reason to replay the game, the emergent AI would bring the fun and horror
+ A comparison with some of the more popular horror games as well as games that have high replay value
How and why did you opt for the design you went for?
+ A key factor of the initial design came from Mike Diskett’s blog on emergent behaviour AI: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MikeDiskett/20130720/196675/AI_design_for_Emergent_Behaviour.php
+ The design also seemed easier to implement that others
What technologies did you use to implement the project?
+ Unity3D game engine
+ Visual Studio 2015
+ C# Programming Language
Why did you select these?
+ Personal confidence and experience in using these technologies
+ Art and sound assets used from the store
Where there other options?
+ Unreal Engine other IDE’s and programming languages
Why did you discard them?
+ Not enough experience
+ Not enough time to learn these new technologies
Outline the design of your solution.
+ A horror aesthetic with art assets and music to support
+ Emergent stats interacting with one another to promote emergent behaviour
Describe the implementation.
+ using the design outlined to create the prototype of the project
+ A basic game was initially created with the enemy chasing the player around a small dungeon level
+ A testbed was created to develop the emergent behaviour and watch the responses
+ The behaviour was moved to the game level for testing with players
How did you use the technologies to implement the design.
+ The game was created in the Unity3D game engine, using its asset store for resources
+ Visual studio was used from programming the mechanics of the game and the emergent behaviour of the AI
What tech challenges did you encounter?
+ Minor game bugs
+ The ghoul model would face the wrong direction when not chasing the player
How did you overcome them?
+ Changed facing position during other states and locked model rotation
What bits of the solution are you particularly proud of and why?
+ First horror game created
+ I am personally proud of the look and feel of the horror environment
+ I believe I created a genuinely scary experience with the dungeon, enemies, lighting and SFX
Steps
+ Start from menu
+ Play game and show the mechanics/horror aesthetic
+ Go back to menu
+ Show testbed mode
What method/methodology did you use to evaluate your solution?
+ Formative – testing and game prototypes
+ Summative – requirements review, questionnaire and user feedback
Why this approach?
+ Comparisons can be drawn for a more accurate evaluation
+ Creating and testing game prototypes throughout the development process helped to find bugs and refine gameplay mechanics
+ Questionnaires were given to players to gain an outside point of view on the game and the AI
+ Observation sessions were used to get more immediate feedback and responses from the users
What are the results from your evaluation?
What are the results from your evaluation?
+ The results of the prototype testing throughout helped to iron out the bugs for a final prototype
+ From the questionnaires the majority of people found the ghouls to be unpredictable
+ they also found the environment, sfx and lighting added well to the horror feel
+ However the game lacked enough gameplay features for it to give the game true replay value
Did you meet the aims and objectives set out at the start of the project?
+ The majority of the objectives were met
Was the solution a good solution?
+ The solution probably needs greater refinement in the coding area
+ The game used for the emergent AI also needs to be as enjoyable/entertaining
What have you learned from the project?
+ I learnt a lot in terms of AI programming, which methods can be used and how they interact with players
+ I also learnt a lot about horror games and creating that aesthetic using sound, lighting etc.
What would you do differently?
+ I would create a game with more content and rewards for the players
+ I would manage my time better, now that I know how the development process works
+ Improve the horror aesthetic with better lighting, sound effects and more unpredictable events
