A Unique Gaming Experience with Artificial Intelligence
- Sarnav
- Dec 2, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 4, 2023
The impact of artificial intelligence on our lives has been evident for years in many different areas. Although we approach it with different mindsets and attach different importance to it over time, it is here to stay.
Of course, developments in technology tend to be exponential rather than arithmetic. This means that technological revolutions happen faster. Nevertheless, the rapid process can bring collapse as well as development.
Artificial intelligence is lucky in this respect. Because its attractiveness makes it visible and appreciated. As this situation has grown over time, improvements to it or other developments involving it have appeared in the blink of an eye.
In this article, I’d like to focus on one of them, which I’m looking forward to trying out when it’s fully integrated. I’m talking about the more organised integration of AI into games.
This feature is currently available in some games, but I want to clarify this issue. So much so, in fact, that if I start explaining it in this way, I will also be explaining the evolution of the subject.
When making games (or any kind of programming), the focus is on a specific function, and efforts are made to achieve that goal. Let’s say you are playing the game Mario. You are familiar with the mushroom-shaped monster called Goomba. Although they are not under your control, they do move. They are the result of pre-determined artificial intelligence. They are designed by the developer to perform a certain set of actions, and they perform these usually uniform actions according to the established order.
On the other hand, there is non-deterministic artificial intelligence control. Here we see that the obstacles we have to overcome (this can be an enemy element such as a Goomba, or an interactive environmental trap/obstacle/impact) move without a very stable structure. Sometimes there is randomness, which surprises with its non-repetitive nature and adds to the difficulty of the game. They make the game different by introducing a whole range of unpredictable movements.
Now let’s come to our main topic. It is called Generative Artificial Intelligence and it encounters the player in a slightly different way to the first two I mentioned. Since it is very famous and experiments have been made with it, I can give an example through a game called Skyrim. Skyrim is a game that incorporates fantasy elements into the role-playing game (RPG). We create a character and travel around different parts of the realm, meeting new people (created in-game characters) and doing their quests, if they have any. In return, we gain experience and credits (in Skyrim, this is gold) and get to know the game.
This is the essence of any RPG, and they are built on these game mechanics. The subject I want to talk about, and the part I want to base on artificial intelligence, is non-playable characters, or NPCs.
Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash
Roleplaying games are, in the simplest terms, like reading a book. You can think of it as reading the life of the adventurer you are playing. Of course, depending on the size and diversity of the game, you will see that these stories usually differ, or at least certain parts of them change. In other words, we can say that each game offers almost a different story.
I say almost because the structure of the game only allows for so much. Which is very natural. Even if the AI in the game is predetermined or not, there are points where it will repeat itself. This brings us back to the NPC concept I mentioned earlier. NPCs are other objects outside of your character, and you can usually have dialogue with them, interact with them (buying and selling items, for example), or get information only through the chat that is offered to you (which is few, similar, or only available as you progress) in order to immerse yourself in the story.
Sometimes you read a book and you want your character to ask certain questions. It’s the same with the films you watch; you shout at the screen to criticise a character. Why did he say it this way and not that way? The script is created to give you that feeling. Sometimes it may not have occurred to the writer. After all, the script is written and finished. So what would it be like if the script was suitable for continuous writing and renewal?
This is where generative AI comes in. I don’t know when or how this will be achieved in movies and TV shows (I think the most comprehensible and technically advanced example I can give in terms of interactivity is Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch), but it’s obviously much more possible in games.
Game makers and other independent developers have been trying to integrate the much-hyped ChatGPT and other useful AI tools into games to improve the varied, but ultimately more than we could ever ask for, dialogue provided by the developer.
In fact, they already exist. But I’m sure that, as I said at the beginning, it will evolve exponentially and bring unexpected developments.
With this add-on, you will be able to direct your own story as you play the game. You will not be stuck between certain choices, you will not be satisfied with what is offered to you. You will be able to talk to each NPC and experience your game according to the personalities assigned (coded) to them. When you get a reward of 5 gold for killing a dragon, which is just enough to buy a basic item, you’ll be able to grill them about why they only gave you that much. This is a dream come true for many players.
Photo by Henry Hustava on Unsplash
We’ve looked at the types of AI in games and briefly explored what the latest developments can do, but how effective will it be? Are there any inconsistencies?
Some questions come to mind immediately. After all, all the characters in the game are part of the fictional world, and there will be limitations to how we can communicate (either by writing in the dialogue text, as we do in ChatGPT, or by speaking when we play the game in VR) with them . After all, if I ask a wizard about the World Cup, I don’t expect him to say that his favourite team is Argentina. Some games try to solve this problem by having NPCs somehow bring the dialogue back to the main story.
On the other hand, I wonder if there should be a limit, otherwise it feels like we are back at the same point. In that case, the game depends on the player’s ability to immerse themselves and role-play. Just like a tabletop role-playing game or a live-action role-playing (LARP) activity. You have to feel your role and stick to it. This is important for the player to find themselves in the main flow of the story. But I’m sure the developers will find a solution to this dilemma.
To be honest, I’m very excited about it. I can see it appearing in all major production games in the future. There will probably be an option to turn it on and off.
If playing a game becomes like reading a book and writing it, it will create a more wonderful feeling. Although I use my imagination when I write, sometimes I think the visuals can take me further. In the case of an AI add-on like this, I think I can act in line with the character I created for my book and add to my imagination as I interact with it.
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