About the talk
Ambient characters breathe life into open world games, enhancing immersion and forging emotional connections with players through subtle environmental storytelling. Yet, the systems driving these characters often receive less attention than core gameplay mechanics like combat or stealth. This talk tackles the challenge of creating believable and engaging ambient character simulations without reinventing the wheel.
We’ll delve into a practical toolkit of proven, scalable, and maintainable techniques that prioritize performance and minimize production risks. Whether you’re approaching ambient character simulation for the first time, or an experienced developer seeking to broaden their knowledge and adopt industry best practices, this session provides effective solutions and actionable insights you can implement immediately.
Takeaway
– Learn to effectively advocate for strategic investment in living world AI by understanding its impact on player engagement, environmental storytelling, and overall business value.
– Know how to implement an ambient character simulation in a way that is scalable, maintainable and minimizes production risks through a collection of tried and tested techniques and best practices.
– Understand what problem each of the presented techniques is trying to solve, and how to critically evaluate when it makes sense for your game project.
Experience level needed: Beginner