About the talk
In this talk we will be looking at NPCs in the open-world of “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora”, specifically the challenges of NPC management and meeting performance budgets. “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora” was developed by Massive Entertainment in Sweden, in close collaboration with other Ubisoft studios, including Ubisoft Düsseldorf in Germany and published by Ubisoft in December 2023 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game uses the Snowdrop engine and is an Action-Adventure set in the world of James Cameron’s Avatar.
We will dive deep into handling LOD (Level of Detail) for AI logic, from adjusting update-rates and impostors to virtualized NPC. Targeted LOD boosts let us improve responsiveness where needed. Our culling solution for NPC and their AI allowed us to almost double the number of NPC in some settlements and enemy installations. In case of unexpected situations, as systems randomly interact in the open-world, we apply automated stabilization of AI performance. We conclude with an overview of how the presented LOD tech interacts with NPC activities (working, cooking, eating, sleeping, …) in our major NPC settlements, creating the illusion of thriving Na’vi life.
Takeaway
– Gain insight into challenges and solutions of NPC management in open – world games.
– Do more with AI logic LOD – than just reduced update – rates in the distance.
– Accept you might be over NPC budget in an unpredictable world, just deal with it.
– Consider that you might want to implement NPC Culling and Ghosts.
– Create the illusion of life in your settlements by combining the strengths of various tech solutions, while hiding the weaknesses.
Experience level needed: Intermediate, Advanced