The characters in video games sometimes have programming to make them 'smart'. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work out well, and artificial intelligence becomes artificial unintelligence. Below is a compilation of funny and/or annoying examples.
If you've ever played the 'Sims' games, you've probably shaken your head at the virtual humans sometimes. And in some cases, wondered how they would survive if they didn't have someone making them act smart. (Answer: they probably wouldn't.) I've seen my Sims with low hunger, sleep, etc. Free will is turned on, but it doesn't occur to them to do something about it. Instead, they stand there and complain about how they're starving. Apparently they've forgotten how the fridge works.
Another curious thing about Sim logic is that it's sometimes... not logical. For example, one brilliant Sim of mine, who had a bathroom complete with a shower. Instead of using that, he decided to take a sponge bath using the kitchen sink. I just sat there, marvelling at the absurdity of him.
On the RPG 'Fate', you have a pet that helps you fight. Sometimes they would do exasperating things, like failing to follow closely and getting stuck behind a wall, and it would take a while for them to figure out how to return to the player.
My father was always getting annoyed with his pets, and one day I happened to notice that in this playthrough, he had named the pet 'Doofus'. "Well," he said, "I always wound up calling my pet 'Doofus' at some point, so I figured I'd just name it that."
My father was always getting annoyed with his pets, and one day I happened to notice that in this playthrough, he had named the pet 'Doofus'. "Well," he said, "I always wound up calling my pet 'Doofus' at some point, so I figured I'd just name it that."
In 'WolfQuest', where you play as a wild wolf, I occasionally find my mates frustrating. They run too far in front of me when I'm hunting and scare off the elk prematurely, or get in my way. Or they walk towards me and neglect to stop, pushing me across the ground.
And later in the game, when you have pups, they have an annoying habit of getting stuck behind the den. They're trying to walk through a rock, not having the sense to go around. Meanwhile, the pups are getting hungry, and their parent isn't coming to them to feed them. Often I wind up shoving my mate sideways until they're past the barrier.
Really, the whole 'NPCs trying to pass through barriers' is nothing new. 'Dragon Warrior' sprites try to walk through impassable tiles, their 8-bit minds unable to grasp that the task is impossible. Bugs in 'SimAnt' have similar problems. As a child, I sometimes tried to create 'enclosures' for the pill bugs, and got annoyed with them for getting stuck behind a rock or grass tuft. It took forever for them to turn the right direction and get past it. And the ants were miserable at mazes, let me tell you.
Granted, these were games from the era of the NES and Windows 3.1, about 30-35 years ago. In many games, the movement of NPCs is completely randomized. The ants in 'SimAnt' had some limited ability to correct their course when obstacles were in the way, but it wasn't perfect. But considering the passage of time, with technological advances to make the NPCs 'think', you'd think by now they'd have more intelligence when it comes to obstacles. But no, they still lack the logic to figure out a path to take, and quit trying to walk through trees, rocks, and walls.
Anyway, these are a few examples of when people have shaken their heads at the behavior exhibited by NPCs in video games. If you have any other amusing or frustrating tales of AI, feel free to comment below.
Granted, these were games from the era of the NES and Windows 3.1, about 30-35 years ago. In many games, the movement of NPCs is completely randomized. The ants in 'SimAnt' had some limited ability to correct their course when obstacles were in the way, but it wasn't perfect. But considering the passage of time, with technological advances to make the NPCs 'think', you'd think by now they'd have more intelligence when it comes to obstacles. But no, they still lack the logic to figure out a path to take, and quit trying to walk through trees, rocks, and walls.
Anyway, these are a few examples of when people have shaken their heads at the behavior exhibited by NPCs in video games. If you have any other amusing or frustrating tales of AI, feel free to comment below.
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