• Register
Post news Report RSS Simulated Creature AI

Is it ethical to code fear of god into a simulated being? Nobody knows, so we made some tuna salad sandwiches and just did it.

Posted by on

Is it ethical to code fear of god into a simulated being? Nobody knows, so we made some tuna salad sandwiches and just did it. Who is god in this context? It’s us ;), we are gods, what fun!

Yes, Jun and I are working on bringing the simulated world TO LIFE. Or rather, making it feel alive by creating a responsive environment. One feature of any environment is the AI of its critters and creatures. On earth and in our reality, you enter a forest, you see a squirrel, you wave at it, and it runs away because your big hands are fearsome. We want to mimic this kind of interaction, but without your big hands.

Creating a responsive creature is a multi-step process that involves modeling an abnormal/alien creature, anticipating the details of its movements, and then giving it a fight or flight response depending on the type of creature it is – predator, prey, territorial, etc. This begins with modeling. Stylistically, we want to model animals/creatures that SEEM familiar but are indeed unearthly; remember, this game takes place in a galaxy where earth does not exist! So, for example, our little birds are bug-eyed, one-legged, and big-beaked. Strange but believable. That’s the aesthetic we’re shooting for. Ch-ch-check out some creatures we have made so far (astronaut being for scale) oh and (we are showing more of these babies off via instagram @Jun_and_pate if you’re into low-poly weirdness):

all_creatures

all_creatures_2

After creation, we move on to AI: making animals do “life-like” things. This begins with animating its movement and determining what a particular animal would look like lumbering about on the surface of its home planet. Each animal is different, some have four legs, some fly, and some walk, so their movements should jibe with their look. From there, we have to define the parameters of the paths it roams – can it swim, fly, or burrow? Does it stay close to its nests or food sources? But we’re still not done. We then have to determine how that creature will react to seeing our alien astronaut friend. A little bird would flee, but a rhino-behemoth might charge if you get too close. Wait, so now we have to find a way to show the player how an animal is perceiving them? Yep, and it has to look slick(ish) too. Enough words, let’s see some of those little buggers run. Here’s the most basic, unpolished iteration of little birds fleeing:

Post a comment

Your comment will be anonymous unless you join the community. Or sign in with your social account: