Deadly Banquet Creating believable non-player characters

Abstract

NPCs (non-player characters) in computer games are often very predictable and obviously artificial, which might be the result of developers devoting more resources to maintaining high-end graphics instead of creating believable NPCs. With the graphics available today already being very realistic, upgrading the AI (artificial intelligence) controlling the NPCs could be one way of creating a game that differs from the rest. This report documents the development of a game called Deadly Banquet, a murder mystery which focuses on the interaction between the player and the NPCs. All necessary building blocks for the AI which controls the NPCs are described, as well as the components for making the game framework. Further, diverse definitions of believability are discussed and an overview of methods for evaluating them is presented. Conclusions drawn from the project indicate the need for extensive memories for each NPC. They also indicate that using relations between NPC:s in decision-making could enhance their believability.