The Rise of AI in Video Game Development: Revolutionizing NPCs, Procedural Generation, and Player Adaptation

The topic of AI in modern day video games has been creating noise in the past few years. This is due to its massive releases.  These are much-awaited titles in the likes of Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto 5, and the Sims Series. Because of the excellent quality of these games, it is very much apparent that AI had a hand in them.

Has it cross your mind that this isn’t AI’s first rodeo in the gaming industry? Well, you’re absolutely right. Its first ever application in electronic games happened in 1951. Since then, AI lingered in the area of game development. However, it takes centre stage now.

If you closely look at First Encounter Assault Recon (F.E.A.R.) and the Last of Us, you’ll be left in awe with the AI elements. Characters now have distinct personalities and would react differently to game components. It would feel as if the players are actually inside the game. Hence, making the whole experience being immersive at its finest.

Let’s discover how AI shaped video game contents such as the NPCs and others.

Non-Playable Characters (NPCs)

In open world games, you’ll see a lot of NPCs in numerous areas. Automated to interact with your character, they have a specific purpose in your gameplay. They usually provide you with side missions or game challenges. Designed to be predictable, early generations of NPCs did not have a significant impact on your game. That is not the case any more.

AI re-invented NPCs to be lifelike. They are now acting like real humans with different behaviours. You should take note that now, they can learn from your players’ actions and react accordingly. This complete 180 in NPCs changed the game environment to be more realistic and immersive.

Players do get tons of gameplay as you can now decide on what actions to employ with an NPC. They can join you in a quest, offer you trades, and participate in battles. There are even NPCs in other games that would act differently with your characters.

They also have an array of dialogues you can listen to. The voice recognition tech enables them to understand commands and provide sound responses. It is the natural language processing that makes it an interactive experience.

For example, if your character has blood stains all over him, an NPC would either run away, fight, help, or disregard you. The quality of NPCs has never been this good. A good innovation from AI.

Procedural Content Generation (PCG)

PCG is basically about the algorithms that generate various game elements which include world maps, level of difficulty, characters, and side missions. Because AI can analyse a staggering amount of data in one go, it can create game contents that are new and different from those created previously.

This would give sequels that unpredictability factor, but still relatable to the original. AI has the capacity to create aesthetically pleasing worlds that players would surely devour for days. It can also add in complex environments that could pose extra challenges.

In addition, AI can produce different tiers of difficulty. Players can decide on how challenging the missions will be. Nowadays, it is a common practice in the world of video games to have at least 3 levels of complexity. Players can access higher tiers once they reach a certain level.

Developers can opt to use the same character but in a new light. They can even introduce brand-new protagonists for a much-needed overhaul. AI can give them personalities that would behave differently and moods that have an influence on the game’s outcome. A well-rounded character will survive the test of time and will forever be an icon in the gaming scene.

Side quests are now more complex, which can increase game time. Players find them as a breather from doing the main mission. AI is excellent in creating branching storylines that would take the entire plot on a whole new level.

Players Adaptation

AI does use a system that assesses the gaming habits and behaviours of players. Based on this, it will automatically adjust the level of difficulty to make gameplay engaging and exciting

This dynamic difficulty adjustment tech factors in the player’s skill, speed, and strategy. Having just the right balance will keep the interest of players until the very end.

With its capability to analyse users data, it will base the future updates from that. AI can provide personalized recommendations to players. The same goes for online casinos.

This revolutionary tech can individualize suggestions of games based on the title they played before. Online casinos listed in smart casino guide have loads of titles to choose from. AI made it easier for players as casinos intuitively display similar games that they would prefer. This makes the gaming experience seamless and productive.

This is a paid guest post.