[Home] [Groups] - Message: [Prev in Group] [Next in Group]
29923: Re: [MUD-Dev] Natural Language Generation
[Full Header] [Plain Text]
From: "Michael \"Flury\" Chui" <blizzard36_2002@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: nu.kanga.list.mud-dev
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 23:09:24 -0700 (PDT)
References: [1]
Organization: Kanga.Nu
--- mugginsm@under-the-fridge.com wrote:
> My view is that merely attempting to make an NPC pretend to be a
> human is what frustrates players. In a text based game, it's not
> like a room description is trying to fool the player into thinking
> they're actually there. A game sword doesn't trick the player into
> believing they *really* have a sword. So why should a computer
> controlled character necessarily try and fool the player into
> thinking there's real intelligence there?
If it succeeds in "fooling" the player, then there IS intelligence
there.
> To me, an NPC that I can interact with in a consistent manner (not
> spending hours guessing the synonym that triggers quest
> information or finding the one NPC that is actually interactive)
> to perform game actions *in game terms* is just right.
What if there's a player sitting there amusedly watching you guess
synonyms until she decides to let you have your quest? What's the
difference?
> An NPC barkeep that can divulge information, or that regulars can
> ask to throw irritating customers out of the bar, or that can pass
> messages on to other regulars is just fine. Give it a consistent
> interface:
> "ask barkeep to <action>"
> "ask barkeep about <thing>"
> for example, and it works. Some MUDs do this quite well already
> with individual NPCs, but the interface needs to be more
> consistent across all of them.
You should be able to do that for players, as well. The recipient
would be told, "You were asked to <action> by <person>."
> The moment it breaks immersion and becomes frustrating and
> annoying is when the NPC tries to *fool* me into thinking it's
> human. Because it can't. Not this decade, anyway.
> I think NPCs are excellent game resources, but trying to make them
> "real" is actually counter productive.
It's really a matter of priorities. If you're looking to get a game
on the market that will be fun and immersive, then sure, spending
time on quality AI is counter-productive. But if you're trying to
find a next step to take, i.e. you're an Explorer rather than an
Achiever ;), then I feel it's a worthwhile area to look into,
because AI has that much potential.
--Michael Chui
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev@kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev