Non-player characters are one of the banes of IF programming. How do you make them realistic while keeping their coding possible, let alone manageable? What makes the ideal NPC? Here are what some of the posters on rec.arts.int-fiction have suggested.
- Smart NPCs
- A discussion of how to make smart NPCs.
- Continuation of Smart NPCs
- Continuation of the above.
- Realistic NPCs
- Suggestions of how to make realistic NPCs.
- Are unpredictable NPCs good or bad?
- Self-explanatory.
- Creating real NPCs
- Also self-explanatory.
- Creating real NPCs
- A continuation of the above thread.
- Artificial Intelligence in NPCs is not good for IF
- An argument about whether we need AI in NPCs.
- NPCs, realism, and blue language
- Is it OK for NPCs to curse?
- Intelligent NPC design
- Discussion of designing an intelligent NPC, culminating in the design of Artoris the bear.
- NPC behavior
- A discussion of NPC behavior.
- NPC brains
- Some thoughts on adding knowledge bases to NPCs.
- Thoughts on NPCs
- More discussion of how to make intelligent NPCs.
- Achievable goals for NPC design
- What goals should we have when designing NPCs?
- NPCs who plan
- How can we make NPCs that have goals and plan how to reach them?
- NPCs in IF
- Questions about the traditional way to converse with NPCs in IF.
- Reasoning Agents
- A long message on using SNePS to make NPCs who reason.
- Reasoning Agents
- A continuation of the above thread.
- NPC Interaction
- A debate on how to make NPCs interact.