Preview Bard's Tale AI dev diary at GameSpy

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Bard's Tale (2005); InXile Entertainment

There's a <A href="http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/song-of-the-bard/530738p1.html">dev diary</a> briefly touching on the AI of <A href="http://www.inxile-entertainment.com/">Bard's Tale</a> with a few examples of the process of tinkering with the AI and meshing it with the game itself. Here's a clip I thought was interesting:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote>So I worked and worked on the Chikkits' A.I. until they always attacked when the player expected them to. And it turned out that the best solution didn't involve tweaking the Chikkits' field of view, or tuning their hearing. The best solution was just to make the Chikkits attack when the player was nearby, because that was what was easiest for the player to understand.</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
I find this rather interesting, considering that only works in games where stealth isn't an option. If it is an option, then that's definitely the wrong type of AI to use because it would effectiviely nullify the point of stealth.
<br>
<br>
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.shacknews.com">Shack News</A>

 

[errorcode]

i thought that Bard's Tale had turned into a BG:DA type clone. I'm i wrong in this impression?

 

[DarkUnderlord]

"Why isn't that one attacking me?"
"It can't see you."
"Why not? I'm right in front of it!"
"Actually, the camera is right in front of it. You're kind of off to the side a ways, see?"
"Well, why's that other one attacking me then? I came up behind it and it turned around and hit me!"
"It heard your footsteps."
"I don't hear any footsteps."
"Yeah, they're pretty quiet, but someone marked the A.I. property for the sound as LOUD in the editor, so the Chikkits think they can hear them."
"Why can't the first one hear my footsteps?"
"The range of the sound is only fifteen feet, and that one's about seventeen feet away from you."

Wow, that's really fucked up. Sounds like a band-aid solution to what is really a bigger problem (IE: Everyone else has already fucked up every other aspect of it, so you have to fuck up this aspect as well, just to have it make sense).

What did I learn from this? It's not necessarily the most advanced A.I. that's the most fun to play against. Sometimes simple behaviors are tons of fun. What matters most is that the player can understand what the A.I. is trying to do, and can learn how to respond to it. And, if you focus more on what the player sees in an A.I. than what's intelligent, you end up with a better game.

She even failed to learn from it. Oh my...

1. New enemies for new levels. It's so annoying to finish off the forest level of a game, only to find that the same generic enemies are waiting for you on the ice level, the dungeon, the town, and everywhere else. So the enemies in The Bard's Tale vary from level to level, guided by the storyline of the game. Some levels are infested with zombies, some are full of druids trying to stop you, and some have you facing off with angry townspeople. Sometimes characters who were your friends at one point become your enemies later on, and vice versa. It all adds up to each level feeling new and fresh.

NEW EXCITING ENEMIES THAT ALL ATTACK YOU BUT THEY LOOK DIFFERENT SO GOSH, IT'S ALL NEW!!

2. Interesting behavior for each enemy. Of course, it doesn't do a whole lot of good to have lots of different enemies if each one just runs up and hits you. But it has to be clear what each enemy is trying to do, too. So the designers came up with lots of different ideas for enemies with clear but interesting behaviors. Some do melee attacks, some do ranged attacks, some cast spells, and some run away when you hurt their friends. There are lots of surprises, but all the A.I.s are designed so that they can use simple building block behaviors like "flee," "attack," "get to point," and "play animation." Not only does this make it efficient for us to create a large number of characters quickly, but it also makes it easier for the player to recognize the different behaviors an A.I. can have.

Yup, sounds good. Oh wait, I'm sorry. I thought she said "interesting behavioiur for each enemy" not, standard repetitive behaviour like flee, attack and do the electric-boogaloo? My bad.

3. Combining different types of enemies together.

REVOLUTIONARY!!

We look at the player's stats and skill level in the areas the characters appear, and answer questions like these: Does it attack too much? Not enough? Does it do the right amount of damage? Does it block too much? Do its special attacks occur at the right frequency?

Does it attack too much? What the fuck kind of question is that? "Dude, your monster, it's like, attacking me too much man, make it stop. Make it stop!!"

Welp, that game just fell off my 'games to be mildly interested in and may look forward to' list.

 

[Amerestatistic]

Welp, that game just fell off my 'games to be mildly interested in and may look forward to' list.

Was it ever worth taking seriously, even for a minute? I've never played the original and still always felt rather lowly of it. Saying I was ever "mildly interested" would be an epic exaggeration, to be sure...

I have to wonder what a good, new Bard's Tale that actually played like a sequel would be, however. Assuming most people at the codex think this is just an attempt to cash in on nostalgia while building gameplay for a totally different market (I think I'd be right in doing so ) what exactly would make most people here happy? Should it closely emulate the original, or is it too dated? Would people here want an isometric TB? But what does that have to do with how the original played?

Just curious.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

But what does that have to do with how the original played?

I dunno, I never played the original. I was kind of looking forward to an 'RPG type thing'. Though a resurrection of the good-ol text adventure might be nice. With 128 colour monsters too!

By the way back on the chikkits, whatever happened to... gosh, I dunno, making them move around? In real life, animals (and people) don't just stand around waiting for the player to walk up to them. They do things as bizarre as that may actually sound. They walk around eating grass or looking for food or watching out for predators. They don't stand still Morrowind style and wait until the player runs into them.

 

[Voss]

Am I the only one who finds limiting the AI to what the player understands to be an odd, odd thing?
I mean, who cares if the player understands the fucking AI? Does the AI do interesting things? Is it effective, challenging and fun? And is it bloody consistent, which seemed to be what was confusing the play-testers.

The also seem to have the wrong slogan. they say "less A, more I", but it seems more artificial than intelligent to me.

 

[Lasakon]

At least Cary Elwes does the voice of The Bard. That's one thing I can look forward to.

 

[Voss]

honestly, just rent the Princess Bride 17 times instead. It'll be a better use of your money.

 

[DamnElfGirl]

I have to wonder what a good, new Bard's Tale that actually played like a sequel would be, however.

I've thought about that one, myself. The Bard's Tale was my first CRPG, and I absolutely loved it. I was really excited about the Bard's Legacy: Devil Whiskey project, but never got beyond the demo because I found the game to be boring, tedious, and horribly unbalanced. I think the Devil Whiskey team focused too much on replicating the details of the Bard's Tale experience without quite getting the spirit of the thing.

A game somewhat like Wizardry 8 would be a good modern spiritual successor to the Bard's Tale, methinks. A game with modern graphics and interface, a more complicated storyline, and greater world interactivity, but maintaining the first-person party-based viewpoint, turn-based combat, and trap-filled dungeon-crawling.

 

[RGE]

"I don't hear any footsteps."
"Yeah, they're pretty quiet, but someone marked the A.I. property for the sound as LOUD in the editor, so the Chikkits think they can hear them."

Wow, that's really fucked up. Sounds like a band-aid solution to what is really a bigger problem (IE: Everyone else has already fucked up every other aspect of it, so you have to fuck up this aspect as well, just to have it make sense).

Yeah, it does sound like a bad way to do things. But since I've played and enjoyed both Diablo 1 and 2 I agree with her that mixed groups of monsters with different simple AIs is usually enough to provide fun challenges. Which wasn't too far from BT3 on my C64, where I had to learn which enemies took double or half damage from which elements. All in all this game seems to be some kind of Diablo-thing, though with more social elements and less monsters.

But I figure that whatever this new Bard's Tale is, it's got to be a step up from the original games. Perhaps not in difficulty, but at least in gameplay. Still not sure if I'd buy the game though, but I suppose that if it gets good reviews I'll get it and play it for the happy happy funtime action it seems to be. A huge plus in my book is that the bard looks like a real adventurer with all that equipment on his back. I don't remember having seen that in a computer game before.