A Little Bit of AI I'd Like to See in Video Games

Ecksem Diem · Post by **Ecksem Diem** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:59 am

I was watching a Heavenly Sword gameplay video (which I was linked to from a God of War gameplay video, not surprisingly), and it occurred to me that when you're playing a game and slaying countless meaningless, mindless minions in all kinds of gruesome, horrible ways, perhaps sooner or later, when you've split about the fortieth nameless henchmen in half and had blood explode out of him, the nameless henchmen around you should all take a step back, look at each other, and just say "**** it" and run away (like the agents do in The Matrix, although that's a movie, not a game). I'm sure this has probably been done in some fashion... Can anyone clue me in as to any video games where it has been?

Edit: Sorry about the awkwardness of those last two sentences; even I had to read it twice to know what the hell I was saying.

TheOnlyOneHeFears · Post by **TheOnlyOneHeFears** » Thu May 17, 2007 1:55 am

I think something like that happened in Jet Force Gemini on N64. If there was a group of bugs, and you shot the heads off a few, the others would run away and find cover, and you had to chase them to kill them. It was very satisfying, blasting their heads off

Ecksem Diem · Post by **Ecksem Diem** » Thu May 17, 2007 2:04 am

Hmm... But enough about this topic! What's this "suicide cult" you speak of in your signature? I'm a confused adolescent desperately seeking acceptance from an undifferentiated ego mass that demands conformity!

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:27 pm

in halo the grunts run away sometimes.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:55 pm

It wouldn't be much of game if all he enemies feared you.

In Earthbound you get auto-wins after you are a certain level higher than the enemy...

But imagine a game where that happened. After the first level it'd just be walking through the levels to the final boss, unless he fears you too.

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:10 pm

well they do it in metal slug--not that I'm sure that counts as "AI"
it's still pretty satisfying. mostly because they don't run fast and make silly faces while it's happening.

running away is nothing. I want to see them cry. break down and cry. maybe hold eachother like those drawn out death scenes in movies, before his buddy decides to 'end his suffering'. and then after it's over they steal his boots. A whole game that devolves into one drawn out drama scene after another--I'd play it.

also why aren't there any games where you kill children? Come on, it's the 21st century, we can handle 'preschool chainsaw psychopath.'
the doctors say I have to stop playing video games now, but the monkeys still say it's fine...

actually flipping 'preschool chainsaw psychopath' around a little, wouldn't it be neat to play a game where you couldn't fight back *at all* and had to run/hide. bonus points for the person who makes one of those games, and makes it unwinnable. there just aren't enough literally unwinnable games anymore. 'beating' games is boring, I want to know that I'm going to die before I start and try and squeeze a few more seconds out than last time.

Motoman · Post by **Motoman** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:56 pm

Reaperman@home wrote: also why aren't there any games where you kill children? Come on, it's the 21st century, we can handle 'preschool chainsaw psychopath.'
the doctors say I have to stop playing video games now, but the monkeys still say it's fine...

Ever heard of Bioshock?

Genetically modified children, the Gatherers were created as a solution to the Adam shortage. They extract Adam from the dead with the tools they carry and eat it, their bodies reprocessing it into a usable form, known as Eve. The team designed them so the player would have a moral conflict in killing children to obtain Adam as well as severe difficulty due to their relation to the Protectors as their charges. According to lead designer Paul Hellquist, the Gatherers have a direct link with the main character.

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:08 pm

Well in Halo 2 when you kill the Elites the Grunts get all pussy and run away forcing you to pistol whip them to death. I dont know if it was like that in the first Halo. Most likely it was.

Ecksem Diem · Post by **Ecksem Diem** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:57 pm

Reaperman@home wrote:also why aren't there any games where you kill children? Come on, it's the 21st century, we can handle 'preschool chainsaw psychopath.'
the doctors say I have to stop playing video games now, but the monkeys still say it's fine...

I b*tched about GTA4 not having that in my blog, and then I heard about the game Motoman mentioned, Bioshock (too bad it's not freakin' out yet, although a friend of mine hooked me up with her copy of System Shock).

TheOnlyOneHeFears · Post by **TheOnlyOneHeFears** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:19 pm

Ecksem Diem wrote:Hmm... But enough about this topic! What's this "suicide cult" you speak of in your signature? I'm a confused adolescent desperately seeking acceptance from an undifferentiated ego mass that demands conformity!

When dudex77 gets enough members, we're all going to commit mass suicide at the stroke of midnight. Just, you know, because we can

Kenny_McCormic · Post by **Kenny_McCormic** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:26 pm

the monsters in doom 2 will fight with eachother if you shoot one and they dont see you

Ecksem Diem · Post by **Ecksem Diem** » Fri May 18, 2007 9:07 pm

Kenny_McCormic wrote:the monsters in doom 2 will fight with eachother if you shoot one and they dont see you

And, you know, in the first Doom.