Bringing Life to the World

This update is a significant one, I’ve started to add real life to the world. This comes in two ways, background life from animals, birds and more, and foreground life in the form of AI behaviours.

Both the main character and background characters now track their status and, using a utility-based AI system, they make decisions on what to do based on these stats, the hour of the day, and the opportunities available to them. For example, in the image above you see a Human and an Orc chilling out by the frog pond.

They will only do this if they have enough food to last a few days, it is not time for bed and they are feeling a little down. Under these conditions they will seek something to do that they enjoy. Currently there is only one option for them, although there are many beauty spots for them to enjoy. More options, including games, dancing and more will be coming.

They will also harvest food, eat, sit and rest and more. At night they will go to sleep.

Similarly, there is background AI. Such as the Deer that is just visible in the above image, or the frogs that will emerge at dusk around the pond. These are much simpler AI that basically just wander at present.

The entire list of improvements is:

• Added a bunch of animals to the world (Deer, Foxes, Bird flocks)
• Added sleep and relaxation behaviours for AI
• Improved foot placement for main characters
• Improved the test terrain to include multiple beauty spots
• Added a bunch of debug options, especially focusing on the AI to help with development
• … and as ever a bunch of bug fixes