For those of you who have been avid gamers for many years now you will remember – although it is not that long ago – video games started out as not much more than simple, pixelated adventures that were entertaining but by no means convincing that you were living the game.
Fast forward to now and it is a whole different environment full of complex, cinematic experiences crafted with intricacies and immersive storylines never thought possible. Not just video games, but also other forms of online gaming like casino sites, are able to captivate, entertain and engage players on an emotional level that can feel almost real in some ways.
AI in Gaming
What has brought about this rapid change in the video game landscape I hear you ask: artificial intelligence (AI). AI has redefined this once traditional and very human process of writing and creating game scripts to offer new possibilities for game storytelling. Whilst it has rapidly expanded the scope of the industry to new heights it has also faced some intriguing challenges too.
Creative Storytelling
So AI’s role within scriptwriting has led to more personalisation within the creative process as developers craft their narratives. AI is able to influence the scripts through data-driven storytelling which analyses huge amounts of data from players behaviour, feedback and preferences to generate a narrative that better aligns to what they wish to play. Tailoring the gaming experience makes it more engaging for the player and creates differences between each user’s story of a game.
Additionally one of the most significant impacts AI has had is on the potential to enhance, not replace, the human creativity element within creation. It can help almost become a collaborator for writers offering them creative suggestions, generating different dialogues and even coming up with alternate plot twists. This can be particularly useful when writers are struggling for inspiration, it could help spark a new avenue for them to explore.
Maintaining a Storyline
It is also a way to stay consistent throughout a game’s narrative as with the many intricacies of plots and vast character personas it can help keep track of events. AI will analyse and cross-reference all those elements of the story for you ensuring the character stays on track and that the plot develops consistently. This will save the writer lots of time to create a perfect end product.
Through analysis of human conversation patterns, Ai can also produce dialogue for non-playable characters that will feel very natural and varied so you don’t have to. It will be reflective of real-world communication to enhance that aspect of realism and engagement within the game.
Challenges From AI
Though the benefits are a huge step forward in this field, there are also some challenges to take into account. One of the biggest concerns is the loss of human interaction in the narrative design and worry that AI will still never be able to relate to our emotional, cultural and real-world experiences enough to make the game fully immersive. As AI takes more and more of a front seat steering the direction of creativity, there is a worry that game narratives might lose the depths of nuance and emotional resonance that only a human writer could provide.
To eliminate this risk it is vital that developers work with AI to create a balance between the AI-generated content and their own creativity. It should be that AI is used as a tool to augment the creative process, to handle repetitive tasks such as dialogue so that a writer can focus on the more complex aspects of storytelling like thematic exploration or character personas.
Personalisation
Personalisation is the future in all forms of gaming and outside of this as people become more expectant of bigger and better features. As AI becomes more sophisticated we should expect that individual player preferences will lead to crafted stories that are able to reach them on a deeper and more personal level.
It must be said that AI within the game storytelling sector is still within its early stages but we are already seeing its evolutionary impacts in assisting the creation of exciting game scripts and personalised storylines.It is able to transform the way that game stories are conceived and experienced to level up the game. It can be said that many are still cautious, as with most technological advancements, to ensure that there is still very much a human resonance within the storytelling.
