Artificial intelligence (AI) developers have been working with video game creators to incorporate AI into game design; from world-building to character interactions. There has been a rapid move away from tedious development practices that can take many months, and AI is increasingly being used in game design and development to speed up and enhance the process.
This article will explore the current AI trends in gaming and how the future looks when artificial intelligence is used for world-building and a more personalized gaming experience.
AI In Gaming
In the gaming industry, AI is used to make games smarter and more effective by incorporating it, along with machine learning (ML), into the gameplay.
Historically, games were more predictable: you would make a certain move, and the game would react as expected. With each replay of the game, you will solve the same puzzles, defeat the same bosses, and interact word-for-word with the same non-playable characters (NCPs). Even the birds in the sky or deer in the meadow will be in the exact same place and move in the same way each time.
AI has come along and changed this situation. Enemies are reacting in real time to your character’s moves, NPCs respond to your character’s clothes or behavior, and the game world changes in response to in-game decisions.
Automated World Building
The task of crafting an open 3D game world, in-game assets, and other game elements, takes a significant amount of time, money, and resources.
AI tools are increasingly used to automate this complex process by using algorithms to generate worlds, models, assets, objects, and textures. This means developers can create rich worlds much faster than having to design by hand.
For example, AI can be used to analyze a real city’s architecture and create a 3D rendering for a game. AI can be set up to consider sight lines, shadows, and accessibility to create vivid gameplay with an authentic environment.
And it’s not just about the big landscapes. AI is also used for smaller world elements, like furniture, plants, and other props that contribute to the game’s background. The time saved allows developers to focus on more detailed and creative design elements that provide an immersive experience.
Furthermore, AI is being used to craft responsive worlds where the world and elements therein respond to character decisions. If the player makes a certain choice that changes the trajectory of the storyline, then the AI can generate a new world situation where characters and the setting itself respond to the change. This player-driven storyline is a novel concept but will become much more common and also ensure a level of replayability that has never been seen before.
Other Current Trends In AI Gaming
Apart from world building, AI is being incorporated into other elements of gameplay and design, too. Even beyond traditional video games, AI is being used for other digital experiences. For example, in the online gambling sector, AI is used to tailor game recommendations and improve the user experience through AI chatbots. Gamers who are interested in exploring this further can check out a guide for choosing top online casinos to see how the most reliable sites are incorporating the latest technologies.
Here are other trends in how AI is being used in gaming.
- Procedural content generation: AI is used to create content, like challenges and quests, based on character choices. For example, Hades uses AI to determine where enemies will be placed and the layout of the dungeons.
- Difficulty level adjustments: AI is being used to change the game’s difficulty based on how well or poorly the player is performing. That means games no longer have a set difficulty level. If you’re struggling, the game will become easier in real time. This encourages ongoing play. It is being used in games like Left 4 Dead and Impact.
- Narrative creation: AI is used to create new narratives reacting to the player’s decisions. For example, Impact creates personal storytelling, while AI Dungeon uses AI to create interactive stories from a player’s input.
- Personalized gaming: Games are being tailored to the player’s individual preferences, habits, and behaviors. One example is PlayFab, which uses player data to provide personalized content and in-game experiences.
Microsoft’s WHAM
AI world building can’t be discussed without mentioning Microsoft’s World and Human Action Model (WHAM), which has been named “Muse”. Muse is a generative AI model of a video game that can generate worlds, footage, and even controller actions.
Muse is the perfect example of how far AI in gaming has come, but also how much there is still left to figure out and perfect. Since the launch of Muse, Microsoft has been collecting player data (as agreed to by players in the user agreement of games). This has accumulated into about seven years’ worth of gameplay video and player inputs.
Initially, the AI model would get confused and generate clips that would quickly transform into random blocks of color. But after millions of updates, the model started showing an understanding of the gameplay.
Despite these significant improvements, Microsoft is aware that Muse will still go through various prototypes and testing by developers to truly offer interactive gameplay sequences.
Wrapping Up
AI is going to change the gaming landscape like never before, and it is undeniable that it will become an irrefutable part of game design. Whether it is to create massive open-world games, determine NPC behavior, change difficulty levels in real time, or simplify the creation of other in-game assets, AI seems to be the future of gaming.
However, it is unlikely that game development will rely solely on AI in the future, as it will never be able to replace human ingenuity and creativity. Although the possibilities of AI in gaming are very exciting, the human touch will remain as important as ever before in creating new game concepts to keep players entertained.
