NPC (non-player character) is the abbreviation of Non-Player Character. It is a character type in the game, meaning non-player character. It refers to a game character in the game that is not controlled by player operations. Sometimes it is also called a non-person character or non-playable character.
In most of today's video games, "NPC" is an indispensable part. In open world games such as "Red Dead Redemption 2", "Grand Theft Auto 5", "The Elder Scrolls 5", and "The Witcher 3", a large number of NPC characters live in these open worlds. They have their own unique action mode, separate plots, and rich interactions with players.
In every game experience in these open worlds, there will definitely be several NPC characters that impress you. Whether it is the beautiful and charming Yennefa in "The Witcher 3", the sinister and despicable Pazzi in "The Souls of Darkness", or the Ducky who is always planning "Plan" in "Red Dead 2", the every move of these NPCs will affect the plot of the story and become one of the irreplaceable important memories in your unforgettable game experience.
Today we will briefly talk about NPCs in stand-alone games.
The role and classification of NPCs in stand-alone games
As an indispensable element in the game, what is the essence of NPC? The essence or purpose of NPC is, first, to realize some necessary functions of the game, and second, to display game information and interact with players.
There is a saying that electronic games developed from desktop card game . In some desktop card games, there will be a "referee" role, which is the prototype of NPC. The existence of the "referee" is to realize the function of determining the correct result according to the rules of the card game. The role of "referee" itself is also positioned as a non-player character.
In the action game boom brought by the early stage of FC, NPCs have been spread throughout most games. Taking " Super Mario Bros. 2" as an example, the meaning of the enemy NPC characters in the game from the mushroom-like miscellaneous soldier "Chestnut" to the dinosaur-like boss "Cuba" is to provide the function of difficulties and challenges on the road to saving beauty by Mario and Louis Brothers. The interaction provided is either you step on me to death or I bit you to death.
And our NPC characters are rescued citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Becky. Their function is to provide the ultimate goal for the game, improve the story plot of the game, and there will be simple words to thank the players.
In the FC game "Weapons on Earth", an NPC that provides grenades appears in the process. Its function is to promote the game process. You must find this NPC to pass the level. The NPC at the end of the level will give players information. Only based on the intelligence players will master the true face of the final boss. This is also a rare FC action game that reverses the plot.
After "Dragon Quest" and "Final Fantasy" led the roar of RPG games, the number of NPC characters in the game has increased greatly, and various functional NPCs have been added, such as weapon merchants who purchase weapons, prop merchants who purchase props, house owners who recover physical strength, magic and other values, priests who provide recording functions, etc. One of the key points of the
RPG game is the story plot, and naturally there will be a large number of NPC characters who are specifically responsible for promoting the plot. The Jiujianxian in "Legend of Sword and Fairy" is an important NPC character that promotes the plot in the early stages of the game "Legend of Sword and Fairy".
At this time, according to the previous article, the essence of NPC is to realize a certain necessary function in the game. NPC characters can be roughly classified according to the functions to be implemented. First, it is a combat-type NPC character (mainly the enemy) that provides the main combat confrontation functions in the game.
BOSS combat NPC Maria in "Bloodborne Curse" is followed by a service NPC character that provides various functions in the game such as novice guidance, accommodation, records, businessmen, learning skills and moves.
Functional NPC Fireproof Female
is followed by a plot-type NPC character responsible for the main line, side tasks and plot promotion of the game story, and to improve the game plot and world view setting. The only dialogue NPCs in the world are also a plot-type NPC that is also a plot-type NPC that improves the game world view.
The plot-type NPC onion Knight
in "Dark Souls 3" are not mutually exclusive. In today's increasingly complex open-world games, NPC characters are no longer responsible for a single function. NPCs with multiple functions are everywhere, but they can still be classified according to the most important tag of their responsible functions.
For example, in some games, our NPC characters who are responsible for promoting the plot can also fight with them, and they will join our team after the battle. If they have a great impact on the plot promotion, they can be divided into plot-type NPCs. If there is basically no promotion to the plot, it is just a service NPC to realize the function of teammates. And when this NPC completes the main functions, it is likely to teach you one or two moves or sell you one or two items, etc. The role of
NPC character AI
NPC characters are becoming more and more complex, and at this time, we need to inject certain action modes and choices into NPC characters. This is the AI in the game.
AI, artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence), English abbreviation AI. This is a very popular and noble word nowadays. This is a profound science. I absolutely have no discussion of the knowledge level of AI, but just briefly talk about the role of NPC character AI in the game.
plot-type NPC characters in early games generally only have simple action modes and plot dialogues. According to the progress of the player's game process, plot dialogues will have some simple changes. The combat NPC simply repeats several fixed attack modes, and the service NPC simply repeats its service responsibilities, that's all.
I read an article about Pac Man before. The creator of the game said that the four "ghost" monsters in Pac Man game have their own behavior patterns: the red ghost has been following the player's butt, the pink ghost aims at the next intersection in the player's route, and the blue ghost goes further, the intersection behind the following intersection is the target (predicted), and finally the orange ghost acts completely randomly.
The technical level of early games limited the level of NPC character AI in the game. Sometimes, in order to increase the intensity of the confrontation, NPCs even use cheating methods.
has developed to this day, with the continuous improvement of the technical level of the electronic game industry, the emphasis is increasingly on realism and immersion. This is reflected in the NPC characters in the game, which requires them to be more and more realistic and more like a real human character.
In "Red Dead Redemption 2", R Star has built a Western World with extremely complete details for everyone. Each NPC has its own independent action mode, which will interact according to the environment in the game, and will make corresponding interactive reactions based on the player's actions. The details are already extremely real.
But the problem follows. Do you really need the NPC character in the game to be exactly like a real human? Is NPC's AI the more realistic, the stronger it is, the better?
First of all, the AI of NPCs in the game is definitely not the stronger the better. The experience brought to players by the game is the most important. An overly powerful and smart AI will definitely destroy the player's gaming experience. If you are shot in the head as soon as you meet an enemy NPC, you will be shot and cannot fight back. I guess the player must only think about throwing the controller at this time. Another article I read before
. OpenAI's research team once conducted such an experiment. They created and built a game environment with "limited resources and numerous competitors". The game was named "Neural MMO", and then added 128 AI players who simulate human behavior participated in the game on the edge of the game's map.
Neural MMO
You can imagine this as a resource collection strategy "chicken eating" game that AI participated in. AI has designed combat logic, but in the end it was found that most AIs are avoiding combat, and even regard "avoiding combat" as the highest level of action strategy. AI tries its best to explore to avoid combat behavior.
This is actually easy to understand. In real logical thinking, AI understands that life is only once, and death is the biggest cost (AI can be reborn in the game, but they themselves do not know it). The natural idea is to obtain more resources and strive to survive.
However, for a strategic game, such real AI behavior will undoubtedly reduce the gaming experience. All AIs avoid you from meeting each other and become a hide-and-seek game.
Of course, the experimental content is much more complicated than the above. This example may not be so appropriate, but what I want to explain is that the AI of NPC characters in the game needs to solve the problem of bringing players a better gaming experience, which is very similar to humans, rather than thinking completely like humans. What
NPC needs to do is to give players a feeling that is very human-like, and make corresponding interactions with players based on the player's strength, action, environment and other conditions to improve the player's gaming experience.
If you play Go with AI, it is definitely not the most interesting thing to play with a powerful AI like "AlphaGo", but an AI opponent that is comparable to you, and in a situation where both sides win and lose each other, you will seize the opportunity to win the game.
Simply put, it is the best gaming experience for NPC characters to act in conjunction with the players' actions.
The most memorable NPC
I saw a story about a "Ghost Rider" online before. A user with ID 00WARTHERAPY00 once wrote a message under a game video. The roughly means that he and his father often play a racing game called "Off-Road Challenge". This game will record the racing status of the drivers with the best results in the current track to generate an "Ghost Rider" NPC character.
Ten years after the death of the player's father, one day on the off-road challenge track, he saw his father's record-generated "ghost rider" speeding on the track.
So, he kept practicing, and finally, after repeated failures, he finally surpassed his father's "ghost rider".
stopped before the finish line, because in this way, his father's ghost car would not disappear. The story of
was later made into a short film "Play Two". It does not require complex and real AI. The NPC ghost driver brought him by the game archive data is something that no matter how real AI is, it cannot be given. The NPC character written in
in the last
game was originally created to bring players a better gaming experience, and to carry some functions in the game and be responsible for interacting with players.
As the game structure becomes more and more complex, NPC characters will have more and more functions. In the unpredictable future, more "alternative" functions or gameplay may be born, and it is very likely that NPCs with "alternative" functions will be born. With the continuous advancement of technology, especially the advancement of AI technology, I believe that AI will be smarter and more realistic in the future, perform better, and bring you a more perfect gaming experience.
is not a professional, there will definitely be errors and omissions in the article. Just leave a message if you want to talk about.
Finally, thank you for watching, thank you.
