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reddit.com › r/localllama › ai npcs in video games - what can we really do today
r/LocalLLaMA on Reddit: AI NPCs in video games - what can we really do today
June 3, 2024 -

Heya - I'm a video game maker. I wanted to ask people thoughts on AI NPCs (generative ones, instead of old school logic ones). Why haven't we started seeing more of them?

I know we can easily already do conversation within a game with NPCs. With a solid system prompt and character definition, the NPC will be correct to the lore of the world.

I'm wondering what the next levels above that would be to implement.
The two directions I'm mulling over are:

  • Society gossip : there is some world state that describes relationships between NPCs and we have them interacting based on those relationships. And you can "dip" into the drama.

  • Action Taking : One of the biggest debates I have around this is any action taking is kinda like a tool/ function call almost, and in the future, maybe like "browser bot agent chatGPT" will be so good that hard coding actions wouldn't be worth it - instead the AI can just play almost as a user - through the normal UI.

Also, I was wondering what you guys thought was missing from AI Town, and why even though westworld is such a cool idea, we aren't yet seeing early success with that concept.

Top answer
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Hobby game dev here working on a game that does exactly this. The biggest problem is you have to choose between. A) API issues/ high recurring cost/subscription. Api calls for complex game mechanics easily can get to +1$/hour game play. On top of that often you get rate limited by the API provider. B) ridiculous hardware requirements. If I want to run local models I need a dedicated 3080 or better leaving no room for graphics. I'm working on 2 games right now, one is 3d and I run on duel 4080s which is just not feasible for anyone except hard-core enthusiasts. My other one (I switched too more because that) is 2D pixel art SNES style and it still would require a 3080 minimum (just for VRAM to hold model efficiently).
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Assuming you've read Generative Agents . I'll just list off the headings in the "emergent social behaviors" section: Information diffusion (similar to "social gossip") - the ability for NPCs to spread information and update each other. Relationship memory - relationships should form, change, and break over time based on actions in the world. Coordination - agents should be able to plan coordinated actions together. Not mentioned but implicit: planning, the ability to draft plans and modify them when things go wrong. Why hasn't this all been implemented yet? I don't know... I think there is not much overlap between traditional game devs and LLM prompt engineers. The former group will only sprinkle on LLMs as a conversational chatbot, while the latter group wants to base the entire game dynamics on an LLM. IMO there is a sweet spot where agents have a lot of traditional AI (behavior trees, state machines, etc) but deeply interwoven with natural language interfaces. TLDR: The bottleneck is new ideas and innovative programmers, not tech
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AIxploria
aixploria.com › en › category › games-en
Top 15 AI-Powered Games | 2025 | AIxploria
The list of the best AI-powered games. Update 2025 #Avatars#Storytelling Generator#Amazing ... « Launch and manage your advertising campaigns on Google, Meta, TikTok, etc. Use an AI tool that plans, executes, optimizes, and analyzes your campaigns without requiring media buying expertise. » ... « Explore a fascinating virtual city where AI characters live, talk and interact.
Discussions

AI People - A game bringing autonomous NPCs to Life
I would love to share with a project my colleagues and I are working on at GoodAI. The game is called AI People, and It introduces something truly groundbreaking to the world of gaming - it enables Non-Player Characters (NPCs) to autonomously think, react, speak, and, in a way, be alive. More on community.openai.com
🌐 community.openai.com
1
February 20, 2025
Games with best AI/NPCs? :: Help and Tips
They even get in fights with other npc's and many other things. I personally like the AI in sims 3 versus sims 4. You can even turn on free autonomy on controlled sims and see what they do on their own. #2. Skyrim has very good npc's reactions to stuff. Not all in the game are that good, but the companions you can get are pretty good. Mods can also improve how npc;s react and some even make them even more dynamic. #3. Some rpg's have pretty good ai for some character... More on steamcommunity.com
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Any good AI games out there?
What does "AI games" even mean? More on reddit.com
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February 16, 2024
Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters
AI *can" be used to help games. Specifically AI enhanced background NPCs, terrain and map generation, filling in the clutter that makes a scene look lived in vs developed by analytic programmers and so forth. It could also drive interactions with background and NPC characters making settings feel a lot richer and alive. I could also see AI helping with the animation of background and other I unimportant NPCs, animals and so forth, instead of having to pay someone to animate 1000s of people/animals, let an AI motion system handle it on the fly in-game. More on reddit.com
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October 1, 2024
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