SA trashes Oblivion Radiant AI
SA trashes Oblivion Radiant AI
Review - posted by Vault Dweller on Thu 6 April 2006, 16:04:19
Tags: Bethesda Softworks; The Elder Scrolls IV: OblivionSomething Awful has posted this hilarious review of <a hrfe=http://www.elderscrolls.com/home/home.htm>Oblivion[/url], focusing on the overhyped RAI:
My adventure in Cyrodiil began in prison. Before I could respond to the inmate flirting with me in the cell across the hall some guards appeared with Patrick Stewart. He told me that he foresaw a video game developer paying him boatloads of money for like two hours of voice work so their queer fantasy game can have some semblance of credibility.
...
Back in Morrowind all you had to do to persuade someone was to click "persuade". Based on a number that represented your ability to socialize (which is probably much higher than your real life number, if we had numbers to describe our social skills, which we don't, but the joke is you're probably an anti-social Internet recluse, get it?) you were either successful or unsuccessful.
In Oblivion it's a lot more fun. When you engage in persuasion with someone you have to joke with them, coerce them, admire them, and boast to them all in one round. To raise their disposition towards you you must perform actions they like with a big piece of the pie chart and perform actions they don't like with a small piece of pie.
Somehow this causes them to like you more. They'll even comment on your performance after you are done. This makes the game a lot more realistic. In real life when I met my girlfriend I continually coerced and boasted her into letting me see her naked while keeping my admiration and humor as subtle as possible. I'm glad Bethesda finally made persuasion in an RPG more immersive.
...
After failing to turn my gay lover against his wife I felt the urge to do a little stalking. Hastrel Ottus was walking by so I decided to follow him. He was a very exciting fellow. He decided to stand by the entrance of Marana Rian's house for 30 minutes. He then got tired of that and decided to stand by a nearby wall for 30 minutes. After that fun he decided to stand in the All-Saints Inn for an hour and a half. Then he went home.
...
It was then that I noticed they had a bald butch daughter named Ida Ottus. Oh great, a religious freak. Her day consisted of going to the inn, staring at the wall for, I shit you not, 5 in-game hours, and then coming home. I have to be honest, these NPC 24/7 cycles absolutely blew me away. It was simply amazing... when they did it in MAJORA'S MASK FOR THE NINTENDO 64. ... Apparently radiant A.I. is all about giving NPCs goals and they figure out how to accomplish those goals. I guess they accidentally set everyone's goal to "watch paint dry".Sad, but true. So much for all the hype.
My adventure in Cyrodiil began in prison. Before I could respond to the inmate flirting with me in the cell across the hall some guards appeared with Patrick Stewart. He told me that he foresaw a video game developer paying him boatloads of money for like two hours of voice work so their queer fantasy game can have some semblance of credibility.
...
Back in Morrowind all you had to do to persuade someone was to click "persuade". Based on a number that represented your ability to socialize (which is probably much higher than your real life number, if we had numbers to describe our social skills, which we don't, but the joke is you're probably an anti-social Internet recluse, get it?) you were either successful or unsuccessful.
In Oblivion it's a lot more fun. When you engage in persuasion with someone you have to joke with them, coerce them, admire them, and boast to them all in one round. To raise their disposition towards you you must perform actions they like with a big piece of the pie chart and perform actions they don't like with a small piece of pie.
Somehow this causes them to like you more. They'll even comment on your performance after you are done. This makes the game a lot more realistic. In real life when I met my girlfriend I continually coerced and boasted her into letting me see her naked while keeping my admiration and humor as subtle as possible. I'm glad Bethesda finally made persuasion in an RPG more immersive.
...
After failing to turn my gay lover against his wife I felt the urge to do a little stalking. Hastrel Ottus was walking by so I decided to follow him. He was a very exciting fellow. He decided to stand by the entrance of Marana Rian's house for 30 minutes. He then got tired of that and decided to stand by a nearby wall for 30 minutes. After that fun he decided to stand in the All-Saints Inn for an hour and a half. Then he went home.
...
It was then that I noticed they had a bald butch daughter named Ida Ottus. Oh great, a religious freak. Her day consisted of going to the inn, staring at the wall for, I shit you not, 5 in-game hours, and then coming home. I have to be honest, these NPC 24/7 cycles absolutely blew me away. It was simply amazing... when they did it in MAJORA'S MASK FOR THE NINTENDO 64. ... Apparently radiant A.I. is all about giving NPCs goals and they figure out how to accomplish those goals. I guess they accidentally set everyone's goal to "watch paint dry".
