AI Dialogue is Here. How to Make it not Boring?

[Chuck Norris]

There was a video published around 2 weeks ago, showcasing Mount & Blade 2 with AI dialogue. You can literally type to NPCs and they would respond accordingly.



This seems like a huge step forward for RPGs, because now you don't have to deal with dialogue trees and their awkwardly written -or sometimes, downright misleading- lines. But I imagine this will get boring and gimmicky real fast if it gets implemented in traditionally style RPGs. I think if AI dialogue is gonna work, it has to fundamentally change how RPGs (and games) work in general.

Do you have any ideas how can this be used effectively?

 

[lukaszek]

Do you have any ideas how can this be used effectively?

dialogue trees, but with keywords like in morrowind instead? Then you feed it to chatgpt as sort of milestones.

Could be expanded, for example setting tag sailor would open knowledge about port cities for given NPC etc.


In before generic list of questions is compiled for every rpg out there and then power gaymers will be approaching every NPC with lines like 'I know your secret'

 

[DeepOcean]

To be honest with you, I prefer:
The sword is 5000 moneis, sir.

Reading those boring wall of text ChatGPT generate for something so simple can get tiresome, really, really quick.

 

[Baron Dupek]

To make better dialogues humans just read a bunch of books in their life.
Conclusion - give more paper to the machine. Let it burn and snort, consume and maybe then it will be capable of creating something resembling dialogues.
Which is something that Bethesda is not capable to make.

 

[Orud]

To be honest with you, I prefer:
The sword is 5000 moneis, sir.

Reading those boring wall of text ChatGPT generate for something so simple can get tiresome, really, really quick.

It's the same as with some people thinking being able to simulate every grain of sand *somehow* makes a better game. You don't write more realistic NPC's or better roleplay experiences by generating walls of text.

The power that AI can offer will be in reducing workloads or speed up prototyping. Not in the unguided generation of word-vomit.

 

[NecroLord]

Keep it simple and concise.
No fancy words or philosophy.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Where is Jeramus and Lezalit? Those are two extremely important features still missing from this game.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

if inputWord=="boobs" and charAppearance==handsome
then boobGraphic.reveal()

else hand.slap()

 

[RaggleFraggle]

This is going to put video game writers out of a job. Not that most of them are even worth keeping around.

The comments overrate it af. The chatbot might give an illusion of depth, but the output is worthless junk. Unless the AI can generate quests and NPCs too to match the text, the information isn’t going to be relevant.

Once we get to the point where AIs can generate entire games on the fly… well, that’s going to destroy the industry. Why pay for games when you can download a free app with effectively infinite replayability?

 

[RPK]

Get back to me when chat AI can correctly answer the question of whether one number is greater than another. Then I might believe you that AI generated quests and games are on the horizon.

 

[Tyranicon]

AI Dialogue is Here. How to Make it not Boring?​

Yeah, hire a writer.

 

[copebot]

People are being way too cynical, or perhaps have not really played around much with ChatGPT to see what it's capable of in a variety of circumstances. One big thing the technology can do would be to enable one writer to produce a lot more copy than they would otherwise be able to on their own. While it would not be dynamic like in this example, you could dramatically expand the options a player would have to choose dialogue using it as a generation tool rather than something the player actually interacts with.

In practice, you can use this to generate thousands of NPCs plus dialogue and then cut and crop the best ones to leave in.

The bigger issue will just be using the technology in a way that actually makes the game more fun. For a lot of procedural games, it would just create a lot of text bloat.

 

[Tyranicon]

 

[Chuck Norris]

Do you have any ideas how can this be used effectively?

dialogue trees, but with keywords like in morrowind instead? Then you feed it to chatgpt as sort of milestones.

Could be expanded, for example setting tag sailor would open knowledge about port cities for given NPC etc.


In before generic list of questions is compiled for every rpg out there and then power gaymers will be approaching every NPC with lines like 'I know your secret'

I just remembered Her Story did that on a basic level. You're free to search any word on the game's search bar, but you will only search the right words when you have a good grasp on the story.

AI can allow games like Her Story become more complicated. Maybe you could have a whole quest talking with a Hannibal-like figure trying to manipulate each other and outsmart each other. They can create a hidden evaluation system based on keywords. (Like if you manage to find the character's trauma and bring it up in the form of a special name, that could be considered progress or something.)

 

[gaussgunner]

We already had this shit in the 80's before the AI Winter. It's just a novelty. It doesn't relate to gameplay in any meaningful way.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

 

[rusty_shackleford]

dialogue was a mistake

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Do you have any ideas how can this be used effectively?

Yes. Especially with GPT3, which I've tested this on to some degree.

Let's use a game where there are character detailed stats, descriptions and relations. Prepend the stats (sex, skin color, hair color, etc.)

First, you have the AI gen the description.

Then you input the quest data and generate a greeting and a request from the hero.

Then, you have the player accept it, or refuse it.

These generations should be stored and placed back into the context upon quest failure or completion.

You should also give the player the opportunity to reroll the generation, or possibly edit it.

Clearly, it's not perfect. For example, it takes the word "reputation" from the code-like input and inserts it into the dialog. But I'm sure with some effort, a serviceable input format could be found.

I don't suggest using player inputted dialog, except as a novelty, since I think it would be difficult (but not impossible) to evaluate those inputs and the many varied responses, and then translate that into gameplay. AI Roguelite tries to do this, but is limited by its lack of an advanced AI.

This is so that you can generate flavor dialog for an infinite amount of characters, not to replicate AIDungeon, but with gameplay. Otherwise, the game would consist of "Take quest to kill goblin for X character? Y/N". Which, some may say they prefer, but then why are dialog-free roguelikes not the only games they play?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

No idea why people always think this will be a user facing thing when the obvious use case is for aiding developers in creating content.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Clearly, it's not perfect. For example, it takes the word "reputation" from the code-like input and inserts it into the dialog. But I'm sure with some effort, a serviceable input format could be found.

Developer inputs requirements -> out pops text -> dev reads it and fixes any issues, final text put in game.

This is the real use case for this tool. It is essentially the same as generating a landscape then fixing the issues by hand.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

No idea why people always think this will be a user facing thing when the obvious use case is for aiding developers in creating content.

You're right, but the idea of a roguelike with dialog has interested me since playing Gearhead many years ago. It had randomized dialog and quests.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

No idea why people always think this will be a user facing thing when the obvious use case is for aiding developers in creating content.

You're right, but the idea of a roguelike with dialog has interested me since playing Gearhead many years ago. It had randomized dialog and quests.

You'd probably like ToME.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

You'd probably like ToME.

I vaguely remember trying it. That is, if you mean Tales of Middle Earth and not Tales of Maj’Eyal, which I've been meaning to take a look at too.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I was thinking this would be AI controlled dynamics like if you tell an NPC you fucked its mother it would go on strange and unique paths. You guys are saying it would just handle writing in development which is gay as fuck, no real creative spirit in it.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

You guys are saying it would just handle writing in development which is gay as fuck, no real creative spirit in it.

Not what I said, or what Rusty said.

Rusty said, and I agree, that for now the primary use is aiding in writing.

However, I posted a long post on how it could be used in a game. And AI Roguelite already tries to do exactly what you suggest, it's just bad at it.

What you're asking for is better suited to creative writing using the AI itself, not within a videogame, since the game's mechanics are hard to integrate into freeform creative writing using the AI.

TLDR: This is what you want. Shoo.