Wild and Peasant Life - Behavior | AI

[DarkMasta]

Before the game was released I remember reading news about the game, claiming that the AI was rather developed. It said that certain monsters dislike one another and that if you killed a goat for example, the smell would draw nearby monsters and they might cross each others paths and have an epic battle.

http://gamingbolt.com/the-wildlife-is-certainly-very-smart-in-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt

“Animals and monsters can attack each other. And random NPCs can and will attack or be attacked by monsters/creatures depending on the situation. One lone farmer walking down the road could be set upon by 2 – 3 wolves. He would likely try to run, but would probably become wolf dinner. A squad from the army would likely not get attacked in the same situation as the wolves are too smart to throw away their lives. And there is also the day/night cycle and location to be considered. Some creatures are more powerful at night or drowners are more likely near water, etc. Overall though, this is a living world and it interacts with itself as well as with you.”

Remember when Oblivion came out? I had a bunch of fun in it and loved the fact that every single person had a routine. At the exact time the clock would turn 8 for example, certain people would wake up and sit on the table at their home eating, then at 10 am they would leave and open up their shops and work until 1pm. Then they would go out for a stroll on the Trade Quarter or something well, you got the point.

On Witcher I don't get this feeling. Is it because we are just used to it now? Because it's nothing earthshaterring anymore, nothing new in gaming? Or is it because it's not quite there? Hell, I felt it more in Witcher 1. Having to meditate so I could meet certain people and find certain people at certain times of the day etc.

But I digress a bit. Now that we have some context.
Do you really think this AI they talk about is real? I heard it before I had the game and that got me really interested. But now I finished the main quest line, all side quests and contracts on Skellige only having a couple of question marks left on Skellige and a couple of things to do on Velen and not once have I felt something like this. Not once have I felt that animals and monsters and people have certain routines and behavirous.

I run and ride and ocasionaly I find a group of wolves just standing there and that's it. There is no walking around and having unscripted things happening like a Forktail diving onto a goat and the stench of the goats corpse luring other monsters. Or animals having to eat and what not, know what I mean? Am I the only one to think that things aren't really that complex? Sometimes I kill a bunch of animals and just stay there waiting to see if something happens and nothing.

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-witcher-3-105-patch-fixes-bugs-adds-giant-demonic-cow-monster/
This is more like what I wanted. He killed some cows, it lured a Chort.

[kurosect]

Never encountered such situations myself. The way the world feels not living is probably due to most of NPC being statists. They have no role, no name, no dialogue, they probably spawn when you enter the village and disappear when you leave it. Its only decorations.
In oblivion every character apart from guards (maybe some more statists were present, dont remember really) had a name, a home, a routine like you said.

[Carnasid]

Several times I've run across nekkers killing goats, as well as followed some random npc from one villiage to the next where they spoke with a local about trading for some eggs before returning to their original villiage. I think you might just be overlooking the detail perhaps.

[DarkMasta]

Publicado originalmente por kurosect:

Never encountered such situations myself. The way the world feels not living is probably due to most of NPC being statists. They have no role, no name, no dialogue, they probably spawn when you enter the village and disappear when you leave it. Its only decorations.
In oblivion every character apart from guards (maybe some more statists were present, dont remember really) had a name, a home, a routine like you said.

Exactly

[DarkMasta]

Publicado originalmente por RB:

Several times I've run across nekkers killing goats, as well as followed some random npc from one villiage to the next where they spoke with a local about trading for some eggs before returning to their original villiage. I think you might just be overlooking the detail perhaps.

Well...I don't know...Like I said sometimes I even look for such things but nothing. No intereaction, no monsters being lured by certain things. I don't know man

[Snow]

Feel the same way, also remember when they said monsters and people behave differently during night and day and during different weather ? Not really ..

[DarkMasta]

Publicado originalmente por Triss:

Feel the same way, also remember when they said monsters and people behave differently during night and day and during different weather ? Not really ..

Yep...they made it look like really cool and complex but the only thing that probably chances is werewolves and what not having their stats change during day and night and thats it.

[durundallives]

Publicado originalmente por Triss:

Feel the same way, also remember when they said monsters and people behave differently during night and day and during different weather ? Not really ..

well, not unless youre talking about the whole running for shelter from the rain - though technically theyve been doing that since the first game

[Snow]

Publicado originalmente por durundallives:

Publicado originalmente por Triss:

Feel the same way, also remember when they said monsters and people behave differently during night and day and during different weather ? Not really ..

well, not unless youre talking about the whole running for shelter from the rain - though technically theyve been doing that since the first game

Don't mean this haha ... they did not said more about it, but said monsters will behave differently during days and nights or during rain and so on .. they don't

[DarkMasta]

Ok I am bumping this with something I wrote on other threads because I would really like your opinion on this

"I am not comparing, I am just trying to make you understand what I mean.
In Oblivion for example. Every NPC was someone. Had a life, interacted with other NPC's. You could find them sitting talking to each other with a nice dialogue and what not.

I decided to follow a person on Witcher to see what would happen. Well, nothing. He walked down in Novigrad when all of the sudden he stopped and started waving at a wall and never left.

I already tried killing animals and waiting, and meditating and nothing. That should be a very simple one because it was said that killing an animal would lure monsters. So far nothing. I spotted a group of wolves and killed a deer and nothing, nekkers, ghouls nothing."

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"I hate to talk about the Elder Scrolls because people seem to hate it. And I don't like to talk about it because it seems I am comparing both games which I am not. Diferent games and with that said.

To me the world feels empty. I remember in Oblivion having failed quests because while I was on one side of the map, the NPC that I could talk to to get the quest fell down a bridge in a town while going about its daily routine.

You could hear nice things, it was actually fun at first to just follow people and see what happens. See them wake up at 8, have breakfast, leave house at 10 to go to work, in the afternoon go for a stroll and meet another NPC and talk. At 20 they would come home and sleep. Whislt in Witcher they are kind of like decoration. There isn't much depth. They give the illusion of life and depth on the city, making it come alive but it's really not. They are the same as the walls basically, they are just there.

As for the monsters, I am kind of sad, because a guy said he sees nekkers attack goats plenty of times and ok, if he says so, I believe him I guess. But I have finished the game, did every contract already and side quest, Skellige is 100% explored and only Novigrad have I got a couple of things left to do. And I never saw anything resembling what I read before having the game. 'If you kill an animal for example. The smell will atract monsters and maybe atract monsters that are hostile to one another and their paths might cross and they have an epic fight'.

Well...never saw anything, never saw a griffin flying by and scooping a goat, never killed a bunch of sheep and put a village in danger because the smell lured monsters to the village. Nothing. Nothing that is unscrippted. Right now for example, I saw a troll fighting nekkers, I was like "WOW OK. This is it!" but, it wasn't really what I thought. It was just a quest where I had to defend the troll. Something scrippted."

[Big Boom Boom]

It's just PR talk, the villages are mostly spawn to be decorations.

E.g I just did Fool's Gold quest (The latest DLC). There were 10 pigs that turned back to be human (9 pigs + 1 Igor), yet the village is then packed with over 20 villages AND kids who were absent altogether before the curse was lift.

If monster spawn near animals/human, they will attack. Wolves will attack anything they see, regardless if it was a bunch of full plated Nilfgaardian soldiers. It's hardly "intelligent", it's just set to default as attacking whatever that is not their "faction". For example Leshen is set as same faction as wolves so they don't attack each other. Yet if Leshen is fighting you wolves will not come to its help (even if they are nearby) and Leshen will summon different pack of wolves as part of scripted fight.

Most of the NPC don't have routine, and some that do ended their routine after the first time around. Many merchants NPC are borked and stopped giving you service because of quest. They have to cut corner because of budget constraint, let's be realistic.

[DarkMasta]

I already tried murdering deer when I have eye sight with a pack of wolves and on the other side a group of monsters and they do nothing. I wait some minutes, I even meditate and nothing.
I even fought a pack of wild dogs as Nilfgardians are walking by between us and they don't even react. Not even a "good morning" Witcher.
Every thing is scrippted, it's a shame. Those moments when you see a group of bandits attacking someone, or the nekkers fighting a troll and that is part of a quest. That is the kind of thing that shouldn happen unscrippted. You should run into a village with monsters attacking it because maybe some time ago just for fun you set fire to all the goats and that attracted monsters. Maybe you are walking by and a group of sheep is running from a Griffin and might lead it to another monsters or village or even to the city! Having things happen in Novigrad would be great.

[bukkie661]

W3 has the Peter Moulinoux effect. CDPR talked about what they'd like the Witcher to be, not about what it actually is.

[Sparhawk122]

They had to make compromises for better visuals....

[Sheytanaslan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yThBEGNOw24
Its what happens when your not there that counts...

[DarkMasta]

Hhahaha wouldn't mind that happening. At least something was happening but like someone said, they probably just despawn anyway.