AI for NPC Behavior Full Syllabus

Module 1: Introduction to NPC AI

• What is NPC behavior?
• Types of NPCs: ally, enemy, neutral, vendors, etc.
• Traditional vs modern AI in NPCs
• Importance of believable behavior & immersion
• Case studies from AAA games (e.g., Red Dead Redemption 2, Skyrim, Cyberpunk)

Module 2: Core Concepts of Behavior Modeling

• Finite State Machines (FSM)
• Behavior Trees (BTs)
• Utility-based AI
• GOAP (Goal-Oriented Action Planning)
• Decision Trees & Rule-based Systems
• Comparison: When to use what?

Module 3: Machine Learning for NPC Behavior

• Supervised vs Reinforcement Learning
• Training agents using rewards & punishments
• Imitation learning from human gameplay data
• Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO)
• Using Unity ML-Agents Toolkit for training

Module 4: Pathfinding & Movement

• A* Pathfinding algorithm
• Navigation meshes (NavMesh)
• Obstacle avoidance & dynamic rerouting
• Crowd simulation & formation patterns
• AI for climbing, flying, swimming behaviors

Module 5: Dialogue & Communication

• Dialogue trees vs LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, etc.)
• NPCs with memory (LangChain-style)
• Voice synthesis with ElevenLabs or Coqui
• Procedural storytelling + dialogue
• AI for dynamic responses to player input

Module 6: Emotion & Personality Modeling

• Emotion engines (Plutchik’s Wheel, PAD Model)
• Simulating fear, anger, joy, confusion, etc.
• Long-term mood vs short-term emotion
• Adaptive behavior based on emotion/personality
• Mood-influenced decision-making

Module 7: Social AI & Multi-NPC Interaction

• Gossip, reputation & influence systems
• Group behavior: flocks, herds, mobs
• NPCs reacting to each other’s choices
• Emergent behavior from simple rules
• Societal simulation (villages, factions, politics)

Module 8: Combat & Tactical AI

• Threat detection and prioritization
• Cover systems and flanking
• Squad coordination using AI
• Adaptive difficulty balancing
• Learning from player strategy over time

Module 9: Memory, Learning & Adaptation

• Short-term vs long-term memory
• Remembering player actions
• Learning player patterns (using RL)
• NPCs changing behavior over time
• Save/load behavior states

Module 10: Daily Routines & Scripting Life

• NPC schedules: sleep, eat, work, travel
• Event-driven behavior changes
• Simulating towns and persistent worlds
• AI for background activity
• Idle behavior realism

Module 11: Tools, Engines, & Integration

• Unity AI (NavMesh, Behavior Trees, ML-Agents)
• Unreal Engine AI (Blueprint AI, EQS, BTs)
• Godot + GDScript for AI
• Custom engines with Python/JavaScript
• Using GPT API for dialogue or dynamic emotion systems
• ChatGPT + game logic hybrid systems

Module 12: Testing & Debugging NPC AI

• AI debugging overlays
• Simulating player-NPC interactions
• Stress testing with crowd/NPC density
• Automated testing bots
• Metrics: believability, response time, variety