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
