Research internship I
A comparison of tools for cognitive modelling and their potential application in game engines
In the field of cognitive psychology models are created for describing human behaviour. I will compare a different set of tools, more specifically pyAct-R and SOAR, and research if they can be used to model the behavior
of characters in video games. Furthermore I will look into the currently available tools for modelling behavior in game-engines. To conclude I will try and find out if these can be brought together.
report [pdf]
Current status
Currently I have done a lot of reading on the working of Act-R and Soar, both cognitive modelling tools. I have found examples where both of them are used in a game development context. The goal now is to implement something basic myself as a proof of concept. On the other hand, I should start researching existing game engines (the examples used one from about 10 years ago)
to see what the possibilities of integrating my own tools are. The goal is still: provide an easier way to model the behavior of NPC's. As it is now, it still has to be programmed, even though the use of act-r or soar greatly simplifies the code.
Research internship II
More info will follow later...
Thesis
Rule-Based Generation of NPC Behaviour
In contemporary computer games the behavior of Non-Player Characters can become very complex. Specifying this behavior in code is hard and inefficient. In my thesis I will try to specify this
kind of behavior in a rule based manner. You can follow my progress in the Research section. An overview of the meetings with prof. van Vangheluwe detailing
the progress of this project can be found under Meetings
