Dynamic relationship management for personality rich character presentations in interactive games

The generation of realistic behaviors is paramount to the believability of characters within an interactive computer game. The ideal way to reach the goal is to endow the characters populating the virtual graphical world with the capability of generating human-like behaviors and shape them according to their own personality. In this paper, we focus on non-player characters (NPC) capable of responding appropriately to game activities that helps in increasing game variability, providing a more enjoyable game-play experience. We specifically address the development of techniques that dynamically modify the relationships between players and non-player characters based on ongoing activities during the game. We present a system that models and maintains these relationships and provides methods by which characters can use the current relationship to formulate appropriate reactions in behavior and dialog. In this way, characters become gradually more effective as they learn and adapt to the user's interests, habits and preferences. To modify the interpersonal relationships between characters and the player, the system tries to tailor the characters' approach to dialog with the player based on different game events, goals, existing interpersonal relationships, and the kind of verbal exchange.