Take-Two, the parent company behind, among others Grand Theft Auto-developer Rockstar Games, has filed a new patent that could indicate an improvement in the ‘intelligence’ of NPCs (non-player characters). This seems to mainly concern the way in which NPCs behave in traffic and deal with unusual situations.
The patent covers ‘system and methodology for virtual navigation in game worlds’ and broadly describes a method with which ‘vehicle AI’ can improve and NPCs can be made more environmentally aware. The patent is often discussed on Reddit, among others, and someone there is in reasonable jip-and-jannek language explained which is roughly the intention.
Among other things, it describes how the behavior of computer-controlled drivers can be influenced on the basis of various external factors such as the weather, the time of day or the traffic on the road. It seems that with this implementation NPCs have a kind of profile in which things like vehicle / speed, driving ability, acceleration speed, top speed and braking distances can also all be given individually.
It could also be that it is all unrelated GTA or whether it pertains to another game from a different studio. Until now it has been deafeningly silent around a new part in the Grand Theft Auto-series, a sixth volume has still not been officially announced. But the fact that this patent comes from David Hynd and Simon Parr, tech director and AI lead at Rockstar North respectively, is suggestive.
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