The Genius AI Behind The Sims

The Sims uses a super smart AI system to make virtual people who think, feel, and interact in a believable way. Here’s how. GMTK is powered by Patreon - Watch ad-free on Nebula - === Sources and Resources === - Footnotes (1) Most numbers in this video are for illustrative purposes only, and do not necessarily represent the values in any The Sims game. (2) In The Sims 3, the “Comfort“ and “Room“ motives are removed, leaving six basic needs. These are instead represented by “Moodlets“, which are little boosts and nerfs to the Sim’s happiness for doing things like sitting in a comfy chair or walking into a smelly room. (3) The Sims are strictly male and female in the first three games, but The Sims 4 expands this with the ability to individually set a character’s appearance, pronouns, and more. - Sources [1] Those Darned Sims: What Makes Them Tick? | GDC Vault [2] Will Wright explains what The Sims and an ant colony have in common | Joystiq :// [3] Simulation and Modeling: Under the hood of The Sims | Northwestern University ~forbus/c95-gd/lectures/The_Sims_Under_the_Hood_files/ [4] Some notes on programming objects in The Sims | Northwestern University [PDF] [5] JustJakeSimpson | Twitter [6] Needs-Based AI | Robert Zubek [PDF] [7] Traits | The Sims Wiki :Traits_from_The_Sims_3_(base_game) [8] Modeling Individual Personalities in The Sims 3 | GDC Vault [9] AI Development Postmortems: Inside DARKSPORE and THE SIMS: MEDIEVAL | GDC Vault AI Development Postmortems: Inside DARKSPORE and THE SIMS: MEDIEVAL [10] Emergent Storytelling Techniques in The Sims | GDC Vault [11] Will Wright Teaches Game Design and Theory | MasterClass [12] The Sims Design Documents | Various Sims Design Documents/ :/ [13] AI Postmortems: Assassin’s Creed III, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Warframe | GDC Vault - Additional resources AI Made Easy with Utility AI | Medium @morganwalkupdev/ai-made-easy-with-utility-ai-fef94cd36161 Improving AI Decision Modeling Through Utility Theory | GDC Vault An Introduction to Utility Theory | Game AI Pro [PDF] Knowledge is Power: An Overview of Knowledge Representation in Game AI | GDC === Chapters === 00:00 - Intro 01:26 - Decision Making 101 03:43 - Advanced Decision Making 06:52 - Utility AI 07:51 - Unique Sims 09:50 - Social Situations 11:09 - Hard-coded Rules 13:00 - Background Sims 15:35 - Storytelling 19:51 - Conclusion === Games Shown === The Sims 2 (2005) The Sims 4 (2014) The Sims 3 (2009) The Sims (2000) SimAnt (1991) The Sims: Unleashed (2002) The Sims Medieval (2011) SimCity 2000 (1993) Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017) XCOM: Enemy Within (2013) Minecraft (2011) === Credits === Music provided by Epidemic Sound - (Referral Link) Music from The Sims OST, by Jerry Martin Music from The Sims 3 OST, by Steve Jablonsky and Pieter A. Schlossern === Subtitles === Contribute translated subtitles - TBA