Skip to main content

Believability Through Psychosocial Behaviour: Creating Bots That Are More Engaging and Entertaining

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Believable Bots

Abstract

Creating believable characters or bots in a modern video game is an incredibly challenging and complex task. The requirements for achieving believability are steep, yet the improvements in player engagement, immersion, and overall enjoyment and satisfaction with their experience make this a worthy problem in desperate need of further examination. In this chapter, we examine how the implementation of psychosocial behaviour in bots can lead to believability, and how this translates into new and exciting possibilities for advancing the state-of-the-art in this area.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Acton, G.: Great ideas in personality—theory and research (2006). http://www.personalityresearch.org. Accessed Jan 2011

  2. Acton, G.: Playing the role: towards an action selection architecture for believable behaviour in non player characters and interactive agents. Masters thesis, Department of Computer Science, The University of Western Ontario (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Alt, G., King, K.: A dynamic reputation system based on event knowledge. In: AI Game Programming Wisdom. Charles River Media, Hingham (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bailey, C. Katchabaw, M.: An emergent framework for realistic psychosocial behaviour in non player characters. In: Proceedings of FuturePlay 2008, Toronto, Canada (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Baille, P.: The synthesis of emotions in artificial intelligences. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Southern Queensland (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bates, J., Loyall, A., Reilly, W.: An Architecture for Action, Emotion, and Social Behaviour. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 830. Springer, Heidelberg (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Beaumont, L.: Life’s guidance system: traveling your path through life (2008). http://www.emotionalcompetency.com/guidance.htm. Accessed Jan 2011

  8. Berger, L.: Scripting: overview and code generation. In: AI Game Programming Wisdom. Charles River Media, Hingham (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Biddle, B., Thomas, E.: Role Theory: Concepts and Research. Wiley, New York (1966)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Brockington, M.: Building a reputation system: hatred, forgiveness, and surrender in neverwinter nights. In: Massively Multiplayer Game Development. Charles River Media, Hingham (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Byl, P.B.D.: Programming Believable Characters in Games. Charles River Media, Hingham (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Cattell, R.: The Description and Measurement of Personality. Harcourt, Brace, and World, New York (1946)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Cesta, A., Miceli, M. Rizzo, P.: Robustness of the social attitude and system performance. In: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems, Help Under Risky Conditions (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Cole, S.: Modeling opinion flow in humans using Boids algorithm and social network analysis (2006). http://gamasutra.com/features/20060928/cole_01.shtml. Accessed Jan 2011

  15. Crawford, C.: Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling. New Riders, Indianapolis (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  16. de Freitas, J.S., Imbert, R. Queiroz, J.: Modeling Emotion-Influenced Social Behavior for Intelligent Virtual Agents. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 4827. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Dias, J., Paiva, A.: Feeling and Reasoning: A Computational Model for Emotional Characters. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3808. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ekman, P., Friesen, W., Ellsworth, P.: Emotion in the Human Face: Guidelines for Research and an Integration of Findings. Pergamon Press, New York (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Elliott, C.: The affective reasoner: a process model of emotions in a multi-agent system. Ph.D. Dissertation, Northwestern University Institute for the Learning Sciences (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  20. El-Nasr, M.: Modeling emotion dynamics in intelligent agents. Masters thesis, American University in Cairo (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Epic Games. UDK—Unreal Development Kit (2010). http://www.udk.com. Accessed Jan 2011

  22. Eysenck, H.: Biological Dimensions of Personality. In: L.A. Pervin (ed.) Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research. Guilford, New York (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Funder, D.C.: The Personality Puzzle. W. W. Norton& Company, New York (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Funge, J.D.: Artificial Intelligence for Computer Games. A K Peters, Natick (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Game Informer. Assassin’s Creed. June 2006, Issue 158. Vol XVI: No 6 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Game Informer. Bully. September 2006, Issue 161, Vol XVI: No 9. (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Gratch, J. Marsella, S.: A domain-independent framework for modeling emotion. Cogn. Syst. Res. 5(4), 269–306 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Gratch, J., Marsella, S.: Evaluating a computational model of emotion. Auton. Agent. Multi-Agent Syst. 11(1), 23–43 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Grond, G., Hanson, B.: Reputation system FAQ (1998). http://update.uo.com/repfaq. Accessed Jan 2011

  30. Gruenwoldt, L., Katchabaw, M., Danton, S.: Achieving Realistic Reactions in Modern Video Games. In Worlds In Play. Peter Lang Press, New York (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Guye-Vuilleme, A. Thalmann, D.: A high-level architecture for believable social agents. VR J. 5, 95–106 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Hogg, L.M.J., Jennings, N.R.: Socially intelligent reasoning for autonomous agents. IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part A Syst. Hum. 31(5), 381–393 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Imbert, R., De Antonio, A.: An Emotional Architecture for Virtual Characters. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3805. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Ion Storm. Thief: Deadly Shadows. Eidos Interactive (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Isbister, K.: Better Game Characters by Design. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Keirsey, D.: Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence. Prometheus Nemesis, Del Mar, CA (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Lawson, G.: Stop relying on cognitive science in game design—use social science (2003). http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/letter_display.php?letter_id=647. Accessed Jan 2011

  38. LeBlanc, M.: Formal design tools: emergent complexity, emergent narrative. In: Proceedings of the 2000 Game Developers Conference (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Livingstone, D.: Turing’s test and believable AI in games. Comput. Entertain. (CIE) 4(1), 6 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Loyall, A.: Believable agents: building interactive personalities. Ph.D. Dissertation, Stanford University (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Mateas, M.: An Oz-centric Review of Interactive Drama and Believable Agents. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1600. Springer, Heidelberg (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  42. McCrae, R. Costa, P.: Reinterpreting the Myers-Briggs type indicator from the perspective of the five-factor model of personality. J. Pers. 57(1), 17–40 (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Mehrabian, A.: Framework for a comprehensive description and measurement of emotional states. Genet. Soc. Gen. Psychol. Monogr. 121(3), 339–361 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Myers, I.B., McCaulley, M., Quenk, N., Hammer, A.: MBTI Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, 3rd edn. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Mythic Entertainment. Reputation, karma and fame (2005). http://www.uoherald.com/node/167. Accessed Jan 2011

  46. Ortony, A.: On Making Believable Emotional Agents Believable. Appeared in Emotions in Humans and Artifacts. MIT Press, Cambridge (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Ortony, A., Clore, G., Collins, A.: The Cognitive Structure of Emotions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Paanakker, F.: The Emotion Component: Giving Characters Emotions. Appeared in AI Game Programming Wisdom, vol. 4. (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Panzarasa, P., Jennings, N., Norman, T.: Social mental shaping: modeling the impact of sociality on the mental states of autonomous agents. Comput. Intell. 17(4), 738–782 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Parrott, W.: Emotions in Social Psychology: Essential Readings. Psychology Press, Philadelphia (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  51. Pfeifer, B.: Creating emergent gameplay with autonomous agents. In: Proceedings of the Game AI Workshop at AAAI-04 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  52. Picard, R.W.: Affective Computing. Media Laboratory, Perceptual Computing TR 321, MIT Media Lab (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Plutchik, R.: The nature of emotions. Nature 89(4), 344 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: Social role awareness in animated agents. In: International Conference on Autonomous Agents (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: Evolving social relationships with animate characters. In: Proceedings of the AISB-02 Symposium on Animating Expressive Characters for Social Interactions (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Rankin, A., Acton, G., Katchabaw, M.: A scalable approach to believable non player characters in modern video games. In: Proceedings of GameOn 2010, Leicester, United Kingdom (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  57. Reiss, S.: Multifaceted nature of intrinsic motivation: the theory of 16 basic desires. Rev. Gen. Psychol. 8(3), 179–193 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  58. Reynolds, B.: How AI enables designers (2004). http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11577. Accessed Jan 2011

  59. Rizzo, P., Veloso, M., Miceli, M., Cesta, A.: Personality-driven social behavior in believable agents. In: Proceedings of the AAAI Fall Symposium on Socially Intelligent Agents (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  60. Romano, D., Sheppard, G., Hall, J., Miller, A., Ma, A.: BASIC: a believable adaptable socially intelligent character for social presence. In: Proceedings of the 8th Annual International Workshop on Presence, London, United Kingdom (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  61. Rousseau, D., Hayes-Roth, B.: Personality in synthetic agents. Technical report, Knowledge Systems Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  62. Russell, S., Norvig, P.: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  63. Sinclair, P.: The “Big Five” factors personality model (2011). http://www.odportal.com/personality/big-five.htm. Accessed Jan 2011

  64. Sloman, A.: Beyond shallow models of emotion. Cognitive processing. Lengerich 2(1), 177–198 (2001) (Pabst Science Publishers)

    Google Scholar 

  65. Smith, C., Ellsworth, P.: Attitudes and social cognition. In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, American Psychologists Association, Washington, vol. 48(4) (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  66. Smith, H., Smith, R.: Practical techniques for implementing emergent gameplay: would the real emergent gameplay please stand up? In: Proceedings of the 2004 Game Developers Conference (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  67. Straker, D. Big five factors (2010). http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/big_five.htm. Accessed Jan 2011

  68. Sweetser, P.: An emergent approach to game design, development and play. School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  69. Sweetser, P.: Emergence in Games. Charles River Media, Hingham (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  70. Sweetser, P., Johnson, D., Sweetser, J., Wiles, J.: creating engaging artificial characters for games. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Entertainment Computing. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  71. Tomkins, S.: Affect theory. In: Scherer, K.R., Ekman, P. (eds.) Approaches to Emotion. Erlbaum, Hillsdale (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  72. Tomlinson, B., Blumberg, B.: Using emotional memories to form synthetic social relationships (2002). http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.19.4475. Accessed Jan 2011

  73. Tozour, P.: The Evolution of Game AI. In AI Game Programming Wisdom. Charles River Media, Hingham (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  74. Tupes, E., Cristal, R.: Recurrent personality factors based on trait ratings. Technical report ASD-TR-61-97, Lackland Air Force Base, TX: Personnel Laboratory, Air Force Systems Command (1961)

    Google Scholar 

  75. Velasquez, J.: From affect programs to higher cognitive emotions: an emotion-based control approach. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Emotion-Based Agent Architectures, Seattle, Washington (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  76. Woodcock, S.: Game AI: the state of the industry (2000). http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3570/game_ai_the_state_of_the_industry.php. Accessed Jan 2011

  77. Wooldridge, M.J.: The logical modeling of computational multiagent systems. Ph.D. thesis, UMIST, Manchester (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  78. Wooton, B.: Designing for Emergence. AI Game Programming Wisdom, vol. 3. Charles River Media, Hingham (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  79. Wright, I., Marshall, J.: Egocentric AI processing for computer entertainment: a real-time process manager for games. In: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Intelligent Games and Simulation (GAME-ON 2000), London, United Kingdom (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  80. You J., Katchabaw, M.: A flexible multi-model approach to psychosocial integration in non player characters in modern video games. In: Proceedings of FuturePlay 2010, Vancouver, Canada (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  81. Zhou, C., Yu, X., Sun, J., Yan, X.: Affective Computation based NPC behaviours modeling. In: Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology. IEEE Computer Society Washington, DC, USA (2006)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Katchabaw .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Bailey, C., You, J., Acton, G., Rankin, A., Katchabaw, M. (2013). Believability Through Psychosocial Behaviour: Creating Bots That Are More Engaging and Entertaining. In: Hingston, P. (eds) Believable Bots. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32323-2_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32323-2_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32322-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32323-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics