The Radiant AI is a technology developed by Bethesda Softworks for ''

The Elder Scrolls ''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on free-form gameplay in an open world. '' Morrowind'', '' Oblivion' ...

'' video games. It allows

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...

s (NPCs) to make choices and engage in behaviors more complex than in past titles. The technology was developed for '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' and expanded in '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim''; it is also used in ''

Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...

'', '' Fallout: New Vegas'' and ''

Fallout 4 ''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for PlayStation 4, Wi ...

'', also published by Bethesda, with ''3'' and ''4'' being developed by them as well.

Technology

The Radiant AI technology, as it evolved in its iteration developed for ''Skyrim'', comprises two parts:

Radiant AI

The Radiant AI system deals with NPC interactions and behavior. It allows non-player characters to dynamically react to and interact with the world around them. General goals, such as "Eat in this location at 2pm" are given to NPCs, and NPCs are left to determine how to achieve them. The absence of individual scripting for each character allows for the construction of a world on a much larger scale than other games had developed, and aids in the creation of what Todd Howard described as an "organic feel" for the game.

Radiant Story

The Radiant Story system deals with how the game itself reacts to the player behavior, such as the creation of new dynamic quests. Dynamically generated quests are placed by the game in locations the player hasn't visited yet and are related to earlier adventures.

References

Game artificial intelligence The Elder Scrolls Fallout (series) {{AI-stub