improvement coming in Forbidden West.
Although realism isn't always the goal, it's usually very difficult to create believable AI enemies in video games, especially when it comes to stealth mechanics. A common occurrence is an enemy finding the body of one of their comrades, left on the ground by the player. They'll usually investigate, spout a voice line about something being wrong, and then search the immediate area for a little bit before dismissing the scenario completely. This example is especially tough to solve, since the alternative of enemies relentlessly hunting for the player might not be fun either. Guerrilla Games appears to be making a concerted effort at making Forbidden West's AI more believable and dynamic than in Zero Dawn, though.
In a recent post on the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla Games developers discuss some of the work put into creating enemies for Horizon Forbidden West. The game's lead AI programmer, Arjen Beij, explains that Guerrilla "wanted enemies to feel more authentic by improving the fluidity and continuity of motion, like making enemies (and companions) more capable of traversing rugged terrain." Improved pathfinding for NPCs seems to be a major focus for the developers in making more believable AI. Instead of circumnavigating obstacles entirely, NPCs will now be capable of jumping and climbing around the environment.
Horizon Forbidden West Hopes To Have Smarter Enemies
Traversal seems to be a major focus in the development of Forbidden West, with Aloy now able to climb freely and swim underwater, and the maneuverability of enemies will likely play a role in improving Forbidden West's combat over Zero Dawn. In addition to human enemies being able to jump and climb, "more machines are now capable of swimming and have the ability to dive and chase Aloy underwater." With more capable AI, there may be less opportunities to cheese encounters by manipulating the terrain and enemy limitations. These changes may also lead to more convincing responses to the easily exploitable stealth situations mentioned above. Arjen says, "Human enemies team up and search for [Aloy] as a group, with the team leader giving orders and coordinating the work," when line of sight is broken and players attempt to hide.
It's important to note that this discussion of Forbidden West's AI is purely promotional from Guerrilla Games and Sony. It remains to be seen how believable enemy behaviors will be, but it's promising that this is a specific area of attempted improvement. Believability in games often comes from the little details included, like The Last of Us 2 giving enemies names to make them feel more real. Seeing AI climbing over obstacles rather than finding a way around may go a long way in making the collective illusion of Horizon Forbidden West more convincing.
Source: PlayStation Blog