I am seeking that which is beyond
myself, beyond what is normal, beyond
what is thought to be possible;
beyond what is known. The journeys
detailed here describe my efforts
to advance into the beyond.
These undertakings pushed
me past my limits, breaking
me through failures, so that I
could be rebuilt with the knowledge
needed to find that the beyond
is a little further away than
it was thought to be.
Here are some of my current/recent
efforts to seek the beyond.
My thesis, "The Potential of
Mimetic Emotions for Non-Player
Characters with Emergent,
Personality-Defined, Behavior",
was my last completed project.
The paper can be accessed here.
The thesis focuses on an
Artificial Emotion system for video games
that allows Non-Player Characters to
mimic human emotions. The final
products of the thesis are a
simple 2D video game that implements a
developed version of the
suggested system and the thesis paper
itself, which outlines the proposed
Mimetic Emotion System, in addition
to evidence of the system's success
or failure in providing emergent
character behavior based on player
actions and the character's personality.
The system and game of the thesis have
been developed with Python.
Long-term development is planned to
achieve a Mimetic Behavior System;
which allows NPCs to mimic human
behavior by applying artificial emotions,
behavior trees, behavior networks,
and genetic algorithms.
The intent of this thesis
is to open a path toward developing
games with characters that can respond
to players in a believable manner,
provided the context of any given
situation. It is my hope that such
games can allow for truly dynamic
narrative experiences, thereby
providing players with a way to
experience completely personal
and life-like stories for
both education and entertainment;
experiences that are beyond those
currently possible through any media.
Working through the entire process
of the thesis has been thrilling, and a
great learning experience!
The whole project has evolved greatly
as I have learned new things and
found constructive limitations.
While I was an undergraduate
student at Bethel College, KS,
I started the Humans vs. Zombies
Club, which I then led for
2 years. During this time,
I would organize 3-4 games a
year, each one lasting 5-7 days.
Residential students, such as
the gentleman above, and
commuter students, were both
welcome to play.
For my last game, I worked with
primarily 3 others to design,
advertise, and implement an
original variation that was
played by more than 10% of
the student population, a total
of 40 players.
The process gave me experience
in the foundations of game
design, particularly core game
design since this was a
real-life, non-digital game.
The implementation was
extraordinary in helping me to
work with the players,
especially in terms of evolving
the game to clarify rules and
meet requested features. The
overall experience was beyond
what I had expected myself as
being able to do at the time.
However, for me, the most
valuable part of these games
was to see the difference that
they were making in the
community and in the
lives of the players.