Implementation of Adaptive Navigation for NPCs in Computer Games

Uniform navigation of NPCs in computer games is an important factor that can decrease the interest of game players. This problem is particularly noticeable in pathfinding when using a waypoint graph because the NPCs navigate using only predefined locations. In this paper we propose a method that enables adaptive navigations of NPCs by observing player movements. The proposed method involves modification of waypoints dynamically by observing the player's point designation and use of the modified waypoints for NPC's pathfinding. Also, we propose an algorithm to find the NPC-specific path by learning the landform preferences of players. We simulate the implemented algorithm in an RPG game made with Unity 4.0 and confirm that NPC navigations had more variety and improved according to player navigations.