Chapter 2
Combat Dialogue in FEAR
The Illusion of Communication
Jeff Orkin
2.1 Introduction
If the AI didn’t say it, it didn’t happen. This was the AI-design philosophy behind the squad behaviors in FEAR. There is no point in expending significant effort implementing complex AI if the player doesn’t notice it. In developing FEAR, we found that having AI characters vocalize and commentate while executing squad behaviors is a highly effective means of bringing whiz-bang AI to the player’s attention. While game developers typically remember FEAR for its Goal-Oriented Action Planning [Orkin 06], it is obvious from the reviews and forum chatter that the coordinated squad behaviors are what stood out for gameplayers.
2.2 From Barks to Dialogues
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