EA can't actually copyright or patent the mechanics, only the mechanism (in this case the expanded code structure) by which the effect is accomplished. Besides, believe it or not, there's prior art (pic related)Ģ: setting up a needs-based AI system sounds simple but you also have to set up prioritization how hungry does your sim have to be before he stops blogging and makes dinner, that sort of thing. This prioritization is further skewed by their personality traits.Īnd then once the state's been decided you have to code it in such a fashion that only the actions related to the state will be executed while simultaneously being interruptible by player input. This is even more complex in a game like the sims where, due to variable level layout, the code must find the nearest source of fulfilling the need, navigate to it, and interact with it.Īnd you have to code this for every conceivable state and action.
It would be a simple matter to craft a sims-like system where the player controls all the actions.
