My computer and video game fandoms.
Baldur's Gate III has consumed an inordinate amount of my leisure time in the recent weeks, not least because I could finally implement my go-to 5E character build (my "main", if you will) in a digital engine for the first time. One massive issue for me, however, was that a big part of my main's character concept is the ability to perform music, despite being an Arcane Trickster Urchin. In tabletop, this can be achieved thanks to the often overlooked rule that if you get the same tool proficiency from your background and your class, you can replace the extra copy with any other tool or, indeed, a musical instrument. BG3's digitalized ruleset does not support this rule, however, so I had to find another way.
Read more: How to gain musical instrument proficiency in Baldur's Gate III
Having just recently 100%ed Cyberpunk 2077, I was particularly impressed by the attention to detail the developers have put into its world-building and narrative. Of particular note to me was the extensive use of spiritual symbolism throughout the game, from the obvious Christian and Buddhist messages of Joshua Stephenson and the Zen Master's respective storylines, to the more obscure things like the use of Tarot by Jackie's girlfriend Misty. It is the latter that I would like to examine in-depth below. Obviously, this essay will spoil the entire plot of the game, so do not continue reading unless you are okay with that.
Last November in Forum Ludorum (where else), we've discussed the topic of characters in video games, but only recently have I rediscovered my old notes from that meeting and compiled them into a coherent essay.
Recently in the Forum Ludorum seminar, we have discussed the topic of interactive storytelling in games. Based on that discussion, I was able to summarize my own current understanding of the topic below.
Having published my video game AI reading list, I came to realize that there are two interrelated aspects of video game AI architectures that the academic and industry literature doesn't really talk about: namely, the scope and the frame of artificially intelligent agents. Specialists throw around terms like "squad controller" and "director AI", but never seem to set them in a broader context – possibly because it's self-evident and obvious to them. I don't have that luxury, however, so I will try to present my current understanding of the two aspects and how they relate to each other.