Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
There are a number of reasons why we would want to create variation in the deci-
sions our agents make. We can illustrate some of them best by using examples of
what it looks like when variation is
not
present. Imagine the following:
We enter a bank containing 20 customers, and 5 employees. We approach
the middle of the lobby and begin yelling loudly that we are robbing the
bank. As we look around to assess the impact that our display is having
on the people, we are stunned to realize that all 25 people are reacting in
exactly the same way. They are all standing there in stunned silence, too
afraid to move. Not a single one has screamed or spoken. Not a single one
has taken a step away from us—or toward us, for that matter. All 25 people
have reacted in
exactly
the same way!
Curious about this odd display of solidarity, we reach into our jacket for
our gun. The moment our hand disappears into our pocket,
every single
customer
in the bank shrinks into a crouch, ready to either duck or run.
All
of them
. A glance at the tellers behind the counter shows that
all five of them
have raised their hands.
As we pull out our gun and wave it wildly in the air, every player in this
peculiar show drops to the floor and screams. None of them only duck.
None of them try to run for the door. None of them are still paralyzed with
fear. None of them even fall to the floor faster or slower than the others.
The tellers, in the mean time, have
all
raised their right hands toward us in
a placating gesture. Exactly two seconds later, their left hands reach into
their bank tills. Simultaneously, all five say, “Here, take the money!�
Dying to find out what this impromptu synchronized exhibit will do next,
we turn the gun to point it at our own head. The customers all stop scream-
ing, even the small girl in the corner. The employees all put down their
hands in such rigid precision it seems like they are about to bust into a
group version of the Macarena.
We pull the trigger on the gun and the water inside squirts against the side
of our head. All 25 people gasp in surprise in what sounds like a single,
magnified intake of breath.
As the water trickles to the floor, we yell “Hey folks! I was just kidding! It
was a joke!� As if cued by the producer of a bad TV sit-com, all 25 people
begin laughing.
We put our now empty squirt gun back into our pocket, whereupon all 25
people turn back to what they were doing prior to our entrance. To a man,
they all seem completely unfazed by the trauma we just inflicted on them.
