Desarrollo de inteligencia artificial para personajes no jugables e implementación del control del personaje principal en entornos de videojuego.

Abstract

In video games, characters constitute the central focus of the interactive experience; they are divided into playable characters, controlled by the user, and non-playable characters, managed by the system to bring life and context to the virtual world through intelligent rule-based behaviors. The combat system, meanwhile, is a key mechanic in action-adventure games, based on direct attacks, dodges, and special abilities controlled in real time by the player. This project involves the design and development of artificial intelligence and player mechanics for the video game “Ashes of Faith,” developing the programming logic for both playable and non-playable characters. For the playable character, the following systems are covered: (i) mobility, (ii) combat, (iii) health management, (iv) special abilities, and (v) interaction. For non-playable characters, finite state machines are implemented, using Scriptable Objects as the data structure for state configuration and management. The development process was carried out using Unity and the C# programming language under the Scrum agile methodology, which enabled the iterative and incremental management of each deliverable within each sprint. The results were obtained through a Likert-scale questionnaire that evaluated the management and control criteria of the playable and non-playable characters, as well as the combat system. In addition, black-box testing was conducted in Unity to evaluate the scalability of enemies implemented via Scriptable Objects, demonstrating a robust, scalable system consistent with gameplay mechanics.