Roads of Elysium: Liveworld Advanced AI System: Weather System

The Liveworld Advanced AI System, also known as the LAAS, is a highly sophisticated selection of AI systems that when brought together, create a behavior scripting system that provides ways to bring NPCs and creatures to life within the game of Roads of Elysium.

Released with a lot of excitement and managing to deliver on its promises, Roads of Elysium upon it’s release was a game changer in it’s field of sandbox gaming; offering a variety of breathtaking visuals and immersive gameplay, coupled with great storytelling. However, what stands out most about the world of Elysium, is the highly sophisticated world in which it takes place, with many NPC’s and even the natural world itself, coming together to create a world that feels so lifelike you can almost smell the cinders burning in the fireplace at the Inn’s or smell the mud after a rainstorm.   During the many year production of Roads Of Elysium, Goldenhawk Studio developers knew that creating such a vibrant world required a clever system that could adapt and respond to player choices in real time. As a result, the company overhauled its entire animation system to achieve a more believable series of human and animal behavior on the new generation of consoles in order to sell the fantasy of a living breathing world. A significant range of animations was added for enemy artificial intelligence to make them appear natural during combat and hundreds of subtle animations were emphasized by the developers to make the world feel more believable; in fact in order to make this happen, Goldenhawk had announced that it had upgraded its physics engine and completely overhauled its AI system for the first time in almost 10 years.   This new advanced system of AI, became known in the company as the Liveworld Advanced AI System, a series of multiple groupings of various AI systems that when brought together created the coding that would shape the world of Roads of Elysium; the end result being the ability to engage with thousands of NPCs, and watch an ever- shifting and evolving environment filled with incredibly vivid wildlife change around you as well. This advancement in AI enabled NPCs to become more dynamic, particularly by reacting differently to the player’s actions as well as a series of advanced AI to create dynamic NPC interactions, allowing characters and creatures to respond in real-time to player choices.  

Systems At Play

Liveworld Advanced AI System, also known as the LAAS, is a highly sophisticated selection of AI systems that when brought together, create a behavior scripting system that provides ways to bring NPCs and creatures to life within the game of Roads of Elysium.   For example one of the most common and noticeable changes one can see in the environment is the changes in WEATHER. Under the LAAS, the AI that controls weather is known as TEMPEST. Using TEMPEST, the game generates multiple weather phenomena. There are four seasons that can occur throughout the game: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Many different weather types can randomly occur, with certain types of weather depending on the map/location or season. Many quests may start out with a specific weather type.  

Season's

  Weather affects many things, often times animal and NPC behaviors. Weather also determines what type of clothing the player should wear; light clothing in cold climates will reduce the player’s health, as will wearing heavy clothing in hot climates. Various Weather types can be experienced throughout the world thanks to the LAAS System; seasons are four equal periods of time that each in-game year is divided into, including Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.   Each season has a unique cosmetic effect on the environment, as well as distinct gameplay elements and each of the 4 seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) have also have an Early, Mid, and Late sub-season: Early Spring, Spring, Late Spring, Early Summer, Summer, Late Summer, Early Autumn, Autumn, Late Autumn, Early Winter, Winter, and Late Winter.  

• Winter – December, January and February.

 

• Spring – March, April and May.

 

• Summer – June, July and August.

 

• Autumn – September, October and November.

  Spring: Rain showers and thunderstorms are likely to occur in this season, as well as occasional snow falls alongside sunny days. The snow of last winter will melt away on the first day and trees along with bushes will start to regain their leaves. The weather during spring generally consists of rainy and sunny days, with the temperatures usually staying in cool and cold levels, with probable warm temperatures later in the season.   Summer: Summer is the second season of the year. Temperatures will rise, prompting NPCs to change into warm weather wear. Heatwaves are very prominent in this season, which can kill unprepared NPC’s and animal’s at random. Summer mostly consists of dominating sunny and cloudy weather, alongside occasional rain and thunderstorms.   Fall: Fall is the third season of the year. Leaves from various trees and bushes will start changing their color and the temperatures will begin to drop. Cloudy and rainy days are most prominent during fall, with occasional sunny days and thunderstorms in between. Snowfalls are also possible, but the snow will melt away after a short time. Harvestfest is the pre-made holiday for this season. The weather during fall mostly consists of cool temperatures and heavy rainfalls. Later in the season temperatures will drop to cold, though warm days are still a possibility. Cloudy and windy days are more common than sunny, and rain is very prominent with occasional thunderstorms. Snowy weather is also a possibility during late fall and can happen very commonly, depending on the world.   Winter: Winter is the fourth and final season of the year. Snow will start forming around the neighborhoods of worlds through heavy snowfalls and blizzards, and temperatures will drop to very cold, forcing NPC’s to use their outerwear clothing every time they go outside or to heat their houses through various means. Winterfest is a pre-made holiday for this season.  

Weather

Many different weather types can also randomly happen, with certain types of weather depending on the map/location or season. Many quests may actually even start out with a specific weather type. There are several types of weather, with many being known as Precipitation. Precipitation can be described by its type, intensity, accumulation, and duration. All of these depend on the season. The intensity determines how heavy the precipitation is. For example, hail may or may not be heavy enough to damage crops and injure people, snow may occur in light flurries or in a heavy snowfall that eventually covers the ground, and rain may fall in showers or in a thunderstorm.   The duration is random.   Here is a list of the weather types   Clear: Standard weather has no effects.   Rain: Some zones will now have mud puddles form which slow movement. Some monsters will stick to more sheltered zones, while others may spend more time in open zones or away from zones that have water.   Thunder: Akin to rain, but lightning may strike down on the map, paralyzing hunters and sometimes monsters as well.   Snow: May cause some zones to require hot drinks that normally aren't. Will also cause some zones to have snow piles, even on maps that normally don't have snow to begin with.   Snowstorm: Also known as Blizzards, akin to snow, but more severe and restricts vision. Monsters will seek more sheltered zones.   Heatwave: Some monsters will seek more shaded zones, while others will stay in the open more. Some zones will now require cool drinks.   Sandstorm: Restricts vision, especially in open areas. Some monsters will try and seek more sheltered zones. Monsters will seek more sheltered zones.   Ashstorm: Akin to sandstorm, but more severe and causes some zones to require cool drinks. Monsters will seek more sheltered zones.  

Weather Types: Rare Weather Patterns

  Full moon: Nothing bizarre will happen on most moon phases. On the rare occasion a full moon ever does happen however, some randomly generated bizarre events will happen around the neighborhood. Settlers may also start to act strange throughout the day.   Hailstorm: After a Hailstorm, you may encounter dead creatures/humans outside and inside a settlement. Dead Animals killed by hail storms can be looted, but their pelts will exhibit a Low Quality rating. Human corpses, much like animal corpses will look considerably battered, and any clothes looted will be torn and in poor quality. Hail can be light or heavy, and heavy hail can be deadly. When heavy hail falls, NPC's react by covering their heads. Light hail doesn’t impact their motives, while heavy hail will drain their motives quickly. Hail can also damage crops by lowering the quality over time  

Note: After a Hailstorm, you may encounter dead creatures/humans outside and inside a settlement. Dead Animals killed by hail storms can be looted, but their pelts will exhibit a Low Quality rating, meaning that they will sell for less and can't be used in crafting. Human corpses, much like animal corpses will also look considerably battered, and any clothes looted will be torn and in poor quality.

 

Note: Similar to Hailstorm, it is possible to find Dead Animals and Settlers after heavy snowfall. Dead animals will yield Frozen Meat and Poor Quality Pelts. Animals caught in other dangerous weather may also be looted as well but will odds are yield poor pelts.

  Blood Moon: Blood Moon is a nighttime event that is characterized by an unusually large assault of unique enemies and the lack/disappearance of others. During a Blood Moon, which may occur randomly once a month, the sky and the moon both acquire a sickly red hue, with ominous ambiance and music accompanying the changes, often catching a new player unaware if they’ve never experienced the event before. Settlers will often stay indoors during this time, barring the doors making the player unable to get inside- but on occasion a settler will come to you to ask for your aid in retrieving a family member who has become lost outside of the settlement. But be warned. . .creatures may tend to behave in a more aggressive manner during this event, and one may find themselves being attacked by more than just conventional predators.  

Note: NPC's may often refer to a bloodmoon as a Womans Moon, as it often occur's once a month at random.

  Solar Eclipse: Unlike blood moons, Eclipse's are rare and don’t change much, but do have the chance to spawn rare enemies such as Umba Bugs   Fog: Seems to do nothing aside from reducing player vision immensely, though this is plenty dangerous on its own in certain circumstances, as it makes enemies hard to see. Fog also makes clouds lower and thicker, so flying at higher altitudes is more difficult due to obstructed vision.   Borealis: Atmospheric effects that do very little other than add to the aesthetics, although the Aurora does brighten the night a small amount.