At SXSW, people tried to talk their way out of certain death. Few were successful. The rest was lunch.
in “Fabula Rasa: Dead Man TalkingVR game developed by a Brazil-based studio AlvoleYou are on trial in a medieval fantasy kingdom. You must convince the town that you are innocent or worthy of leniency. Otherwise, the king will push you into a pit with greedy monsters.
It’s certainly fun, but it’s also a rare example of an AI-powered NPC that actually works.
What does that mean?
NPCs (non-playable characters) are game characters (townies, companions, etc.) that the player cannot control. In most games, players interact with NPCs by choosing from a list of dialogue options.
In theory, AI-powered NPCs could converse and chat with players in real-time, creating a more immersive experience.
in fact? They often fail due to latency issues or the inability of bots to deliver the emotional impact that talented voice actors can (okay, we cried during “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” too).
Why is “Fabra Rasa” effective?
Arvore didn’t use AI to shorten production time or save costs, but “as a medium for storytelling… which is only possible thanks to AI,” says Ricardo Justus, CEO of Arvore. The Hustle.
“That was the challenge from the beginning. In fact, we decided not to use any Gen AI art at all.”
The concept requires players to improvise, and Alvole actually referenced improv comics during development. Therefore, it is not possible to prepare a script in advance.
Plus, the characters, including a scheming witch and a kindly goblin, are actually fun to interact with.
Creating a model
Alvore builds the characters, which Justus calls “who they are, their personalities, [and] Their voices are created with ElevenLab, an AI voice generator.
A second AI acts as the director. Keep the story moving and choose which NPCs appear based on what the players say.
The team spent a year fine-tuning the characters, creating guardrails and making sure each felt distinct.
Head of creative development Luisa Justus said it was “a lot of trial and error,” noting that the AI had to be reined in to keep the dialogue from becoming circular and to make sure the characters had context about the world they lived in, not just what was being said.
“We wanted the story to evolve,” she said. “We didn’t want it to feel like you had one interaction with one character and then another interaction with another character. Then it’s just a collection of interactions. We wanted it to build on itself and feel like what you said there mattered here as well.”
The result is a surprisingly social experience, with every player having a unique experience based on the tactics they used to evade monsters, or not. At SXSW, players couldn’t wait to share their fates and tried to plot against each other.
Is this the future of gaming?
That’s for sure be In the future, don’t expect AI NPCs to appear everywhere. Characters still pause to generate answers, which works in short experiences but probably won’t work in a 160 hour game. It also works well in comedic games like Fabula Rasa, but would feel awkward in something more cinematic and serious.
“I think there’s room for games with hand-crafted voice actors and very clear stories…and there’s also room for crazy games like this that are only possible in this medium,” said Ricardo Utus.
“Fabula Rasa” is currently being played at festivals and will be released commercially in the future.
