How the Nemesis System Creates Stories

Game Maker's Toolkit
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2021–2026
YouTube
3.3M views · 5 years ago · explainer · evergreen

Game Maker's Toolkit looks at the Nemesis system from the Middle-earth games, in which enemy orcs remember the player and gain ranks and rivalries. The video explains how the system works and why it produces memorable stories without scripted writing.

HN people recommend it as a clear account of what the Nemesis system is and why it works, including as an example of non-LLM game AI.

“This video is a great look at what it is and why its great IMO”
Game design
#nemesissystem#emergentnarrative#gameai#gamedesign#npcdesign

2 comments from Hacker News

a
@azath922026 · in “Why No AI Games?”
Only because it is something i find fascinating: > There are those Orcs in that one Lord of the Rings game who hold grudges against you. Is referring to the nemesis system in Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, and its an amazing set of interlocking procedural systems that do genuinely feel like its AI, but is really AI in the sense its always been used by games (the rules the games follow to govern NPCs+world) and not AI in the sense of modern LLMs or even other generative systems. This video is a great look at what it is and why its great IMO ▶ this video I think a system like this could really work well with some modern LLM stuff, but it certainly feels magic without it.
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b
@bane2021 · in “How the Nemesis System Creates Stories”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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