The second of two GDC classes for The Sims 4 has hit the internet! Check out the entire “Multi-Actor Behavior Sequencing” class straight from GDC’s Vault. Just in case the PDF is removed from GDC’s website, or is restricted to members only, I have uploaded it to Mediafire for your convenience.
❗ Please note that any in-game photos from this class are from ALPHA Software
Session Name: Multi-Actor Behavior Sequencing in The Sims 4
Speaker(s): Brian Bell
Company Name(s): Maxis
Track / Format: Programming
Overview: As online gaming continues to surge in popularity, simulation complexity increases rapidly and aggressively multi-core platforms become the standard, decoupling game presentation from simulation becomes increasingly important.
For The Sims 4, we’ve developed a novel model for rendering high-fidelity synchronized behaviors involving multiple actors, even when driven by a simulation that runs at highly variable and/or low-frame rates, and which potentially communicates with the renderer over a high/variable latency connection. Historically, such products have often made significant compromises, either by requiring their simulations to run at real-time rates, and forcing extremely rigid synchronization, or by limiting visual quality in critical areas like character animation.
Our solution addresses all of these, and is capable of scaling across a variety of game types by offering a core framework for individual game teams to extend and customize.
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