Mind Your Step On Dumb Pedestrian Path Planning in GTA: Vice City MCRS Assignment 1 Wouter van Toll ( )

About the game  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2003) –Follow-ups: GTA San Andreas, GTA IV  Characteristics: –3rd person, action/racing –Free-roaming areas: “do whatever you want” –Realistic, yet over-the-top –Mature

Pedestrian path planning  Decent local planning (but local and jerky) –Strolling, chasing you when hit  …until unexpected things happen –Cars parked on the sidewalk  They walk around unnaturally, or give up  Limited space: they hardly ever try the road/grass –Target (you) on a dynamic object (car)  No approaching, until you walk off. Intentional? –Blocking the shortest path to the player  They keep trying, no alternatives considered

How to fix it?  Dealing with dynamic obstacles –Be less greedy; treat them like static ones –Try alternatives after successive failure –Allow to walk on grass/roads more often, but with a penalty (repulsive force?) –Keeping track of your “non-static” position  Increasing naturalness: smoother paths –Respond to obstacles sooner  Would corridors/indicative routes work?