Next-gen Indy will be smart cookie

Friday 28 April 2006
LucasArts has announced that its new, still unnamed, Indiana Jones title - slated for release on next-generation consoles - will use fancy-pants artificial intelligence technology that will allow the game's interactive characters - including the daring Dr Jones himself - to act more like "actual human beings without the limitations of traditional animation".

What does this mean exactly? Well, LucasArts is claiming that the 'euphoria behavioural-simulation engine' (ooooh) will allow the action to be simulated rather than scripted, meaning that even when replaying scenarios gamers will never have the same experience twice. LucasArts offered the following example of how this might work in practice:

"Imagine a swaying rope bridge. With euphoria in action, characters visibly attempt to balance themselves, their feet stumbling, their arms flailing, and their hands reaching for security as the unpredictable movements of the bridge threaten to send them plummeting to their doom. Perhaps they all survive. Perhaps they all fall. The use of euphoria means the action isn't scripted - it's simulated - so you'll never be able to predict exactly what will happen."

Sounds pretty neat, huh? LucasArts will be showing off the super smart euphoria engine when it debuts its Indiana Jones game at E3 next month and you can count on us to be there to excavate all the info.

Matt Cundy
I don't have the energy to really hate anything properly. Most things I think are OK or inoffensively average. I do love quite a lot of stuff as well, though.
Latest in Adventure
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Putting cigarettes in fish mouths in Thank Goodness You're Here
Thank Goodness You're Here's developer says it was trying to design a game normally before realizing "we're s**t at video game design"
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shiny Cards
How to get Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's director appears to be a Xenoblade Chronicles fan, and I'm now feeling very validated about a tiny detail I spotted in the upcoming RPG's gameplay trailer
Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pokemon TCG Pocket is getting yet another new expansion as the addition of shinies and Gen 9 Pokemon keep free-to-play players drowning in new cards to collect
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shining Revelry
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shining Revelry release date and details
Latest in News
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says
First-person screenshot from ASYLUM, showing the protagonist's hand holding up a notebook while walking through a dark corridor.
After 15 years and a $120,000 Kickstarter push, this cult horror dev has finally released a successor to their 2006 breakout game
screenshot from Rogue Light Deck Builder showing a claymation figure sitting behind a desk.
With 97% positive reviews on Steam, Rogue Light Deck Builder is a hilarious $3 parody game that takes its name very literally