Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 25).An ongoing problem in game design is how to create story-based games that allow the player to have a variety of experiences if the game is played more than once, preferably without burdening the designer with a prohibitive workload. In this project, I approach the problem of creating a game with a mutable narrative from an AI perspective, designing a system called CharacterSimulator that generates a population of non-player characters (NPCs) with which the player will interact and assigns the NPCs a set of goals to carry out. Varying the set of NPCs and their objectives will create a different narrative experience for the player when the game is replayed. Although the NPC behaviors were originally modeled on Braitenberg vehicles, I have largely moved away from that model in the final version, focusing more on assigning NPCs goals that result in narratively interesting interactions.by Naomi A. Hinchen.M. Eng
