BEST BEHAVIOUR

Donkey Crew's lead gameplay developer, SERGII GREBEN, on programming AI for NPCs

-  Luke Kemp

Sergii Greben’s path into game development is an interesting one. Having worked in a web development job for a few years, and finding that this failed to give him much satisfaction, he joined a group of passionate Mount & Blade modders; a group that soon blossomed into its own developer, Donkey Crew.

In the early days of the company, when things leaned more towards a group of enthusiasts rather than a professional team, he could essentially choose whatever he wanted to work on – and chose AI for human NPCs. “I was just trying to make them behave a little bit more like actual humans,” says Greben. “It’s all about iteration. Just try playing it. See what doesn’t work, what feels off, try to fix it. Try again, and so on, until it gets better.”

That was almost ten years ago. Now working on DC’s third game, Bellwright, Greben still applies the same fundamental approach – only now, the scope is much wider. The latest title is an ambitious project with strategy, survival and city building elements. There’s combat, but also more complicated NPC behaviours such as crafting and harvesting. They also need food and sleep. How do characters in this world prioritise?