Analysing the AI of The Last of Us Part II | AI and Games #70

[@DSavioiur77]

Awesome video! As a designer ND AI tech was amazing to work with, and you really nailed the analysis of what it can/can't do. Their tech really allowed you to do so much as a designer. Especially with ambient buddy ai

[@AIandGames]

Thanks for watching! Im glad you enjoyed it.

[@PlebNC]

The enemies in Part 2 gained a new damage type as shooting their attack dogs causes them to cry the dog's name triggering critical emotional damage in the player. This damage does double damage if the player has the Dog Owner trait.

[@MrGOLDENCUPCAKE1]

I always killed the owner first, cause the dog just stops and looks sad making it easier to deal with. Felt worse tho :(

[@VicioGamer47]

Loved the moment on 22:05, dont know if was intentional or not but the way joel look back and saw that ellie wasnt there anymore and then turned to ellie and started walking it was like he last saw ellie behind him so he turn there to go to her but after seen that she wasnt there tried to look her instead of instantly going to where she was although he didnt know she moved.

[@ihaveanosthedirector]

All of your videos are so excellent man, such great resources for aspiring game developers or anyone looking to break into the industry!! Thanks bro!

[@Tclans]

5:30 & 6:10 this is exactly how I approached my fights in part one. Specifically on survivor and grounded. The second note is a big uptick in the second game towards the first. Which in my opinion is a superb challenge booster. I’d say, wel executed and very much welcoming change over part one.

[@AIandGames]

Don't forget to catch the bonus episodes on The Last of Us over on AI and Games Plus: Revisiting the AI of The Last of Us Part One: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4u5fYN9hpaeask Walkthrough of the Museum level in TLoU2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXnRopVrZ65knc0 -- In the meantime, a quickshout to 'Sir BigWater' @sirbigwater1676 here on KZbin for reminding me to make this video. If you go and dig in the comments from the original Last of Us video I made, I was asked whether I'd make this video about TLOU2 to which I joked **"you'll find out in 2025 when I finally get around to playing it"**. After that, Sir BigWater continued to remind me that I had until June 18th 2025 to make this video in the comments of several videos I have made. At this time I make zero commitments to make further videos on The Last of Us, lest his honourable BigWater sets up another timer to keep me on track. But if anything I'm just happy we got around to it two years earlier than planned!

[@touchtablet3364]

Wow, your work is incredible. I didn't understand everything (because I'm a "simple" gamer and I don't work in the digital field), but it was fascinating to discover how one (and a few) AI can work in a video game and everything you have to think about beforehand. Fantastic, I've subscribed to your channel, can't wait to discover other AI systems, thank you for the discovery, and lots of encouragement for your projects! Thank you from France!

[@charlesshamseldin9555]

Fantastic content. Channel is criminally underrated.

[@awesomeniac]

Is the ingame footage originally HDR? it seems so saturated and high contrast. . . .

[@AssortedJade]

The footage in this video has definitely been contrast bumped compared to the game as played

[@SaberRexZealot]

@@mattburesh1 looks like PS5 footage tho cos’ 60fps

[@undary0u]

Now thats you've done tlous 2 id love to see a deep dive in ghost of tsushimas Ai

[@TheRealBlackarrot]

Have y'all ever considered looking at fighting game A.I.? I've been playing Soul Calibur(1) for 23 years & the A.I. continues to surprise me. Learning my combos, copying my tech etc.

[@SirBigWater]

Damn he did it earlier than I thought, I guess I'll delete my calendar event

[@AIandGames]

With 2 years to spare!

[@SirBigWater]

@@AIandGames Noice

[@NayvieNoir]

I honestly didn’t know you had a second channel, and I’m so glad that I know now

[@skupipup]

"They got Alex"

[@AndersHass]

I am not sure if the PS3's SPEs could be used for NPCs or it was just the one PowerPC Core that could handle that, making it very limiting to PS4's 7 useable Jaguar cores (with 1 remaining for the PS4 OS). Then PS5 has even more performing cores (I am not sure if all 8 is available to the game) and more memory, making it very interesting the level of detail the NPCs could have there.

[@Jerry98x]

Just discovered this channel. High quality content right here!

[@jakobskredelangedal6059]

I'm doing an assignment on AI in this game, and i've read some articles about "finite state machines". But i've also heard something about The Last of Us II using "behavior trees". What are the differences between these two? From the description of "finite state machines", it seems like a good match with what i'm seeing in The Last of Us 2.

[@kensanackerman7047]

I've been trying to find the gdc video about melee in part 2 but I can only find the one about part 1 by Anthony Newman, anyone got a link to that video ?

[@naithungoal609]

Thank you for what you do, sir.

[@timbus2]

Has the “Revisiting the AI of The Last of Us Part 1” video mentioned here been published yet? Can’t find it anywhere…

[@AIandGames]

Yup, right here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4u5fYN9hpaeask&ab_channel=AIandGamesPlus

[@izzieb]

Unending violence? I know all about it, I've been to Glasgow city centre on a Friday night.

[@AIandGames]

Glasgow is ready for the apocalypse pal.

[@nahoj.2569]

@@AIandGames have you taken note of the differences in AI between Grounded mode and normal mode in TLOU2? it makes the enemies really lifelike, in my opinion. there are also additional settings for customizing AI behavior and combat accessibility, like making you invisible while prone, smaller combos, making it so that allies cant get grabbed, flanking agression and stuff like that. I personally played in Custom difficulty, with player health on normal and enemies and stealth on grounded, i felt that was the most enjoyable way to play.

[@izzieb]

@@AIandGames In certain areas, it looks like it has already happened.

[@Victorcolongarcia]

My favourite Ps4 game 🤟

[@leegofilms]

Do you have any plans on covering Half-Life: Alyx? The cumputation limitations of VR could give some interesting research to how their ai was optimized. Their anim graph system would also be a good source of research for motion mapping

[@SianaGearz]

There's probably nothing in particular to Alyx, just reusing the same AI systems they have had all along going back to likely HL2. The game doesn't require a lot of CPU performance, which can be a limiting factor for VR games. 4 modern cores, 4 threads. If we assume one fast pump video submit thead and one game logic thread, and there's always a pretty heavy GPU UMD internal thread, there isn't much room left there. If it was a more technically ambitious title with more CPU performance requirements, they would have specified a hexa core or better.

[@leegofilms]

@@SianaGearz Perhaps it’s just my limited perspective. Because I didn’t know how poorly the game was running until I upgraded my CPU. They do some werid stuff to keep the player’s VR character sync’d. I’ve seen several people’s low end systems hit CPU limits when multiple characters are on screen at once too.

[@NecrotekLabs]

best game ever, even better than the original

[@thesewerrat4895]

Man imagine being wrong twice in one sentence.

[@depouille]

a somewhat rare opinion but one that I also agree with yeah 100 percent.

[@TheNightman.]

Imagine having no idea that this game is utter trash and always will be

[@TheNightman.]

@@depouille Yeah no, it's 100% garbage and always will be

[@NecrotekLabs]

@@TheNightman. what games have you made?

[@santiagomoralesgarcia1802]

I hope the next GTA use the animation system of TLOU part 2, GTA 5 and RDR2 have great animation, but too realistic so you are strunling when moving and aiming

[@diogofelix8626]

They already got this right with Max Payne 3, they built hundreds of animations that blends with the euphoria physics at a way faster pace than RDR2 or GTA V, is not used in RDR2 because the game setting didn't require it, guns in the west were way slower than moderns one in Max Payne, also, if they made the protagonist way faster that would make the game balancing way to easier, they would need to redo the enemies animations as well to make them more inline with the speed of the player.

[@supermegakote]

What’s with the color grading…

[@eyesontoast1105]

Its great AI but still annoying cheaty. There is a fake ceiling for how good the player can be, and it always irks me because its a false sense of difficulty. Despite that, as I say its an astonishing achievement none the less. Particularly noticeable in the new game mode on hardest difficulty. The AI tends to spawn in. On top of that, the way the characters move can be very UNnatural, with slinky necks and jittery movements just to avoid the players reticle. While these are well disgusted in the play, for fans of the combat who commit to getting good, it just never happens as the game will always hack a victory on you or punish your attempts at aggressive game play. Still a big fan of it but they really need to reconsider some finer aspects of it should they be releasing another game.

[@cabbagenjam]

CHRIS!!!!!!!!!!

[@robertdurcan1629]

Yeah your voice sounds a little like Gerald butler

[@AIandGames]

Well we're both from the same part of Scotland.

[@Omertà_Nera]

how about red dead 2 ai we need to know the great ai behind this game ❤❤and thank you for everything

[@adrian21339]

I hate when you do a stealth takedown and it alerts other people

[@crimsonghoul8983]

Same here.

[@adrian21339]

@@crimsonghoul8983 and they auto aim when you out in the open

[@crimsonghoul8983]

@@adrian21339 That i can forgive because the onus falls on the player to try and dodge out of the line of fire.

[@NemesisOgreKing]

Never understood why people like Uncharted 3 and 4's Zombie DLCs so much.

[@TheSkaOreo]

Can't wait for all the people who won't watch this video because they still mad that best sad dad Joel got brained by a golf club. Can not wait for the HBO series to reach that point.

[@SaberRexZealot]

I don’t think it will get the same reaction. HBO viewers are used to seeing their favorite characters die unceremoniously, the “fans” who hate the game have mostly moved on and the writers might do it a bit differently.

[@John-996]

@@SaberRexZealot Not Just That But playing as a chracter Who kills the character you Play as is totally different Thing Than passive entertainment Its why Do not Think part 2 in the show will have the same. When Play as Joel you basicaly become him so his death In the game hits harder than it would as a tv show.

[@SeniorCharry]

Can't wait for the episode explaining the AI of the golf club. Oh, and we can't forget about the AI behind the scene when fat Geralt comes out of nowhere are knocks that thing into the garage door. Best game -10/10 would meme again.

[@d9zirable]

the ai is better than the story for sure

[@GraveyardTricks]

What AI? The whole game is just a cutscene with QTEs mixed in

[@NazzyQ]

Oh look another person who hasn’t actually played the game

[@Jupa]

No I think you got this confused with RDR2, this is TLOU2 xD

[@John-996]

@@Jupa This is allot more cutscene heavy than RDR2. Both games have great NPCs Though. RDR2 has one of the most interactive open worlds out there Both games have some great Ai systems.