Feature Release Week 2: Our Improved Contextual Mesh

Every in-game interaction with an NPC has a context, a world, a universe and a specific player audience. Our Contextual Mesh allows developers to place characters in a specific context with custom knowledge, content & safety guardrails, and narrative and scene controls. Today, we are thrilled to unveil a set of new features that further elevate our Contextual Mesh - Configurable Safety, Relationships, Player Profiles, and 4th Wall.

These features provide additional guidelines for characters, steering and confining their knowledge of the world, the player, and their relationships, preventing potential hallucinations. With these enhancements to our Character Engine, we ensure a more immersive and contextually aware AI character experience.

Configurable Safety

Video games are aimed at people of all ages and backgrounds. Some contain NPCs that even the youngest kids can safely interact with – while others have casts of characters who swear profusely and talk in detail about violent acts. Conversational safety varies by use case.

Inworld’s safety controls give developers more choice around topics their characters are able to discuss, allowing AI NPCs to speak in ways that fit their game world – no matter if their game is rated E or M. And while we allow flexibility around topics like profanity, violence, adult topics, alcohol, substance use, politics and, religion, we never permit things like hate speech or encouraging self-harm. 

This also ensures all players can enjoy their gaming experience – while also ensuring characters stay in the world, comply with international laws, and don’t lead to interactions that may compromise the in-world experience.

Relationships

Players form deep attachments with their favorite NPCs. But what if a player's interactions with NPCs were even more dynamic and influenced gameplay in new ways? What if being rude to an NPC could transform them into an archenemy? Or expressing kindness could lead them to divulge a game secret or allow players to foster a more meaningful relationship with them?

Introducing Inworld’s relationship feature. A first-of-its-kind feature that’s set to revolutionize NPC interactions and gameplay, it allows NPCs and players to build relationships across sessions. There are five distinct relationship levels, spanning from Arch Enemy to Close Friend. The progression through these categories is determined by players' actions. They can either build trust with an NPC by being kind and helpful or erode it by being rude or mean. 

Developers choose how quickly players can move through these stages with each NPC by adjusting their Relationship Fluidity setting in the Inworld Studio. With this toggle, game developers can create some characters who are eager to become your best friend and others who want to stubbornly remain your enemy.

Player Profiles

Inworld’s generative AI NPCs open up new gameplay possibilities with our Player Profile feature. Players can add things like their name, role, age group, gender, and additional custom fields that developers can add to the game. That could be anything from which Kingdom they come from in a fantasy world to their favorite hobby in a social game to whether or not they’re pro-robots

These personalizations allow NPCs to engage with players in more personalized conversations where who they are in the game world impacts how they’re treated – significantly improving the believability of the world and player immersion. 

4th Wall

In video games, game worlds often exist in alternate time periods and universes – offering gamers opportunities for adventure, exploration, and immersion. As players inhabit these settings, the believability of the experience becomes critical. 

Non-player characters (NPCs) powered by generative AI unlock heightened levels of immersion and interactivity that make the inhabitants of those worlds seem more real. However, the believability of an AI NPC rests on its ability to remain within the realm of its fictional universe, both in its behavior and dialogue.

An AI character that unwittingly breaks the game world’s fourth wall by talking about things that don’t exist in that universe can potentially inhibit a player's immersion and connection to the game world. 

Our cutting-edge Fourth Wall feature was specifically designed to ensure AI NPCs and AI characters maintain the integrity of each unique game world or experience.

We’re able to craft tailor-made Fourth Wall solutions for enterprise customers that cover a variety of elements such as:

• Locations
• Inhabitants
• Social constructs
• Objects
• Professions
• Historical events
• And more 

This means that whether your NPC is an intergalactic traveler or a denizen of the modern world, their dialogue will be entirely consistent with their reality, resulting in a more cohesive and immersive gaming experience.