Gamecloud - How will the AI and conversation systems for NPCs in Oblivion work?

Pete Hines - Our new Radiant AI system allows for full 24/7 schedules for every NPC and they also think on their own. We give them general goals to accomplish and the NPC figures out how to accomplish it. Radiant AI allows us to have that kind of advanced behavior on a massive scale. And that's the trick for us, you may see something scripted in another game, and we have to figure out a way to systemize that so we can do it on a large scale.

NPCs will engage in dynamic conversations in streets, in buildings... wherever they run into each other. You can listen in on these conversations and pick up useful pieces of info, new quests, or simply listen to them talk about a quest you completed or are currently working on. When you talk to NPCs, you have a list of topics you can ask them about. Any topics where they'll only tell you something you've heard before will appear in grey so you don't have to bother asking them again. The journal tracks everything useful for you automatically. There's so much information in the game that we had to work really hard at making sure the player never felt overwhelmed or that there was too much to try to remember.