Sponsored By

Elan Ruskin explains how Valve's Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and internal experiment Two Robots, One Wrench empowers writers.

August 16, 2013

2 Min Read

"The more creative writers are, the more easily they can iterate, the more autonomous they can be, the more writing they can do... the better dialog you will have."

-- Elan Ruskin, former Valve developer (now at Insomniac), explains a mechanism deployed in several Valve games to allow for dynamic AI in this GDC 2012 talk. Ruskin uses Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and internal experiment Two Robots, One Wrench to demonstrate Valve's system for tracking thousands of facts and possibilities, allowing intelligent characters to remember history, and, most importantly, providing writers a friendly interface for creative freedom.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent GDC events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers. Those who purchased All Access passes to events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC China already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscriptions via a GDC Vault inquiry form. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company. More information on this option is available via an online demonstration, and interested parties can find out more here. In addition, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault admins. Be sure to keep an eye on GDC Vault for even more new content, as GDC organizers will also archive videos, audio, and slides from other events like GDC China and GDC 2013. To stay abreast of all the latest updates to GDC Vault, be sure to check out the news feed on the official GDC website, or subscribe to updates via Twitter, Facebook, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.

Daily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inbox

You May Also Like