The behavior of characters in Oblivion was very peculiar and generated many memes.
The creator of The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, TES 4 Oblivion, and Fallout 3 recently participated in the FRVR podcast. Bruce Nesmith spoke about Radiant AI technology, which is responsible for the behavior of NPCs in Bethesda games.
Many players remember funny incidents with characters in Oblivion, but there were fewer of these in Skyrim — some even complained about the "absence" of Radiant AI.
In fact, it was all there. The developer explained that in TES V, players saw an improved technology; this more "polished" version generated fewer specific game situations:
"I argue that the quirkiness of Radiant AI in Oblivion makes [NPC AI] memorable. In Skyrim, it worked more smoothly, but because it was more natural and organic, [Radiant AI] didn't stand out, you didn't notice it as much, but it worked in ways you couldn't even imagine."
Bruce Nesmith gave several examples of Radiant AI in Skyrim:
- killing an NPC in the game will lead to one of his relatives taking on the role of the killed person or completing the quest to which he was assigned
- if an item falls to the ground, NPCs may start fighting to the death to get it; they are also able to pick it up and ask if they can keep it, or even sell it to a local merchant
