What we really, really need

So. Back in the bus again. It's dark outside the windows, so why look there? I have a short update again, because yesterday I started the AI basics for Holocene. This is mostly about fleshing out the structure of needs for our characters.

There's five needs defined right now: food, water, sleep, warmth and an ill-defined social one that I did not put much thought in yet. Any character had these needs in some measure and they're what drive the behaviour of characters if you don't ask them to do anything.

The aim is that characters will try to satisfy their most important need by doing basic stuff. For instance, if the guy is hungry, he'll look for apples and eat them. Don't expect him to go on mammoth hunt because he's hungry. There'll probably be some message system to notify if the character can't immediately satisfy his needs, because you'll have a job then.

Right now, we only have a system that decides what need to focus on. A need has a priority value which it's highest for food and drink and a bit lower for warmth and sleep. Sleep had another perk, because once you get over a certain threshold, the character will go to sleep, no matter what. 

For the other needs, there's a threshold once one or more of the needs ate over it, the priority matters. The highest level need with the highest priority will get focus. This means that with a threshold at level 8 out of 10, 8.5 food need will beat 9 warmth, but will be trumped by a 8.6 water need. Like that.

The AI will then have the specific need to focus on. Depending on the distance to the sole and stuff like that, the character will make his move.

The idea behind this stuff is that the need checking system should be able to be bypassed by player actions.  So the guy needs social interactions? I don't care, there's flint rock to carve!

I'm not sure about how the autonomy of a character might sometimes override your decisions. Do we want characters to die of thirst while fighting a mammoth? Probably there's going to be some special thing in the Need class that'll make sure you get notified at least if that's about to happen.  Need to think of that some more.