Driver Assistance

RAM · 2015-02-10T20:43:50.000Z

Just to be clear, it really isn’t plausible that I would do this myself : (

I figure that, Futureland! had some sort of computerised systems to aid drivers. Lets assume that the central server is down and navigation is impossible because nobody wants to code something that will find all the local food venues and progressively guide you along the shortest road path. So what we are left with is a back-seat driver. It notes traffic hazards, alerts you of special circumstances, complains about failure to observe proper driving etiquette, monitors the vehicle systems, possibly even small-talks at the driver to keep them alert, and whatever else can be dreamed up.

What I am seeing as required is some way to attach an A.I. to a vehicle. Maybe a creature could be bound to it or something, there is no reason that shoddy code cannot involve demonic vehicular possession…
It needs to be aware of things. Ideally it would be able to identify roads, road markings, vehicles at least, formal roadblocks would be nice, and ideally anything that will obstruct driving.
Zone awareness would be nice. It would want you to slow down around schools and parks and avoid military facilities.
Vehicle awareness. It should know if you need to visit a petrol pump or if your batteries are low, your oil is low(engine overheating), and maybe it should know if an electrical system is damaged.
Overrides? I am not entirely certain where the lore would stand on this, but having it forcibly prevent collisions, speeding near children, violating military exclusion zones, driving with a broken headlight… It might cease the engine and force you to go through a time-consuming reset process and then immediately remove the vehicle from the vicinity… An extreme example could be it disabling the engine, locking the doors, and insisting that you wait for a police presence if you hit a citizen or damage public property…
Creature awareness would make some sense, it could warn you if there were crowds or flighty animals near the road ahead.

It would obviously need to be able to somewhat predict the path of the vehicle…

Burnt_Earth · 2015-02-10T20:56:35.000Z

I think this would be a hilarious feature. but I’m not sure how easy it would be to program. It’d be one thing if it babbled on like Mi-Gos do, but if it had to react to the environment it’d probably be too much.

nickspaceman · 2015-02-11T01:06:06.000Z

im just gonna post to keep a tab on this @_@

RAM · 2015-02-11T01:54:26.000Z

Well a StayAwake Unit could be a friendly Mi-Go that talks to you to keep you from going all target fixation, asleep, or otherwise mindless. It would probably need a lot of dialogue lines in order to avoid being an irritation to the player…

Does anyone have any ideas for randomly-selected dialogue with vaguely turing-test sensibilities?

I was going to list off a mess of them, but I am drawing a blank, I will try to come up with some sometime… And maybe collate any that anyone else comes up with. It wouldn’t be a driving assistant, but it could be a good component of one.

wilson7755 · 2015-02-11T02:02:37.000Z

Maybe personalities like an English idiot, Morgan Freeman, or ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER.

Burnt_Earth · 2015-02-11T02:46:24.000Z

[quote=“RAM, post:4, topic:8891”]Well a StayAwake Unit could be a friendly Mi-Go that talks to you to keep you from going all target fixation, asleep, or otherwise mindless. It would probably need a lot of dialogue lines in order to avoid being an irritation to the player…

Does anyone have any ideas for randomly-selected dialogue with vaguely turing-test sensibilities?

I was going to list off a mess of them, but I am drawing a blank, I will try to come up with some sometime… And maybe collate any that anyone else comes up with. It wouldn’t be a driving assistant, but it could be a good component of one.[/quote]

Whoever wrote the Mi-Go dialogue did a really good job, I think. It’s basically perfect and it’s varied enough, yet generic enough that it’s extremely tolerable to listen to.

Not sure how the programming works, but it could shift from one ‘mode’ or series of dialogue ‘sayings’ depending on the situation or enviroment. Maybe DriveBot bothers you with reminders even if you are driving fine but it reacts anyways because of where you’re at. So you’re doing 9mph around school, kiting all kinds of zombie kids, the AI might say ‘Please remember the maximum speed limit wihin a school zone is 20mph" or "make sure to buy your kids ‘Snacky-Treets’ after a long day at school!’ or 'Your vehicle is too large for this zone, don’t park here!"

Or whatever. IT doesn’t have to respond to every squirrel in the road or minefield or pile f wreckage, it just has to emulate something based on the terrain feature you are on and what typical driving problems you encounter. “You are off the road! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! You are off the road! Please slow down and proceede immediately to the nearest road!” Or “You are driving on an unmapped route, recalculate?”, repeated ad-nasuam.

Codeslamer · 2015-02-18T12:34:53.000Z

Kinda related to this, you should be able to make wooden carts and use zombies as your noble steeds. You should also be able to use an NPC or something as some kind of bait so that you can steer your cart.