Irrational Games co-founder and BioShock creator Ken Levine recently gave a British Academy of Film and Televison Arts (BAFTA) presentation about AI companions and how BioShock Infinite developers gave Elizabeth personality.
"From Shodan, to Big Daddy, to Elizabeth: The Evolution of AI Companions," which you can watch above, features Levine's 40-minute talk and gameplay from BioShock Infinite. Levine says that like BioShock's Big Daddy, Elizabeth was the game's most requested cut feature.
"That's because generally when you're doing something that really there's not a lot of real precedence for, people don't know what to do with it," Levine said.
He went on to break down the aspects that made Elizabeth a deeper, relatable character, including her combat behavior and human characteristics, like curiosity. To grab her attention, designers created invisible data points on objects that Elizabeth is drawn to. There's a certain amount of math involved as well.
"If you just looked at a picture a little while ago, maybe you're not going to be as interested in this," Levine said. "Or, if somebody's shooting at you or Booker decides to run to the other room, well guess what. Don't sit there and be mad that he ran off, but you have to go with him. We want the player driving the experience."
The presentation is followed by an hour-long Q&A session, during which Levine answers personal questions about his life, his past work and more.
Levine's BAFTA presentation was filmed on Monday, March 11. Don't miss our own interview with Levine about BioShock Infinite's thoughtful violence here.
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