Building Virtual Actors Who Can Really Act

When we think of ”acting” in computer games, we tend to use a lower standard than the way we think of acting in live action films or theatre. Why is acting in computer games so bad? This is an important question because we will only be able to develop compute games into a more psychologically mature narrative medium when we can imbue them with actors that audiences can believe in. In this paper we present an approach to virtual actors in games that we believe will make it easier for audiences to willingly suspend their disbelief.