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Completing Skyrim's Complex NPC Behavior: Todd Howard's Napkin Idea

Summary by Digital Phablet
Bethesda is recognized for creating ‘Radiant’ NPCs. These characters interact with the game world independently of players. Skyrim, Starfield, and Fallout 4 showcase this NPC behavior. Bruce Nesmith, a former design director at Bethesda, shared insights about NPC behavior in Skyrim with PC Gamer. Surprisingly, radiant AI started from a concept sketched on a napkin. While these ‘napkin stories’ are often seen in media, they are rare in real life.…
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Digital PhabletDigital Phablet

Completing Skyrim's Complex NPC Behavior: Todd Howard's Napkin Idea

Bethesda is recognized for creating ‘Radiant’ NPCs. These characters interact with the game world independently of players. Skyrim, Starfield, and Fallout 4 showcase this NPC behavior. Bruce Nesmith, a former design director at Bethesda, shared insights about NPC behavior in Skyrim with PC Gamer. Surprisingly, radiant AI started from a concept sketched on a napkin. While these ‘napkin stories’ are often seen in media, they are rare in real life.…

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Skyrim NPCs are only as complex as they are thanks to a literal "napkin drawing" that Todd Howard doodled, reveals ex-Bethesda dev: "It's actually a napkin story"

The Elder Scrolls' Radiant AI technology evolved from a sketch

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gamesradar broke the news in on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.
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