History Main / ArtificialAtmosphericActions

This trope is a less-discussed function of VideoGameAI. Frequently has to do with inappropriate EnemyChatter, and occasionally NewsTravelsFast or GangUpOnTheHuman. Occasionally, this can become SoBadItsGood, although it is likely to be annoying. Related to WelcomeToCorneria and GoingThroughTheMotions, and a successor of sorts to HyperactiveSprite. Nothing to do with [[ThatCloudLooksLike oddly-shaped clouds]]. The player character may occasionally perform atmospheric NPC actions as part of BlendingInStealthGameplay.

* A bug pops up time to time in hostage escort missions that involve multiple hostages in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/CityOfVillains''. If you escorted them to the door, a single hostage will exit through it just fine. But if there is more than one hostage and you try taking them to the door one at a time, you will see them exit but when you go back for the others you might suddenly find that previous hostage following you around still even though the game considers them to have been "rescued".

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has NPC[=/=]s milling about the major hub cities and other settlements, at times with speech bubbles overhead (typically the same ones at regular intervals). In addition, when an area becomes crowded with players, AudienceMurmurs can be heard.

** Even the PlayerCharacter him/herself falls victim to this with his spoken lines. While quest-relevant conversations may be unique and show off some pretty good voice acting, generic tend to be repeated, particularly during side quests.

* The atmospheric actions in ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline'' can sometimes come across as phony, with characters crying completely at random or wandering around aimlessly.

** ''Skyrim'' introduced invisible "interaction nodes" that various NPCs will "use" based on their schedule and role such as the owner of a store leaning on their own counter or various townsfolk sweeping the streets. The failings start to appear when you bring along Serana, who is programmed to not only interact with the various tools available to the player, but also the numerous interaction nodes present throughout the game. While normally only the NPC assigned to a specific node will use it, if left idle long enough Serana's AI will look for something to do, leading to amusing scenes such as her silently delivering a sermon in place of Heimskr or performing the Black Sacrament on Aventus' effigy.

** At the start of the game, take all your clothes off. Now walk around Seyda Neen and Balmora and marvel at how any individual NPC's walk-by reaction will switch between NakedPeopleAreFunny and PleasePutSomeClothesOn on a dime. (Some of them are a little more consistent than others, though; Dunmer in particular seem to be universally disgusted with you.) This can even be ''usefull''. For example, there are situations where you want to kill someone, but their standard greeting drops you out of the conversation with an automatic "Goodbye," keeping you from taunting them into attacking you first. However, if you strip naked, their scripted "naked" response may supersede their automatic "goodbye," allowing you to then taunt them.

* In ''[[VideoGame/LegoAdaptationGame LEGO Marvel Superheroes]]'', the civilians have some random dialogue they can say; some ''are'' programmed to only happen when they see a specific character (e.g. you won't hear "It's what's-his-name, the metal man!" unless your player character is, in fact, Iron Man). Some are, however, not. Combined with an epic aversion of NoCampaignForTheWicked and the fact that some villains are the only or most obvious choice for solving certain puzzles, and you may well hear "Look Timmy, it's that hero you like" or even receive congratulations for saving the world...when you're Magneto, Doom or Loki.

* In ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', characters can randomly go up and talk to each other and may end up being happy, sad, or angry afterwards (annoyingly, if they ended up sad or angry you couldn't talk to them, delaying your progress in a FetchQuest). Starting with the Gamecube version, you can listen in on the conversations.

** The game is famous for its bizarre, probably batshit insane [=NPCs=] that could seemingly '''only''' say things that were massively inappropriate for the situation. ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' mostly averts this by virtue of simply having them not talk most of the time, but will occasionally still provide some real gems. NPC conversations were generated by having one NPC randomly pick from the list of "generic comments" and then another NPC randomly picking from the list of "generic replies", with no relationship between the two. There were a fair amount of both initial comments and replies, and sometimes it seemed like a pretty natural conversation. Other times, you ended up with "Sometimes... I dream of cheese." "Man, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that..." This is not helped by the relatively small size of the voice cast; a good fifty percent of the time you wind up hearing John Patrick Lowrie TalkingToHimself.

In some games, {{Non Player Character}}s do various window-dressing activities in order to make the world seem more alive. However, if the actions are used in inappropriate contexts, or if they are used too frequently, it just highlights their artificiality. At best it's distracting, it's often funny, but at worst it's [[UncannyValley scary]].

** The player's first encounter with Krobus is meant to be during a quest that triggers in Winter. In this quest, Krobus will be afraid and run away from the player. It's possible to befriend Krobus before Winter even starts, yet Krobus will still act as if the player is a stranger during the quest.

** Each character has a schedule which dictates where they have to be at different times. However, if you study these schedules, what the characters are doing doesn't seem to make an awful lot of sense. For example, on Fridays in Spring, Mayor Lewis will spend seven and a half consecutive hours standing by a fountain. Suddenly the decay of the community centre seems to make a lot more sense... It's especially infuriating if the character runs a shop, as there's really no reason for Marnie to refuse to sell you animal feed because she's too busy staring at a microwave for two hours.

** Parrots are programmed to dance to all music... only trouble is, the AI counts all records as "music", including Track 13, which isn't music at all, but rather a recording of someone being chased by a creature, so it can be rather disquieting to see the parrots dancing to that.

** This is also a symptom of undead skeletons that are freed from a caster's control. A human skeleton who was a guard in life might stand sentinel at a random doorway, a former blacksmith may hammer an anvil without actually having anything to work on, a horse skeleton might try to graze even without being able to eat, etc. That said, should a living creature approach them, they will immediately abandon these actions to attack the living creatures; some things run deeper than habits, apparently.

* In ''VideoGame/DotHackGU'', whenever you run around Root Towns or run into [=NPCs=] in areas, they have speech bubbles above their heads with random things about other people they've met, or things they need to do, or something like that. Their bubbles change whenever Haseo walks near them ranging from, "Oh, Haseo!" to, "It's the Emperor!" if you've beaten that volume's tournament, to, "Are you ready yet?" if you meet one of your party memebers.

* In the {{roguelike}} ''[[http://ivan.sourceforge.net/ IVAN]]'', the choice of words and the topic of conversations of characters is selected at random, often for humorous purposes, eg. hunters discussing trapping wild housewives or skinning tax collectors.
* In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', sometimes your character will shout battlecries as they... kick open chests and drawers. [[MundaneMadeAwesome "Your end is near!"]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'' allows you to knock over baskets of onions, which then [[SlipperySkid knock over the other [=NPCs=] when they step on them]]. Two of them border a plot-important cutscene of Zael discovering Lisa hiding in a wagon. As Zael and Lisa gaze fondly into each others's eyes, oblivious to the rest of the world, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent the randomly-generated passersby hurtle over with comedy 'thunk' sounds]].

* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'', the Prince will let out a battlecry with every hit, which includes hitting scenery for some extra Sand.

** The game is famous for its bizarre, probably batshit insane [=NPCs=] that could seemingly '''only''' say things that were massively inappopriate for the situation. ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' mostly averts this by virtue of simply having them not talk most of the time, but will occasionally still provide some real gems. NPC conversations were generated by having one NPC randomly pick from the list of "generic comments" and then another NPC randomly picking from the list of "generic replies", with no relationship between the two. There were a fair amount of both initial comments and replies, and sometimes it seemed like a pretty natural conversation. Other times, you ended up with "Sometimes... I dream of cheese." "Man, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that..." This is not helped by the relatively small size of the voice cast; a good fifty percent of the time you wind up hearing John Patrick Lowrie TalkingToHimself.

* The scientists and engineers wandering around the Vehicle Assembly Building and Spaceplane Hangar in ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram''. Among other enhancements, 0.20 update added fuel tankers, [[DrivesLikeCrazy apparently driven by complete lunatics.]] Oh, and the Spaceplane Hangar also stands out for containing a large group of Kerbals wearing high-vis vests, holding lighted batons and doing... well, it's not actually all that clear what they're doing, but it's either some sort of semaphor training or a yoga routine.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has all background characters rendered as [[FacelessMasses black shadows]], which takes a while to get used to, to say the least. It also means that the ones that look weird (one shambling along like a zombie, or another in highly impractical high heels) stand out a lot more. This improved with the second volume, where background characters are fully rendered and the animations have been improved.

* An audio example: in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' the same background chatter is heard on many, ''many'' episodes. Apparently "Gravity is down to point eight!" is a routine occurrence on the good ship ''Enterprise.''

** Also of interest in ''Fallout 3'' is the inexplicably short temper of any citizen looking at locked doors or at any of their wares. Walk by a locked door with someone watching and they'll likely tell you it's locked for a reason. Of Given [[KleptomaniacHero the way that most people play]] ''Fallout 3'', this is entirely understandable.

** Guards will automatically attack and kill [=NPCs=] who are attacking the player, but they also have a script for when they find dead bodies in the street. This can result in them cutting a person down, turning to walk away, turning back around, and gasping at the corpse, "Oh my goodness! Are you all right?" Even better: if the townspeople aid you (often with... just their fists...) in fighting off an attacker revealed in (or led into) town, a guardsman might accidentally hit one with an arrow. Said towner will interpret this as a hostile attack and retaliate by fighting the guard. Of course, the guard is inevitably stronger, and cuts her down. And since she was an innocent... the guard will lean down, check her neck for a pulse: "... the body is still warm... there's a MURDERER on the loose!"... aaaand proceed to walk away without even deigning to hide the body.

** Animals in ''Oblivion'' seem to [[EverythingTryingToKillYou have it in for you]], very rarely they can be seen going after actual prey. This gets pretty immersion breaking when you get to a high level and just want to walk down the road, but your walking armored death machine has to stop and swat away pathetically weak lone wolfs and mountain lions literally every 40-50 feet. Or bandits that demand you give them "100 gold or your life", despite carrying around weapons and armor worth roughly 10,000-30,000 gold.
** If you complete the main questline, new conversation topics will activate, including one of a guy (badly) singing part of an epic about your character. This becomes amusing if you happen to overhear a bandit literally singing your praises, who will nevertheless attack you with murderous intent on sight.

** And just how many guards could have possibly retired from adventuring due to [[MemeticMutation taking an arrow in the knee]]? Worse, sometimes the dialogue glitches mid-sentence resulting in guards that have retired from adventuring after [[BreadEggsMilkSquick taking an arrow in the wife and kids.]]

** Similarly, if you're completing a quest in someone's house or other private property and nightfall comes while you're talking to the NPC, then as soon as he's finished praising/rewarding you he'll scream at you for how you're trespassing and tell you to leave.

** Some [=NPCs=] spout random quips even when you're passing by with no attempt to talk to or even look at them, acting as though you initiated the talk. Maven Black-Briar will ask "I assume you're bothering me for a reason?" even when it's clear that you're halfway across town by the time she's finished her sentence. Not to mention that outside of one thief quest and the possibility of her becoming Jarl, you have absolutely no reason to talk to her, nor is she particularly pleasant to spend time with. She may just be that conceited.

** Also of interest in ''Fallout 3'' is the inexplicably short temper of any citizen looking at locked doors or at any of their wares. Walk by a locked door with someone watching and they'll likely tell you it's locked for a reason. Of course, given [[KleptomaniacHero the way that most people play]] ''Fallout 3'', this is entirely understandable.

** This improves in the Ezio Trilogy. You now have people doing more than just wander about, carrying things to and fro. People can be seen sweeping and cleaning, performing day to day maintenance on buildings and various other things such as fences, farmers are tilling the fields, etc. By Brotherhood and Revelations, you will occasionally see people standing in front of shops, as if they're about to purchase things, holding scripted conversations with the shop owners. Heck, you even come across picnickers and revelers out in the countryside in Rome and you'll come across street performers in Constantinople.

* Thanks to the fact that [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny the bar was pushed so ahead after this game]], the [=NPCs=] in ''VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky'' come off as this. One of the most impressive things about this game period was the fact that the game engine enabled multiple [=NPCs=] onscreen at the same time - not just standing there GoingThroughTheMotions, but actually moving around and acting out some kind of a routine. These days, it comes off as ''incredibly'' bizarre, since some [=NPCs=] will walk back and forth aimlessly, while some other [=NPCs=] who you don't speak to may sometimes enter and exit, or even stand there in place. This actually becomes a bit of FridgeHorror - WebVideo/PushingUpRoses, in her review of the game, pointed out one particular instance in which it looked like an NPC was standing there listening to the player characters' conversation. Considering [[spoiler: that one of the characters the player character was talking to ends up dead later on...]]

** There was also a problem with Anomen - his battle cry is an impassioned 'For the Order!'... even if in your game, he failed his test, renounced the Order and basically blames them for everything bad that happened in his life. The things people say when you click on them can have this effect too - Solaufein's generic Drow 'Do not question the Matron Mothers' was starting to sound very sarcastic by the end of that storyline.

* The PC action-RPG ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' had not only {{Non Player Character}}s who would engage in such mundane activities as cooking food, eating, sleeping, and urinating, but also an entire ecosystem among the various monsters. For example, if the main character killed a mole rat, left the area, and came back, he might witness a pack of wolves devouring the carcass.

* In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'', you can hear the chatter of carnival goers in the Murderworld level. Discerning listeners can make out what's being said ("You're too tall for this ride" and so on), but one must wonder where it's coming from, considering that the entire park is designed to kill you. Note that it's entirely in character to have those sounds in Murderworld for the creator of the place, Arcade.

** Enemies only have three possible lines, all of which they will repeat endlessly in combat. "Hold the line!" and "I will destroy you!" start to sound a little idiotic when they're being yelled by a lone sniper in a room full of crates. "Enemies everywhere!" Uh... No. That's just three people hidden behind one crate. Gets even better if both of your squadmates are dead. Shepard is [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Triplicate Girl]] now? Even more insane, they recorded those exact same lines in ''several different voices''. Fortunately, most of the enemies in the main storyline can't speak.
** Not even Shepard escapes this, due to the random shouts she or he will give out. This leads to... perplexing situations where Shepard will have a lengthy discussion cutscene with an opponent, only to shout out "We've been spotted!" when the actual fight starts. Shepard is also known to say "we've been spotted" ''while alone'' (as in ''Arrival''), so who knows what they're thinking?

* Many NPC townsfolk in ''VideoGame/UltimaV'' have an entire daily routine programmed in, with the potential for slight variation if someone (you) gets in their way. On the one hand, this means characters move around in a vaguely realistic manner; on the other hand, they're still following the exact same schedule, day in, day out, down to each individual step.
* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' was pretty good about this, having [=NPCs=] not only stroll along, but also go to different locations, answer cell phone calls, and even urinate in the street. Of course, they can't actually enter another room-- a woman walks down the hall to the bathroom, kicks open the door and stares warily inside for a moment, then turns and walks off again. Furthermore, on first entering Chinatown, you can even stumble upon a hooker "helping out" a policeman.

* The Frigate mission of ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' features several hostages that must be freed. Generally, they simply run away and disappear offscreen (with the message "Hostage Escaped"). If you follow them, however, they never disappear, and you can see that they simply run aimlessly about the ship at top speed. Of course, it's probably best [[FridgeLogic not to think about these guys]], since there's nowhere for them to escape to anyway (the only possible way to leave the ship would be via Bond's tiny one-man motorboat, unless they wanted to try swimming it). In fact, quite a few of the noncombatants in that game did odd things, from the scientists in the Facility level who would go sprinting for the bathroom once you left them alone (where, strangely enough, they would simply dematerialize without explanation) to the civilians in the Street level who would simply run around in little circles... through minefields.

* And the numerous lightgun FPS arcade games such as ''VideoGame/VirtuaCop'', that [[HostageSpiritLink penalized you for shooting civilians]]? Sure, it makes some degree of sense that a world would be populated by people other than terrorists and aliens and whatnot, but why do the civilians intentionally leap out in front of you and startle you? In places like restricted military bases and terrorist encampments? [[http://xkcd.com/53/ Parodied by xkcd.]]

** The "Kick Me" signs have this; although it's one of the more amusing examples. The way they're programmed, just about ''anyone'' will run over and kick the student with the sign on their back. Girls and kids who don't normally attack will kick them. Heck, even the ''prefects'' and the ''gym teacher'' might go over and kick the target!

** Villagers will tell you off and even summon the guards if you steal too many things from their village. However, this only includes placed objects and blocks, so you're free to ransack their cupboards and steal all their money and weapons without them caring at all.

** Villagers also don't care if you add blocks to their village, only if you take them away. You can seal up all the doors, cover the town in piles of poop [[ToiletHumour (yes, that's a real item)]] and even tip buckets of poison everywhere and they won't bat an eyelid.

* In the same vein as the above, ''Franchise/StarWars Episode II: Film/AttackOfTheClones'' has a scene in Coruscant where background traffic behind a window repeats five times over.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has all background characters rendered as [[FacelessMasses black shadows]], which takes a while to get used to, to say the least. It also means that the ones that look totally weird (one shambling along like a zombie, or another in highly impractical high heels) stand out a lot more. This improved with the second volume, where background characters are fully rendered and the animations have been improved.

** Factions in The Elder Scrolls games, particularly Morrowind, have a bizarre hive mind with them, wherein people who you've never even met will somehow know you are a part of their faction or an enemy of their faction. As one [=YouTuber=] put it, joining most factions is like plastering your armour with political bumper stickers.

* The long-ago text-based game of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' already incorporated this sort of action, resulting activities ranging from game-ending (the butler who unlocks the door in the elves' prison is already dead when you're caught, trapping you in jail) to fridge brilliant (orcs and elves capture each other and put each other in their prisons, despite not being intended to).
* In ''VideoGame/TelltalesGameOfThrones'', the reactions of characters oftentimes don't ''quite'' align with the current situation or what's being said.

** Taking any block within a certain radius of a village counts as "stealing". This includes basic blocks like dirt as well as objects you've placed yourself. So, [=NPCs=] will call the guards if you pick up some mud next to their house or put down a crafting table for five seconds, but not if you run off will all their diamonds.

** Volcanic planets occasionally rain fire or meteors, which inevitably destroys most structures there. [=NPCs=] don't care in the slightest about this, and will carry on chatting while their houses burn down around their ears. Worse, if you happen to pick up any of the broken blocks afterwards, they will accuse you of stealing them, even though you clearly weren't responsible for the damage in any way.