Latest news with #Mr.Buttons
Hypebeast
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
'Fortnite' To Release AI-Powered NPCs
Summary Artificial intelligence may not have taken over the world yet, but it's certainly making waves inFortnite. Since the introduction of the Unreal Editor forFortnite(UEFN) in 2023, creators have been able to build, collaborate on fully customizable islands and much more. Now,Epic Gamesis pushing the boundaries even further with AI-powered non-playable characters (NPCs). In early experimentation of an AI-powered Darth Vader character added in game, the character could interact with players and even join their squad if they gain his loyalty by defeating him. While this was a hit with fans, it also highlighted early issues — most notably, the lack of filtered dialogue, which allowed the AI to be prompted into swearing. Epic Games quickly acknowledged the problem and added parental controls as well. Now, Epic Games is taking things a step further. At the 'State of Unreal' keynote, the company offered a glimpse intoFortnite'sfuture with the introduction of Mr. Buttons — an AI-powered NPC capable of holding real-time, unscripted conversations. Unlike traditional scripted characters, Mr. Buttons can respond dynamically to player prompts, marking a significant leap toward more immersive, interactive gameplay. That said, the experience isn't without flaws. To mask processing delays, the AI fills pauses with sounds like 'hmm' or 'umm'— a clever touch at first, but one that quickly becomes repetitive and slightly robotic. Still, the progress is hard to ignore. Take a look at the Mr. Buttons demo above.
Engadget
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Fortnite is about to unleash AI-powered NPCs
For better or worse, Fortnite will let creators make NPCs that ditch the script and go freestyle. A new tool in the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) will allow developers to create their own generative AI-powered NPCs. Their voice types, delivery styles and personality traits are all customizable. Epic demoed the tech on Tuesday during its "State of Unreal" keynote. The company said the NPC generated its responses in real-time during the presentation. It was created using "about 20 lines" of prompt text. The demoed character, Mr. Buttons, was created solely to persuade the player to press a large red button in a room. After the presenter asked about the signs in the environment warning against pressing the button, the AI bot persisted. "Signs, you say? Mere suggestions from those who lack imagination. After all, rules are made to be gently nudged aside. Wouldn't you agree?" Impressive as it was, the demo also showed the tech's current limitations. First, it's a turn-taking AI chat, not a live one with interruptions and overlapping. In addition, the presenter could only speak when holding a button to activate the microphone. After each question, Mr. Buttons would pause for a few moments to process. It tried to mask this with vocal fillers like "Hmmm," "Ahhhh," and "Ummm." The tech builds on Darth Vader's appearance last month in Fortnite: Galactic Battle . Gemini 2.0 Flash generated the Sith Lord's dialogue, which was made to sound like James Earl Jones' voice using ElevenLabs AI tech. (His estate approved it.) How did it go? Well, AI Vader went viral for… probably not the reasons Epic hoped. On the bright side, it didn't quite devolve into AI Seinfeld levels of offensiveness. But a widely shared video showed Darth dropping an F-bomb. In response to a streamer using "freaking" and "fucking" in a voice prompt, Vader repeated the words. (Ironically, he then scolded the player for using harsh language.) Epic pushed a hotfix and promised it wouldn't happen again. Fortnite creators will be able to make the NPCs in the UEFN Editor later this year. You can check out the Mr. Buttons demo below. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
