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[qwertyuiopas]

But they will be judging it in the context of the environment you give them. So, it could be quite possible to put an infinite line of rooms and have only the first have bedrooms. If they value exploring too much, they will be too far to make it back.

[Outcast Orange]

They would sleep on the floor a few times, (after trying to make it back to the bed)
 realize that attempting to sleep in a bed isn't working out,
 and maybe just ignore sleeping altogether.
I'm not sure what might happen in a situation like that,
 but it sounds like a fun one to try out.
You could also argue that exploring might yield a new bed,
 and if the ultimate goal is finding a way out,
 being well rested is not worth giving up your goal entirely.

[Outcast Orange]

Okay, so a lot got done today.
I have goals and action classes up and running.
I've also merged the house and item lists into a single text file.
It looks beautiful.

Since simulations like this are just sets of rules and variables,
 you can almost think of it like a game, with each turn having phases.

The first phase is to perform any free actions that would benefit one of their goals.
I have this phase finished.

The second phase only allows a single turn action,
 so they will have to pick which non-free action to perform here.

The code for this is still bouncing around in my head,
 though Alfie made some great suggestions.

[SolarShado]

Any guess how long it'll be until you've got something you feel's good enough to post?

[Outcast Orange]

Very soon!
The RAWs are so tidy!
They scream out for attention.

I am going to solve the solving problem,
 and then I will probably post something up.

[Outcast Orange]

I finally have the characters making proper decisions and weighing options.
I need to hammer out a couple of quirks before I move on to the next thing.

I don't know if I mentioned this yet, but right now,
 they only know that certain actions can help certain goals.
The next thing to do is add some sort of deduction system,
 so that they can figure out WHY their actions help their goals.

I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do it.
There will probably be a "facts" class.

Here's the test scenario, which they will have to deduce before I move on.

They want to escape.
Something might help them escape.
Something is in a room.
Something is not in any explored room.
Something is in an unexplored room.
Exploring finds rooms.
They should try exploring.

I need to make some sort of code abstraction that either mirrors or fakes that.
Any input would be appreciated.

[qwertyuiopas]

Well, you could semi-fake it by giving mid-goals like seek(object or object-type) that then decides if the object(or one of) in question is in a known location otherwise look somewhere new it might be. Having common locations(food in the fridge) shape where the character first looks(and maybe affected by personality, as someone might want to look somewhere they least expect in hopes of finding what they are looking for)...

Fully implementing a system that takes facts and gives decisions sounds like either a limites specialized system, or the goal of millions of AI researchers worldwide, and neither case sounds easy. If you have a simpler system, maybe even pathfinding through concept nodes or something(escape->{useful objects(determined by the character's knowledge and imagination)}->find one->was one seen somewhere? no?->search for one in unexplored areas->evaluate suitability for aiding escape->discover 150-year-old inflatable lifeboat has an unpatchable leak or ten)

[Outcast Orange]

No!
I can do it!
It will be useful for many things!

I know how.
It will be frustrating to debug, but it will nonetheless.

Sorry, I am talking in jibbers.

[timmeh]

You're going to have to have some layer of abstraction, else you'd end up with AI that had to consider the most effective method of locomotion between rooms, and how to move individual muscles and so on... and as freaking epic as that would be, I think it'd be overkill for this

I think your best bet is like to store a tree of "goals", and along with node connections, store the actions required to meet those goals.  I.E. If the character needs sleep, then the goal is to sleep.  This requires a bed, which requires that the character be in the same room as the bed, which requires that the character know where a bed is.  If they don't meet the first goal, they have to explore to do that, once they know where a bed is, they move towards it until that goal is met, then, once in the same room, they can meet their final goal.  How exactly you'll want to manage the goals and actions is beyond me

[Outcast Orange]

The abstractions will be pretty gratuitous actually.
There are only a few things I am really concerned about achieving here.
I want them to be able to combine known facts, to deduce personal options.
This will make perception and intelligence a real key part of the simulation.

The other thing I really want to see is some form of pattern recognition abilities.
I want them to be able to reference past occurrences, and EXPECT certain things.

Spoiler: Here's a shot of the new RAW setup (click to show/hide)

Right now I am going into another two day brain storm.
Whenever I have a basic idea of the structure of everything, I'll start work on those facts and deductions.

BTW, this thing is getting really filled in now on the code side, and there are only a few really scary things left to be done.
Content can be added quickly and easily, but I want this to have more of an appeal or direction before I let it run free on B12.

[Hippoman]

Oooh looks cool. Do more screenshots.

[SolarShado]

Cool RAW format looks a bit cryptic... but as long as it works

Looking forward to the chance to tinker with it

Excelsior!

Spoiler: in english (click to show/hide)

Ever Higher! _Source

[Outcast Orange]

Thanks!

There is in fact a description for each tag, including the declaration tags.
I'll probably put in a little tutorial too, or at least a couple of explained examples.

[Outcast Orange]

I made a mental breakthrough, and I think I know how I'm going to tackle this.
There will be more tomorrow.

[SolarShado]

I made a mental breakthrough, and I think I know how I'm going to tackle this.
There will be more tomorrow.

Sounds like an "ah-HA!" moment