Agent memory (system part) · Game Mechanic Compendium

Agent memory

The system records individual past encounters with the player and acts on them later.

6 examples across 3 archetypes.

Every example recording agent memory, in chronological order, with the archetype's domain and the other parts the same game records.
Game	Year	Medium	Archetype	Domain	Other parts	How the system works
Civilization	1991	Video	AI Diplomacy	Society	Intensity reading, Side relations	Each rival leader's mood, from antagonistic to supplicating, follows its personality (aggressive, friendly or neutral), how the two civilizations compare with the world, and any peace the player has broken. Talks end in peace or war; rivals ask tribute, trade advances, offer rewards for attacking a third party, and may make peace with each other to attack the player.
Master of Orion	1993	Video	AI Diplomacy	Society	Side relations	Each race keeps a Relations bar toward the player from -100 to +100 that drifts one point a turn toward its starting level. A broken treaty costs 36 points at once and a lasting -5 to the race's core reaction, a falling bar brings one warning and then war, and computer players' Galactic Council votes follow their alliances and relations.
Dwarf Fortress	2006	Video	Settlement Raids	Pacing	Escalation, Intensity reading, Lasting damage	In the current version invasions follow the fortress's title, set by population, created wealth and exported wealth. Hamlets and villages draw only ambushes; from 80 dwarves sieges come, from 10 regulars up to 120 and 40 monsters. Hard difficulty roughly halves the thresholds, and invaders bring rams, miners and siege engineers against the walls.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor	2014	Video	Nemesis System	Inhabitants	Rank hierarchy	Named Uruk are generated with their own appearance, personality, skills and power level and remember earlier fights. Dying to one may promote the slayer, who recalls the battle at the next meeting, and the rivals also surface as new missions on the map.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War	2017	Video	Nemesis System	Inhabitants	Rank hierarchy	Orcs keep rivalries and bonds that decide whether a follower stays loyal or betrays the player, and a defeated orc can return having cheated death. A follower made overlord rules a captured region, whose fortress is upgraded against Sauron's counterattacks.
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen	2017	Video	Nemesis System	Inhabitants	World clock, Escalation	Three Chosen recur across the campaign, dazing soldiers to interrogate or capture them for Knowledge and raiding the player's regions to cut income. They gain strengths as weeks pass, up to five, and Covert Actions with a rival faction reveal each one's stronghold.