Most big video games these days are the result of a team of dozens, if not hundreds of people working on them. Amidst all that collaboration, what can one, single human being point to and say “this, this is mine, I made this?”
In Allen Chou’s case, it’s this.
Chou worked on the game’s AI, mostly “single-player buddies and multiplayer sidekicks”, as well as handling some “gameplay logic.”
He’s detailed his work on his blog, and for anyone curious about AAA game development, it’s interesting reading.
A lot of the buddy AI in Uncharted 4 was brought over from The Last Of Us, only Drake’s series had something Naughty Dog’s zombie game did not: climbing. So the “post” system that determined where buddies would move (see above) to had to be tweaked.
There was also the matter of how a buddy would share cover with you, how they’d lead you to certain points in a level (if required) and how on-screen characters would look and face if they were talking during gameplay.
Even if you’re not down on the technical side of the work, it’s still interesting reading the way one guy’s work ties into something that presents to the player as a seamless and complete piece of entertainment.
You can read Chou’s full post here.