The Low-Tech AI Of Elden Ring

A technical breakdown of how FromSoftware implements NPC and boss AI in Elden Ring using a pushdown automaton built on Havok Script (a Lua variant). The system uses a stack of 'Goals' rather than a flat FSM, allowing composable, hierarchical behavior through sub-goals, weighted random action selection, interrupt callbacks for reactive behavior, and animation-driven execution. The post compares this approach favorably against Behavior Trees and planners like GOAP, arguing it is faster, more legible, and gives designers and animators meaningful control.