One of the major cornerstones of most games, but primarily sandbox or Life Simulator games, is autonomy. Autonomy is the ability for characters and other parts of the game to act on their own, aka autonomously. With the next InZOI Update, which we will likely see in August, there is work behind the scenes to overhaul Zoi autonomy and create a more realistic simulation.
As Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim discusses, the Producer and Director of InZOI, working on autonomy is a feature that he feels has been somewhat left behind. However, that is changing. Features to make Zois interactions with their environment, needs and wants, and other Zois more realistic are coming!
The Next InZOI Update: Autonomy Overhauls
○ In response to players positive feedback on the changes to the physics engine for vehicles, there will now be added sounds for engine noises while driving, as well as certain collisions.
○ A feature that exists but was never fully introduced or announced is that when Zois move into a new home, each family member is automatically assigned a bed, though they can manually be reassigned by the player as well.
○ Changes to autonomy that forces Zois to take care of higher priority needs when performing lower priority tasks, as they were previously continuing to do things while desperately needing to use the bathroom or eat food.
○ Changes are being made to the autonomy for Zois joining conversations to avoid interruptions when conversations are particularly charged or emotion-driven.
○ Zois should no longer exit their current building to fulfill their needs. Because the objects chosen were previously based on distance, some Zois would leave buildings simply because the toilet, microwave, etc., was technically closer. Now, they should use items within the building they are in.
○ NPC Autonomy has been updated to allow them to fish, as it was incredibly rare to see NPC Zois around the city using fishing spots.
○ There are now indicators in the action queue to tell you which Zoi your Zoi is interacting with or speaking to.
○ When using elevators, you can no longer choose to go to the floor you are currently on.
○ Sub-categories for objects are being added to build mode to avoid long scrolling periods.
○ A controlled jumping feature with ragdoll mechanics is in the early development phases.
○ This also is being built with certain practical features in mind; Like, if a Zoi jumps into a pool or body of water, they will automatically switch to swimming mode, meaning their swim outfit and swimming animations.
Brainstorming with Kjun Developer Diary
07.17.26 Rethinking Autonomy: Making ZOI Feel More Alive
Today is a public holiday here in Korea. Even so, I wanted to keep my promise and share another development update with you.
Just kidding—this post was actually written yesterday. I joked because I sometimes feel that if I let you see how hard we're working, it might be a little easier to understand why the game is still a work in progress and to keep waiting for us. This week as well, I'd like to share some of the things we're currently developing.
This month, we've been spending a great deal of time fixing bugs and improving existing features. This is now my fourth year developing games in this genre. If someone asked me what the single most important element of a life simulation game is, I would answer without hesitation: the autonomy system that makes ZOI feel like real people living their own lives.
When development first began, we studied The Sims extensively, along with many development materials and presentations about how that genre had evolved. We even consulted experts in robotics. In the end, however, most of what we needed simply didn't exist, so we had to create it ourselves. Building a system that allows Zoi to think and act independently was easily the most difficult challenge I've faced.
Right now, each ZOI scans nearby interaction targets, evaluates them based on needs, traits, personality, preferences, and other factors, calculates a score for every possible action, and then chooses the highest-scoring one. Within roughly a 40-meter radius, the system evaluates a large number of possible interactions, selects the most appropriate target, moves there, and performs the chosen action.
This approach has served us well so far, but recently I've become increasingly aware of its limitations. Because of that, we've decided to go back to the drawing board and redesign the autonomy system itself.
In the future, I want ZOI to satisfy their immediate needs first, but after that, instead of repeatedly choosing whatever action has the highest numerical score, they should naturally make decisions that reflect who they are. Rather than relying primarily on score-based priorities, we're moving toward designing behavior through rules that resemble the way people actually make decisions. For example, an outgoing ZOI should naturally spend more time socializing with others, while a family-oriented Zoi should prefer spending time with their spouse and children. If a couple visits a park together, I don't want them to immediately wander off in different directions. I want them to walk together, chat with each other, and naturally enjoy spending time as a couple.
Looking back, I think I temporarily lost sight of the fact that this system is the true engine of a life simulation game. Adding new features is certainly important, but I've come to realize once again that autonomy should be the foundation that naturally connects every other system together.
As our plans become more concrete, I'll continue sharing them with you and listening carefully to your thoughts. Your feedback has been an enormous help in shaping the direction of development.
Writing this also reminds me that I'm still showing you a game with many unfinished parts, and I genuinely feel sorry for that. My biggest goal right now is to turn that feeling into meaningful updates as quickly as possible.
Throughout July, improving the autonomy system will be our highest priority. Then, next month, we'll focus on strengthening the connections between the game's various content and systems so that they work together more naturally. Step by step, we'll continue making steady and meaningful progress.
- kjun
P.S We also have quite a few channels and categories on our Discord now, so we're planning to reorganize them to make everything easier to navigate. Of course, none of the existing content will be lost—we'll be keeping it all. As with our other improvements, we'll share the proposed changes with you first and ask for your feedback before making any decisions.
Are there any other aspects of autonomy in InZOI that you're hoping to see changed, improved, or added? Let us know down below, and make sure to keep up with The Sims Community and we'll keep you up to date with everything Life Sim Games!
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