Memories V2
Hey friends, today we’re announcing V2 of the memories module which comes with some big changes to both short term and long term memory! Before we dive into the details, here’s the TLDR of the highlights:
Memory formation has been improved to focus on the most important details in an event.
Fewer but larger memories are created per event, extending the available short-term memory.
Infinite long-term memories: memories outside the short-term memory slots are now searchable by Franz and can be pulled in at any time they’re deemed relevant.
Memories have been simplified to no longer include type, importance, and are no longer editable or lockable.
Memories are now also attached to characters and locations, further extending long-term memory.
Memory Formation & Short-term Memory
In the previous V1 memory module, each memory formed was the smallest unit of knowledge with an assigned type and importance. ACE would prioritize the memories in the memory slots based on the type, recency, and importance. One problem with this was that in many cases, too many memories with too few or irrelevant details were created per event which consumed a lot of the short-term memory.
In V2 the system has simplified so there are no longer any memory types or importance. Memories now focus on capturing only the important details in an event, and fewer but larger memories are now preferred. This extends the available short-term memory by increasing the amount of information in fewer memory slots.
Memory slots now specifically refer to ‘short-term’ memory slots, as these slots contain the memories that are guaranteed to be in context for the next response. The system that determines short term memory slots in context is is now simply based on the most recent X amount of memories not covered by the recent campaign messages.
Each memory is now also attached to the related Point of Interest it occurred in and the related characters. ACE can use these character and location relations to pull in relevant memories when re-visting locations and characters.
Infinite Long-term Memory
By far the biggest update is that Franz can now search and retrieve old relevant memories. In V1, once a memory got too old and it was not locked, it would fall out of context entirely with no way of coming back in.
Now, when a memory is no longer recent, it is stored in long term memory. Franz can search across all the memories in your campaign to pull in the most relevant ones for the next response.
You can see the searches performed by Franz with the relevant memories retrieved by clicking on ‘View’ on the Search Memories action:
To enable this search, behind the scenes each memory has an associated vector and text embedding which is a numerical representation of the text that allows for fast searches related to the meaning and keywords of the query. In the future, this search capability will also power the custom lore entries so that relevant lore can be retrieved when appropriate.
Please note: we’re still in the process of backfilling old campaign memories with embeddings which improve the search quality and expect this to take a few days. Only campaigns that have been played within the last month will have their previous memories backfilled. Existing campaigns will still be able to retrieve their archived memories, but the memory and search quality will be better on new campaigns.
Simplified Management
A guiding principle for us as we build Friends & Fables is to make everything as simple as possible over time, so that it’s easy for you to just focus on having fun and playing. Ideally you shouldn’t have to worry about things like memory at all and it should just work. With that principle in mind, we’ve simplified memory management so that memories are no longer editable or lockable, but can still be forgotten.
With improved memory formation and the ability to retrieve any memory, we think there’s no longer a reason for editing and locking memories. That being said, we do know the systems are still early and not perfect. If you’ve encountered a situation where a created memory is missing an important detail, or if the search was unable to retrieve an important memory, please feel free to drop a comment with an event id in these posts so we can improve the memory module over time:
@Created Memories
@Memory Search
We also know that some players like to edit and lock memories as a short-term fix for providing lore — there’ll be a gap for a while until the lore update is out, but lore entries when released will be editable and lockable to fill this gap.
Feedback Welcome
We think this update is a big step in the right direction, but there’s still more that we can do to improve memories in the future. There’s also only so much testing we can do internally for features like this that depend on very long campaigns, so if you run into an issue where a created memory is missing an important detail, or if the search was unable to retrieve an important memory please drop a comment with an event ID in the feedback posts:
@Created Memories
@Memory Search
Other Fixes and Improvements
We have a new support bot (Finn, Franz’s apprentice/assistant) on the Feedback portal. He’ll automatically reply to posts answering questions or asking for more information when needed so we can solve issues faster.
Fixed issue where mentioning areas was not working
Fixed issue where the Trope Reduction System was allowing names like Elara / Grimbold Ironfist to be generated in specific circumstances
You can now search for worlds in the Discover tab via URLs or IDs
Added a button in the Campaigns tab to join a campaign (For you PWA users!)
Fixed issue where movement within a POI was being shown as a character sheet X, Y update
Reduced refusals in OOC mode
Reduced errors occurring in campaigns overall
Fixed issue where DC on skill checks is consistently set at 15, you should see more variation now
Fixed issue where an encounter from one of your campaigns would show up on the screen of another if you switched between campaigns
Fixed area generation in OOC mode
Fixed auto scrolling when new messages come in
What’s Next
Besides fixing bugs, the next two big features we’ll be focused on in the next month will be re-introducing interactions with improved planning + quests, and lore entries. We know that in the current state of things the narrative gameplay can be quite slow paced without much happening unless player initiated, which is great for downtime mode but leads to a boring experience when you want adventure. We think giving world builders the ability to set up their own hooks and triggers for things that happen in their world will unlock a lot more fun for both builders and players. The AI will also get improvements so that without these triggers the adventure mode will become more lively again.
Thanks everyone for playing and supporting Friends & Fables!