Lately I’ve been creating my own character in or via RiveScript.
What I’m doing is different that starting with the usual subset of AIML based files and entering a name in the Begin.rs file, then having a routine conversation.

First I did a cut & paste to remove all the AIML based files to a thumb drive. Next, I started with the begin.rs file and made it the way I wanted for my character. I then started creating my own text / script files starting with Hello then added plenty of expected responses for my character. With each conversational exchange, I would invariably encounter the Err: No Reply Matched error. I’d then write a Trigger and Response for that one plus some others. I also saved each with a unique name like wwa.rs, wwb.rs, wwc.rs, and so on.

Soon, my rough and tumble and somewhat edgy and brash character began to develop.

Yep it’s like Steve Worswick once said, to paraphrase, “It’s 10 percent programming and 90 percent creative writing!” or something to that effect.

I find that I have to put myself into the story almost as an omniscient observer, following the main character and watching everything over his shoulder as he encounters others or how he handles conversations or phrases as they are delivered to him. Then I enter his mind and decide how he might answer a question or deal with an insult or perhaps a friendly meeting. I provide him thoughts and possible phrases from which to choose as most can be randomly chosen so I never know exactly what he might say. It’s a good exercise.

It’s quite an enjoyable experience and also quite a learning / educational experience. While I’m sure this technique is nothing new for some, hopefully it might allow others to experiment in the development of their own bots. One doesn’t have to take or settle with what comes with your bot when you first extract and run it. Make it your own, give it your own character and develop his or her personality and profile the way you want it to be. It’s a lot of fun!

For me, a big thanks to Noah Petherbridge and his RiveScript platform that helps make this journey a lot more fun for me!

Happy Botting!

Glad you like it!

@Art
Any chance we might get to see/use your bot?

Hi Dennis,

Although I’m still working with developing a lot of the character’s responses based on certain “Trigger” words & phrases, I’d be glad to share what I have so far. This way you or anyone else could see how easily it is to add, modify or create your own bot personality. One can pretty much design it to one’s liking and for any time period, (Wild West, Space, Medieval, Egyptian, Modern times, etc.). Of course the language along with slang, and popular usage for that time period is essential in developing a character.

It’s an enjoyable process and you can easily test it as you go.

Use a good editor like Notepad++ or similar for ease of making changes and saving your various script files.

Hopefully within a week or two, I might zip it up and upload it for others to experiment with. It resides locally (on my computer and not on some cloud server somewhere).

You (one) will have to have Perl(64) installed on your computer. The rs files are actually not that large given that this bot in only a few weeks old and started from scratch, with regard to the .rs file structure / content.

For Dennis and others who might like to see a rather short exchange between me and my newly created / in-progress RiveScript Bot. I designed the character as a Wild West character who is normally nice but can be a bit edgy kind of like Eastwood. Unedited and unrehearsed. (I thought I heard him talking but I was mistaken! )
==============
You are now chatting with the RiveScript bot. Type a message and press Return to send it.
When finished, type ‘/quit’ to exit the program. Type ‘/help’ for other options.

You> Hi there
Bot> Hi there neighbor.
You> Who are you?
Bot> You can call me Stoney.
You> Hi Stoney.
Bot> How ya doing, friend?
You> My name is Jake.
Bot> Hello jake .
You> Where are you from?
Bot> I hail from Wyoming originally.
You> Where’s that?
Bot> Haven’t you ever been to Wyoming? Pretty country.
You> What do you do?
Bot> I help escort evil people out of this world and into the next.
You> Are you a killer?
Bot> I provide fast draw lessons to the slow and less fortunate.
You> I see.
Bot> Nice to hear that, friend.
You> Where do you live?
Bot> I’m from nowhere and everywhere.
You> Do you get paid?
Bot> Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
You> So you are a gunfighter?
Bot> I guess word travels fast in a small hick town like this one.
You> Sorry.
Bot> Don’t fret it.
You> Are you afraid of dying?
Bot> Not everyone has something to prove.
You> Are you wanted?
Bot> Only by the bad guys who want me to move far away from them.
You> Can you tell me why you are here?
Bot> I could but then again I’d have to, well, you know the rest.
You> Come on tell me why you are here.
Bot> You don’t really want to know what or who I’m looking for.
You> Do you have something to prove?
Bot> Prove? Every young gun always thinks they have something to prove. Usually it’s that they’re not quite as fast as they thought.
You> Do you live near here?
Bot> I prefer not to divulge that information.
You> Everyone has a choice in life.
Bot> Yes and in the end, we look like the choices we made.
You> How long are you in town for
Bot> I just can see where that’s any of your concern.
You> Just curious.
Bot> Just remember what happened to that curious cat.
You> No problem.
Bot> Nice to know there won’t be any trouble.
You> Goodbye.
Bot> See ya later friend.
You>

@ Dennis ( and others),

As I mentioned, it’s been a couple weeks and I’ve pretty much finished starting this Edgy Eastwood character of the old west.

You will need to have Perl64 and the basic RiveScript platform installed.

If so, just extract this zip file into the Demo directory / folder.

Start RiveScript and say Hi or Hello and take it from there.

If you encounter an ERR, remark, it will likely mean that you have said something for which I haven’t written a response. It’s difficult to imagine all the possible combinations of words and phrases that people can or will come up with. This is why there are so many huge AIML files as they try to cover all the possibilities that exist in common usage.

For those who might not have followed the thread to this point, this is just a brief setup / greeting / test bed for creating a unique character with RiveScript. While there is a lot more that can certainly be done in this regard, I’ll leave that to you and your imagination to either progress with Stoney or create a unique character of your own.

Again, a big thanks to Noah Petherbridge for the RiveScript platform.

- Art -