Formal Verification for Node-Based Visual Scripts Using Symbolic Model Checking

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method using symbolic model checking to automatically verify node-based visual scripts in video game development, effectively detecting bugs caused by mis-descriptions.

Contribution

It presents a novel translation algorithm converting visual scripts into models for symbolic model checking, enabling automatic bug detection in game scripts.

Findings

Successfully detected bugs in FFXV visual scripts

Operates efficiently within reasonable time

Demonstrated potential for improving game development productivity

Abstract

Visual script languages with a node-based interface have commonly been used in the video game industry. We examined the bug database obtained in the development of FINAL FANTASY XV (FFXV), and noticed that several types of bugs were caused by simple mis-descriptions of visual scripts and could therefore be mechanically detected. We propose a method for the automatic verification of visual scripts in order to improve productivity of video game development. Our method can automatically detect those bugs by using symbolic model checking. We show a translation algorithm which can automatically convert a visual script to an input model for NuSMV that is an implementation of symbolic model checking. For a preliminary evaluation, we applied our method to visual scripts used in the production for FFXV. The evaluation results demonstrate that our method can detect bugs of scripts and works well in a reasonable time.