Essential linkage: Making a dumb AI for computer games - it's harder than it sounds!
You might think that AI development in games is all about making your virtual opponent - whether it be a railgunning bot in Quake to a regiment of infantry in Empire - hard to beat. But that's not the whole story... when you're trying to create believable AI opponents, part of the trick is in making them capable of the same mistakes a human is.
And that's tough.
Creating believable AI, according to Neversoft co-founder Mark West, is a tricky tight rope to walk. You want to challenge a player, but allow them the possiblity - and enjoyment - of winning. On the other hand, you don't want to hand games to them on a platter.
Gamasutra has an excellent article, written by Mark, that's fascinating reading.
Remember what we are trying to accomplish: We want people to have an enjoyable experience. No matter what the game, we want the players to feel challenged so that when they win, they feel a sense of accomplishment. We want them to feel that they were playing against an opponent who was really trying to beat them. By reducing the amount of computation, we create an AI opponent that is trying to win, but has been crippled in a way that leads to unrealistic gameplay. But does the player actually care about what is going on under the hood? What if we don't cripple our AI, but instead let it play at full strength, but have the AI deliberately throw the game?
Remember what we are trying to accomplish: We want people to have an enjoyable experience. No matter what the game, we want the players to feel challenged so that when they win, they feel a sense of accomplishment. We want them to feel that they were playing against an opponent who was really trying to beat them.
By reducing the amount of computation, we create an AI opponent that is trying to win, but has been crippled in a way that leads to unrealistic gameplay. But does the player actually care about what is going on under the hood? What if we don't cripple our AI, but instead let it play at full strength, but have the AI deliberately throw the game?
It's a great read and awesome insight into the challenges game developers face.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012