Artificial Intelligence in Computer Games

Işık Barış Fidaner

Purpose of Game AI

Games involve interaction (with whom?)We need

Challenging enemies like Deep Blue who won against Kasparov

Believable characters like in a movie scripted on the run

AI roles and game genres

Tactical enemies appear mainly in action games

Units and strategic opponents are main roles of a strategy game

Partner characters are important in role playing games (RPG)

Support characters are used in adventure games and RPGs

Action games

First were 2D games like platform games, shoot’em up

Then came 3D first person or third person shooter games First enemies were simple “monsters” Then “bots” were created as a simulation of

human playersNot all action games are “shooters”, e.g.

Thief is a “first person sneaker” game

Pacman (1980)

Silkworm (1989)

Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

Inside a monster’s mind

Thief (1998)

Counter-Strike Source (2004)

How do bots evaluate the map

Strategy Games

First were turn based, like board gamesThen, real time strategy games appearedTwo main roles

Strategic opponents Units

Civilization (1991)

How units find their path: A*

Age of Empires II (1999)

Formations of marching units

Strategic reasoning of your opponent

Reasoning under uncertainty

Artificial life

Games that involve simulated living beingsIn these games, creatures

have simulated desires, feelings try to meet their needs sometimes learn from experience, or maybe

they only seem to be

SimCity (1989)

Creatures (1996)

The Sims (2000)

Dungeon Keeper (1997)

Black & White (2001)

B&W: The creature’s mind

Adventure and role playing games

Support characters lead the player the way through the game’s story

An intelligent “support character” must be strictly consistent with the story at the same time be flexible enough to give

alternative responses to player’s different choices

Fate of Atlantis (1992)

Grim Fandango (1998)