AI in Computer Games
AI in Computer Games
Dateline: 12/15/98
Development of computer games is fast-growing, multi-billion business today. "AI inside" feature is very desirable because it ensures increased profit and user satisfaction. Unfortunately, knowledge about Artificial Intelligence techniques tend to be somewhat limited within the game-programming community. Until recently, Web sites - the traditional source of new information for developers - offered very little information on such topics. However, things are changing: there are several very exciting projects involving AI for game development. This week, I'll present two such projects that you can join. If you are more interested in basic principles, or AI approaches in current/upcoming commercial games, Steven Woodcock has great site on this subject.
Project: Von Neumann
As the authors say, the project began with a simple idea: a computer game with evolving enemies. The idea was posted on rec.games.programmer by Christian Darkin and soon people flocked to it. Project soon expanded to include Genetic Algorithm and a multitude of other Artificial Life techniques to create and evolve the enemies in the game. The game can be described as a space-style game similar to the Star Control series.
The project follows freeware philosophy, with the goal to produce professional grade software. Users will be given the option to load and save the evolved enemies and music to disk, so they can set up an FTP site where people can share their evolved creations with others, performing their own miniature genetic experimentation. The code is being written in standard ANSI C, with machine specific code kept to a bare minimum to ensure maximum portability.
The Alife game units (called probes) are all given the same abilities as the player; effectively they only have a virtual keyboard in front of them as their only way to control their own bodies. The simulation will be seeded with a handful of different programmer written (but evolvable) probes and then run until an sophisticated ecosystem has been developed.
The possibilities for this project are virtually endless and constantly evolving. More coders, artists, musicians and others are needed to assist in working on the game. If you want to join, write to [email protected] for more information on 10 mailing lists associated with this project. The official FTP site is at ftp.krl.caltech.edu/pub/alife-game, and Web site can be found at http://www.krl.caltech.edu/~charles/alife-game/.
Excalibur
The goal of this project is to develop a generic architecture for autonomously operating agents, like computer-guided characters-mobiles-items, within a complex computer-game environment. These agents must be able to find the right actions to pursue their given goals and adapt their behavior to new environments or opponents. But not only the actions of the individual agent have to be intelligent - agents should also be able to communicate and perform coordinated group actions. The research is being conducted by the Technical University of Berlin, and the German National Research Center for Information Technology, Research Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology. Commercial partners are invited to participate (look here for details). The Mexican virtual reality company Nicosio has recently joined the project and will be responsible for the graphical design of demos.
The notion of Artificial Intelligence for computer games is primarily related to characters, called agents, as their properties fit the AI agent concept perfectly. A nice overview of all issues involved in designing such characters (physical characteristics, language cues, behaviors and social skills) can be found at FIRST Web pages. For more information, write to the project's leader, Alexander Nareyek.
If you want to learn more on this subject, check the links below... or better yet, post your questions or comments to the AI Bulletin Board.
Similar site(s) of interest:
- Machine Learning in Games
Game programs and their workings; they rely on heuristic search algorithms, neural networks, genetic algorithms, temporal differences, and other methods.
- Tierra
Another fascinating Web project, highly recommended for people interested in pursuing A-life techniques.
- The Game AI Page
Pages dedicated to the topic of Artificial Intelligence in games, including real solutions to various AI-related problems... very nice resource.