How Experienced Devs Think Through Their AI Chris

How Experienced Devs Think Through Their AI Chris Jurney – Double Fine Brett Laming – Rockstar Leeds Brian Schwab – Blizzard Borut Pfeifer – Haunted Temple Moderated by: Dave Mark – Intrinsic Algorithm

Chris Jurney – Double Fine • Relic – Company of Heroes – Dawn of War 2 • Kaos – Frontlines: Fuel of War • Double Fine – Brütal Legend – Something nifty that is being announced soon

Borut Pfeifer – Haunted Temple • Radical – Scarface: The World is Yours • Sony Online Entertainment – Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom • • EA-LA Haunted Temple – Skulls of the Shogun

Brian Schwab – Blizzard • • Realtime Associates Radical Angel Studios Dreamworks Interactive – Medal of Honor: Underground • The Collective • Sony Computer Entertainment – NBA 2002 -2009 • Blizzard

Brett Laming – Rockstar Leeds • Particle Systems – Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos • Argonout – Powerdrome • Criterion – Burnout: Revenge • Rockstar – Leeds – GTA: Vice City Stories – GTA: Chinatown Wars

Say what? “Everything they describe could be implemented in a spreadsheet using only SUM and PRODUCT. . . I don't think this counts as AI. ” So what does game AI really entail? What does a game AI programmer’s job entail?

Where to begin? • Typical questions: – How do I… ? – What’s the best way… ? – What should I consider… ?

Bold Proclamation A significant portion of game industry AI work has nothing to do with: • Architecture (e. g. FSM, BT, planners) • Algorithms (e. g. LOS, pathfinding) • Coding

Disclaimer: Things not Covered • • • Caffeine (any form) Pizza (any form) Nerf toys (any form) Hygiene (any form) Social skills (any form)

Quick Questions • What % of your time is spent actually working with codebase? • How far into the process would you actually start working on the codebase? • What tools do you use other than your IDE?

More than Architecture “I’m making a [type of game]. Should I use [architecture] or [architecture]? ” What things other than architecture should you consider?

Creating a Character “I have a [character type] in my game. How do I make it do [nifty things]? ” What’s the thought process to answer this question?

Difficulty with Difficulty Levels • • FPS/RPG/RTS Include multiple levels of difficulty Can’t simply crank up the “bullet sponge” knob Different areas of focus: – Strategic – Tactical – Individual

Boss wants a Boss • • • They’re tall, taller than any other character you've done so far. Luckily it's outdoors, but they will be fighting across two circular arenas, surrounded by forest and linked by a short passage (just big enough for the boss). They have a mighty bow and arrow and can call many smaller minions at will (timed between bursts), in addition to performing a close range stomp. We would like to gear any attack pattern to match player's ability. We want to be able to signal this clearly and allow a pattern that the player can learn to recognize. At our disposal is a well connected animation graph, with a reasonable art team to label transitions with any relevant signals as well as a reasonable navigation system, which unfortunately doesn't lend itself towards dynamic avoidance.

Questions? Questions on: • How to approach things… • How to think about stuff… • What does the job entail? (Please nothing on architecture. )