How Experienced DevsThink Through Their AI

Chris Jurney – Double FineBrett Laming – Rockstar Leeds

Brian Schwab – BlizzardBorut 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 implementedin 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 ProclamationA 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 architectureshould 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.)