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Nowadays we see a lot of games companies boasting about the high levels of artificial intelligence in their latest offerings, and it is a good thing to see that this is considered to be an important area in game development. But where can designers draw the line ? And when will we see a game with true human AI ?
Consider this... if we buy a game with real AI in it then how hard is it going to be to actually play and enjoy that game ?
Does it depend on the genre ? Here are a few examples:
Metal Gear Solid types / FPSs types
-----------------------------------
In these games the story is usually hero against uncountable enemies. How realistic is it to assume that our hero could actually carry out his in-game duties in real life ?
In most first person shooters, enemies will not notice you until you are pretty close to them. That is reasonable. However some games fail miserably at this..... take Timesplitters and Red Faction for example. In these games you can be spotted and shot at accurately from far far distances, thus ruining the need for stealth. Surely that is not true AI ? In reality the enemy should not see you if you just peep around a corner from a distance of a mile away !
The opposite can be said for MGS2 type games. Here stealth is a big factor. You can sneak up on enemies and waste them in relative secrecy. In fact it is possible to stand in front of a guards’ field of vision and as long as you are not within a certain range then you won’t get seen. This, unfortunately is very unrealistic. In real life if you looked through a door directly at a guard he would see you, and all hell would break loose.
Also, another failing of the AI in these games is the way that guards give up so easily.... as long as you can stay out of sight for long enough, then they’ll give up looking for you. (Not to mention the fact that if you exit a section of a game and return again, the enemies will be reset back to their posts..... not good).
In real life if you killed a soldier on a ship and got discovered, the whole ship would on constant alert until you were found.
This is the way real AI should be, but it begs the question .... would games be any fun if they were this realistic ? One wrong move and you get hunted down until you are dead. I may be wrong but I doubt it.
So I guess some form of artificial dumbness is required in order to make a game interesting.
Lets look at driving games.
Again there is AI involved, but to what extent ? I don’t know any drivers that follow practically the same line continuously around a track, and I certainly don’t know any who wouldn’t swerve if I tried to ram them. It is quite possible that if driving games had a realistic level of AI that they would be a lot more competitive and so a lot more fun to play.
Fighting.... how would you feel if your Tekken of DOA opponent had sufficient intelligence to counter your every move ? It wouldn’t take long before that would get very annoying and tedious. There is a certain amount of AI in fighting titles in that opponents will learn what moves you tend to repeat, and so will be able to block more effectively. But it is not expanded on very much. For example, if a game knew who was playing it (i.e. by entering our names) then it should continually learn our favourite moves, and so continue to get progressively harder to complete. How would that be for longevity !
Other genres show AI in the form of flocking routines. Take for example Herdy Gerdy. This apparently has very good AI for controlling how the flocks of animals react to different situations. So it will not be just like lemmings where the characters just walk the straight line forever. So here is a case of AI put to good use.
So where does that leave us ? It looks like it depends on the type of game being developed.
I believe that this is an area that still requires a lot of thought and effort. There is a fine line between developing a game where the characters really think for themselves, and having a game that is still fun to play.
On the other hand maybe we want a game that is so intelligent that only a lot of human effort and stress would allow us to defeat it.... could be interesting.... what do you think ?
Thanks for reading
Kevd.
Consider this... if we buy a game with real AI in it then how hard is it going to be to actually play and enjoy that game ?
Does it depend on the genre ? Here are a few examples:
Metal Gear Solid types / FPSs types
-----------------------------------
In these games the story is usually hero against uncountable enemies. How realistic is it to assume that our hero could actually carry out his in-game duties in real life ?
In most first person shooters, enemies will not notice you until you are pretty close to them. That is reasonable. However some games fail miserably at this..... take Timesplitters and Red Faction for example. In these games you can be spotted and shot at accurately from far far distances, thus ruining the need for stealth. Surely that is not true AI ? In reality the enemy should not see you if you just peep around a corner from a distance of a mile away !
The opposite can be said for MGS2 type games. Here stealth is a big factor. You can sneak up on enemies and waste them in relative secrecy. In fact it is possible to stand in front of a guards’ field of vision and as long as you are not within a certain range then you won’t get seen. This, unfortunately is very unrealistic. In real life if you looked through a door directly at a guard he would see you, and all hell would break loose.
Also, another failing of the AI in these games is the way that guards give up so easily.... as long as you can stay out of sight for long enough, then they’ll give up looking for you. (Not to mention the fact that if you exit a section of a game and return again, the enemies will be reset back to their posts..... not good).
In real life if you killed a soldier on a ship and got discovered, the whole ship would on constant alert until you were found.
This is the way real AI should be, but it begs the question .... would games be any fun if they were this realistic ? One wrong move and you get hunted down until you are dead. I may be wrong but I doubt it.
So I guess some form of artificial dumbness is required in order to make a game interesting.
Lets look at driving games.
Again there is AI involved, but to what extent ? I don’t know any drivers that follow practically the same line continuously around a track, and I certainly don’t know any who wouldn’t swerve if I tried to ram them. It is quite possible that if driving games had a realistic level of AI that they would be a lot more competitive and so a lot more fun to play.
Fighting.... how would you feel if your Tekken of DOA opponent had sufficient intelligence to counter your every move ? It wouldn’t take long before that would get very annoying and tedious. There is a certain amount of AI in fighting titles in that opponents will learn what moves you tend to repeat, and so will be able to block more effectively. But it is not expanded on very much. For example, if a game knew who was playing it (i.e. by entering our names) then it should continually learn our favourite moves, and so continue to get progressively harder to complete. How would that be for longevity !
Other genres show AI in the form of flocking routines. Take for example Herdy Gerdy. This apparently has very good AI for controlling how the flocks of animals react to different situations. So it will not be just like lemmings where the characters just walk the straight line forever. So here is a case of AI put to good use.
So where does that leave us ? It looks like it depends on the type of game being developed.
I believe that this is an area that still requires a lot of thought and effort. There is a fine line between developing a game where the characters really think for themselves, and having a game that is still fun to play.
On the other hand maybe we want a game that is so intelligent that only a lot of human effort and stress would allow us to defeat it.... could be interesting.... what do you think ?
Thanks for reading
Kevd.
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Nowadays we see a lot of games companies boasting about the high levels of artificial intelligence in their latest offerings, and it is a good thing to see that this is considered to be an important area in game development. But where can designers draw the line ? And when will we see a game with true human AI ?
Consider this... if we buy a game with real AI in it then how hard is it going to be to actually play and enjoy that game ?
Does it depend on the genre ? Here are a few examples:
Metal Gear Solid types / FPSs types
-----------------------------------
In these games the story is usually hero against uncountable enemies. How realistic is it to assume that our hero could actually carry out his in-game duties in real life ?
In most first person shooters, enemies will not notice you until you are pretty close to them. That is reasonable. However some games fail miserably at this..... take Timesplitters and Red Faction for example. In these games you can be spotted and shot at accurately from far far distances, thus ruining the need for stealth. Surely that is not true AI ? In reality the enemy should not see you if you just peep around a corner from a distance of a mile away !
The opposite can be said for MGS2 type games. Here stealth is a big factor. You can sneak up on enemies and waste them in relative secrecy. In fact it is possible to stand in front of a guards’ field of vision and as long as you are not within a certain range then you won’t get seen. This, unfortunately is very unrealistic. In real life if you looked through a door directly at a guard he would see you, and all hell would break loose.
Also, another failing of the AI in these games is the way that guards give up so easily.... as long as you can stay out of sight for long enough, then they’ll give up looking for you. (Not to mention the fact that if you exit a section of a game and return again, the enemies will be reset back to their posts..... not good).
In real life if you killed a soldier on a ship and got discovered, the whole ship would on constant alert until you were found.
This is the way real AI should be, but it begs the question .... would games be any fun if they were this realistic ? One wrong move and you get hunted down until you are dead. I may be wrong but I doubt it.
So I guess some form of artificial dumbness is required in order to make a game interesting.
Lets look at driving games.
Again there is AI involved, but to what extent ? I don’t know any drivers that follow practically the same line continuously around a track, and I certainly don’t know any who wouldn’t swerve if I tried to ram them. It is quite possible that if driving games had a realistic level of AI that they would be a lot more competitive and so a lot more fun to play.
Fighting.... how would you feel if your Tekken of DOA opponent had sufficient intelligence to counter your every move ? It wouldn’t take long before that would get very annoying and tedious. There is a certain amount of AI in fighting titles in that opponents will learn what moves you tend to repeat, and so will be able to block more effectively. But it is not expanded on very much. For example, if a game knew who was playing it (i.e. by entering our names) then it should continually learn our favourite moves, and so continue to get progressively harder to complete. How would that be for longevity !
Other genres show AI in the form of flocking routines. Take for example Herdy Gerdy. This apparently has very good AI for controlling how the flocks of animals react to different situations. So it will not be just like lemmings where the characters just walk the straight line forever. So here is a case of AI put to good use.
So where does that leave us ? It looks like it depends on the type of game being developed.
I believe that this is an area that still requires a lot of thought and effort. There is a fine line between developing a game where the characters really think for themselves, and having a game that is still fun to play.
On the other hand maybe we want a game that is so intelligent that only a lot of human effort and stress would allow us to defeat it.... could be interesting.... what do you think ?
Thanks for reading
Kevd.
Consider this... if we buy a game with real AI in it then how hard is it going to be to actually play and enjoy that game ?
Does it depend on the genre ? Here are a few examples:
Metal Gear Solid types / FPSs types
-----------------------------------
In these games the story is usually hero against uncountable enemies. How realistic is it to assume that our hero could actually carry out his in-game duties in real life ?
In most first person shooters, enemies will not notice you until you are pretty close to them. That is reasonable. However some games fail miserably at this..... take Timesplitters and Red Faction for example. In these games you can be spotted and shot at accurately from far far distances, thus ruining the need for stealth. Surely that is not true AI ? In reality the enemy should not see you if you just peep around a corner from a distance of a mile away !
The opposite can be said for MGS2 type games. Here stealth is a big factor. You can sneak up on enemies and waste them in relative secrecy. In fact it is possible to stand in front of a guards’ field of vision and as long as you are not within a certain range then you won’t get seen. This, unfortunately is very unrealistic. In real life if you looked through a door directly at a guard he would see you, and all hell would break loose.
Also, another failing of the AI in these games is the way that guards give up so easily.... as long as you can stay out of sight for long enough, then they’ll give up looking for you. (Not to mention the fact that if you exit a section of a game and return again, the enemies will be reset back to their posts..... not good).
In real life if you killed a soldier on a ship and got discovered, the whole ship would on constant alert until you were found.
This is the way real AI should be, but it begs the question .... would games be any fun if they were this realistic ? One wrong move and you get hunted down until you are dead. I may be wrong but I doubt it.
So I guess some form of artificial dumbness is required in order to make a game interesting.
Lets look at driving games.
Again there is AI involved, but to what extent ? I don’t know any drivers that follow practically the same line continuously around a track, and I certainly don’t know any who wouldn’t swerve if I tried to ram them. It is quite possible that if driving games had a realistic level of AI that they would be a lot more competitive and so a lot more fun to play.
Fighting.... how would you feel if your Tekken of DOA opponent had sufficient intelligence to counter your every move ? It wouldn’t take long before that would get very annoying and tedious. There is a certain amount of AI in fighting titles in that opponents will learn what moves you tend to repeat, and so will be able to block more effectively. But it is not expanded on very much. For example, if a game knew who was playing it (i.e. by entering our names) then it should continually learn our favourite moves, and so continue to get progressively harder to complete. How would that be for longevity !
Other genres show AI in the form of flocking routines. Take for example Herdy Gerdy. This apparently has very good AI for controlling how the flocks of animals react to different situations. So it will not be just like lemmings where the characters just walk the straight line forever. So here is a case of AI put to good use.
So where does that leave us ? It looks like it depends on the type of game being developed.
I believe that this is an area that still requires a lot of thought and effort. There is a fine line between developing a game where the characters really think for themselves, and having a game that is still fun to play.
On the other hand maybe we want a game that is so intelligent that only a lot of human effort and stress would allow us to defeat it.... could be interesting.... what do you think ?
Thanks for reading
Kevd.