Game Artificial Intelligence

Research Directions in
Computer Game AI
Rafael Cabredo
Your speaker
Rafael Cabredo
Faculty at De La Salle University
Research interests:
AI in Computer Games
Graphics
Game Development
Contact info:
cabredor@dlsu.edu.ph
Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020
R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies
What will I talk about?
Artificial Intelligence
in
Computer Games
Key questions
Why study computer games?

Why study AI in games?
What kind of research is involved?
What has been done in this area?
Local research
International research
The Computer Game Industry

But first,
How many of you play computer

games during your free time?
The Computer Game Industry

1st games
(~50 years ago)
Pong from Atari
(2 players)
10 years later
Pacman
AI for Ghosts
2000
Motion capture
High level design
3D animation
Large-scale terrain
MMOG
Some facts
50% of all Americans age 6 and older play
computer and video games
The average age of a game player is 29 years
92% of all games are purchased by adults
43% of game players are women
60% of frequent gamers play with friends
Some facts
There will be 131M online gamers
worldwide in 2006 (DFC Intelligence
Report)
Impact on Economy
Total Gamers = 430M in 2003
(1/4 are online)
Over US$ 20B compared to US$ 70B in
movie industry
EA, 4th largest software company in 2003
In the Asia Pacific region, online gaming
has contributed US$ 533M to video game
business in 2002
Impact on Economy
The releases of Doom 3 and Half-life 2
may be responsible for more computer
upgrades than any other factor
Article in inq7.net by Oliva, Erwin
Online Gaming boosts hardware sales in
RP
Philippine Game Industry

According to IDC:
US$2.8 million subscription revenue in
2003 from nearly zero in 2002
CAGR 2002-2007 of 58.4% in online
gaming subscription
Internet caf factor

According to IDC:
viable broadband options and attractive
price
pre-paid cards still preferred (no viable
alternatives)
MMORPG continues to dominate

In 2000, game related companies were
mostly game publishers
ex. Level-up!, Mobius
First Filipino game development company

that published a PC game:
Anino Entertainment

Currently around 14 game dev companies
Anino entertainment
Anino Mobile
Azalea
Blitsoft, Ltd.
Cube Interactive
eSoft Interactive
Flipside Games
Gametel
Laro Corporation
Ladyluck Digital Media
Inc.
Matahari Studios
Secret Six
Slycesoft Games
Development
Company
ViTAS Development
Summary
There is a market for games in the
country (mobile / online games)
The Philippines has started to gain
interest in game development
Game industry = BIG money
What makes games sell?

Currently selling point of games:
1. Game Design
a. Interactive & Dynamic
b. New kinds of design/games
c. Replayability
What makes games sell?

Currently selling point of games:
2. Graphics
a.
b.
c.
d.
Humans are visual

Full 3D
Realism in the virtual world (physics)
Non-photorealism / new art styles
What about AI?

Not a priority in game development
Difficult to market
Recent developments
Jason Rubin observed (GDC-Europe, 2003):
Graphical improvement is slowing down.
The consumer is less aware of
differences.
We have passed the threshold and
graphics is no longer a primary selling
point for games.
Recent developments
Technology has developed faster
processors, and dedicated hardware for
graphics and physics
Processor can be used for handling AI
computations
Pathfinding chip is being designed
AI in Games
What kind of games?

Not the Classic games
8-Puzzle problem
Chess
(wiq) / Go / (Kanji)
What kind of games?

Deterministic
Chance
Perfect
Chess, Checkers, Backgammon,
Information
Go, Othello
Monopoly
Imperfect
Information
Games of the
General
Pusoy Dos,
Poker,
Scrabble
What kind of games?

real games
Environment characteristics:
Imperfect information
Dynamic
Interactive
Non deterministic
(persistent)
Areas of Research
Intelligent opponents
Intelligent teammates & units (the stupid
wingman problem)
Guiding behavior of NPCs
Steering
Pathfinding
Scripting
Final State Machines
Steering / Navigation
Movement to an easy to reach target
location
Use vectors
Applications:
Individual behaviors
Obstacle Avoidance
Wall / Path / Flow field following
Coordinated group movement:

Flocking (Birds/fish)
Queuing (at a doorway or fork)
Leader following
Pathfinding
Uses waypoints to help NPCs find a route
Most used algorithm: A*
Software Demonstration
Finite State Machine

FSMs describe under which events or
conditions a current state is to be
replaced by another
ex., switching from attack to escape
mode
From Quake

FSM incorporating the use of probability
theory for modeling decision-making
under uncertainty.
Approach: Bayesian Networks
Other Areas of Research

Voice recognition
Must accept all sorts of people, without any
training.
Computer-generated speech
Must not only handle inflections but also
create a sense of the character and
personality of the speaker.
Recorded snippets can only go so far.
Areas of Research
Natural language comprehension and
generation
Automated storytelling (the AI dungeon
master)
Faade
(Mateas, 2005)
Drama = character + plot

Characters
Personality
Emotion
Self motivation
Change
Social relationships
Consistency
Illusion of life
Tension/Complexity
Plot structure
Climax
Crisis
Falling action
Rising action
Exposition
Inciting
incident
Denouement
Time
Game-Specific Approaches
Sport Games
AI in games / NPCs should not have
optimal solutions. Instead they should
maximize the players fun
AI is also used in camera control and
commentator script
FIFA 2005
Strategy Games
Its ok to cheat as long as it increases
players fun (makes the game more
challenging)
Lord of the Rings:

Battle for Middle Earth
Racing Games
Not about realism but fun for the player
More on steering
Allow a car to be infront of the player
just to add more challenge
Has more realistic physics
Related Research @ DLSU-CCS

Intelligent opponents
CAN: Case Based Reasoning in an Adversarial
Non-Player Character
MAHUSAI: Using a Supervised Learning
Algorithm in a Real-Time Strategy Game
RL Hero: A Reinforcement Learning Hero in a
Real-Time Strategy Game
Related Research @ DLSU-CCS

User Support
UMAGA: User Modeling to Assist in a Game
Agimat
Uses Stratagus
and Wargus open
source
An RTS game
environment
Uses LUA
scripting for unit
behavior
CAN
MAHUSAI
Training of
MAHUSAI
RL Hero
RL Hero: Kapre
Demo of RL Hero
Run demo
UMAGA
Predicts
behavior of
user and
assists during
the game
Games in Education
VocaVentures
(2003)
Other related research

Development of Game development Tools
2D Integrated Development Environment for
Mobile Games
3D Game API for Mobile Games
Take home points

1. Game Development is HERE
a. A lot of focus on mobile games
b. Growing interest in PC / console based
development
2. There are a lot of research

opportunities
3. The Filipino talent and ingenuity can
help develop the economy
Resources
Adams, E. (2005) Emerging Issues in Game Design. Future Play 2005
Mateas, M. (2005) AI is the future of gaming. Future Play 2005
Nareyek, Alexander. Artificial Intelligence and Computer GamesState of the Art and Challenges. Lecture at Center for Engineering
and Sustainable Development Research, Waldo Perfecto Seminar
Room, De La Salle University. October 19, 2004
Nareyek, Alexander (2004). AI in Computer Games. QFocus: Game
Development. pp.59-65 [online] Available: http://www.aicenter.com/publications/nareyek-acmqueue04.pdf
Links to AI in Games
Artificial Intelligence Interface Standards Workshop of
the International Game Developers Association
(http://www.igda.org/ai/)
Steven Woodcocks Game AI Resources
(http://www.gameai.com)
Game AI Articles and Research
(http://www.aiwisdom.com)
Arnit Patels Game Programming and A* information
(http://www-csstudents.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html#paths)
Links to AI in Games
Craig Reynolds Resources on Steering
(http://www.red3d.com/cwr/steer)
The EXCALIBUR Project (goal-directed action planning)
(http://www.ai-center.com/projects/excalibur/)
Computer Games Boon or Bane for AI Research? (an
article about whether AI research makes relevant
contributions) (http://www.aicenter.com/references/nareyek-04gameairesearch.html)
Research Directions in
Computer Game AI
Rafael Cabredo

Game Artificial Intelligence

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Research Directions in

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

What will I talk about?

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Why study computer games?

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

The Computer Game Industry

How many of you play computer

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

The Computer Game Industry

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Philippine Game Industry

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Philippine Game Industry

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Philippine Game Industry

First Filipino game development company

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Philippine Game Industry

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

What makes games sell?

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

What makes games sell?

Humans are visual

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

What about AI?

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

What kind of games?

What kind of games?

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

What kind of games?

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Coordinated group movement:

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Finite State Machine

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020

R. Cabredo, DLSU, College of Computer Studies

Finite State Machine

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020