Welcome to the Game AI Page


These pages are dedicated to the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in games, a factor in game design which I'm pleased to say is being taken more seriously by game developers and producers than ever before. We've seen a huge increase in interest over the past few years on the part of both game developers and game players, and I think the trend is only going to continue. Hopefully, these pages will help.

We cover just about anything, so long as it has applicability in some fashion to building better computer opponents. Note that most of what's presented here is aimed at a very practical approach to the problem; I personally detest over-analysis of anything.

Anybody who's interested in this topic, who knows of links I need to add, games which are doing particularly interesting things AI-wise, wants to contribute, or who just wishes to take issue with something I say is cordially invited to email me. I also can be found on both the comp.ai.gamesand rec.games.programmernewsgroups; drop by and say hi.

March Lions
The University of Manchester (that's in Britain) recently did some interesting work on flocking unmanned vehicles....
Posted: 03/03/02
A site I haven't pinged lately but which I'm reminded is an excellent resource is Ariel Dolan's A-Life site. He's got a ton of great genetic algorithm and A-Life stuff there and it's all well worth your time and energy. Check out Ariel's site if you haven't...you won't regret it.
Posted: 03/01/02
Tons of updates to the various humor pages got uploaded today. Go have a chuckle at the Famous Last Words, You Know Your Game is in Trouble, and You Might be a Game Developer pages...
Posted: 03/01/02
Shameless Plug #1: Game Programming Gems 3 is yet another volume in the excellent Game Programming Gems series due out in the lattter half of 2002. I've been lucky enough to be the Section Editor for the AI this time around and I have to say I'm very pleased with how it's all come together. You can find out our current status over at the book's web site and follow the progress from there.

When the book is available to order online I'll post it here, but I figured I should let folks know. I'm really pretty pleased with how the AI section in particular has come together, and the book itself looks like it will uphold the traditions of the GPG series with aplomb.
Posted: 03/01/02
Shameless Plug #2: I recently reviewed my chapter for the upcoming AI Game Programming Wisdom tome...things are looking good! This book is due out in time for the GDC and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com for a very nice 30% off...almost reasonable! There are a total of 71 articles by 48 authors in the book, and it weighs in at just over 650 pages at final count. If you're interested in getting what is essentially "AI Programming Gems", now's a good time to order...
Posted: 03/01/02
Virtua Fighter 4, one of the upcoming games from Sega, is going to incorporate basic learning into the AI of its fighters...
Posted: 02/21/02
Well, it's a small world. Don O'Brien, the programmer behind the excellent genetic algorithms game CDDNA, recently contacted me and offered up the full version of said game so folks can enjoy it! Having played it now for a couple of days I can only repeat my previous assessment--it's cool...
Posted: 02/19/02
It's time! Yes, the GDC draws near, and that means it's time to start thinking about the GDC 2002 AI Dinner!
Posted: 02/14/02
Hobbyist Mat Buckland had added a neat message forum to his excellent AI tutorial site... drop by sometime!
Posted: 02/09/02

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