Comments on: Round Table Entry: Artificial Humanity

By: Michael A.

Michael A. — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:16:45 +0000

For action and FPS shooter games, perhaps. For strategy games (and not all RTS games need apply), I would say the number of games with a credible AI are few and far between.

By: Marcus Riedner

Marcus Riedner — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 20:08:22 +0000

I dunno, I’ve always viewed the problem as making an AI just stupid enough, rather than making it ‘not stupid’…

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:50:16 +0000

Ah yes, the old debate about “good” AI vs. “fun” AI… There are apocryphal stories about this sort of stuff. As it turns out, “random” is often mistaken for “creative”, and “tough” is often mistaken for “smart.” The real key, as mentioned, is how to make a “not stupid” AI.

By: Michael A.

Michael A. — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:40:09 +0000

Hear hear…

I’ve said the same thing many times before – especially when game fans start being angry about “bad AI” and other defend this by saying that “perfect AI is impossible”.

IMO, players generally don’t want for the AI to be unbeatable – they just want for it to be “not stupid”.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:11:30 +0000

To me, I see two different AI’s here: strong AI is involved in determining the level of challenge; I might call it “AI for Agon” in Caillois’ terms. Then there is “AI for Mimicry” in Caillois’ terms… that seems to be what is being talked about here. AI with the goal of immersion, to use the usual buzzword.

I might take this tack for my Round Table post…

Best wishes!

By: JonathanStrange

JonathanStrange — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:07:58 +0000

I like the idea that a good A.I. isn’t necessarily the most challenging but one that brings “you into the world the designer has created.” That, for me, means that I’m not having my willing suspension of disbelief shattered by an A.I. that sends its lightly armored halftracks against my known entrenched anti-tank guns, or allows an alien civilization to assemble a huge invasion starfleet on its borders without taking any defensive action, or simply palace guards who ignore a nearby fallen comrade. People often say “Well, careful what you ask for…” and I’m not asking to be beaten senseless by a silicon know-it-all. A fairly won game though would have its thrills, and we’d no longer have to run up 100-1 scores just to give the computer a chance.