Topic: AI in the game

[Noonien]

I know Contingencyplan and I have been discussing a little what the AI for the game might be. As of right now I think the general sense is the basic "turn -> shoot -> goto step one"  as a start (perhapse included in the next release after this one?). But when the game starts getting hot and heavy, what are the players going to expect for A.I. in the game? As Contingencyplan pointed out in a previous post, A.I. should be something good to count on both as an opponent and as a crewmate. I think giving the A.I. the ability to take the intiative on something would be cool. Power conduit blows and an AI (NPC?) is near by and he has knowlege in power conduits and dist (he's an engineer) and just goes and starts working on it. Is that they type of A.I. we're looking for or should they just mill around waiting for orders?

[contingencyplan]

First, as far as the AI for right now is concerned, "move -> turn -> shoot" will at least give people something to shoot at - get their target practice with.  When we add networking, it will likely be even better.  I think this is a good starting point until we get something more sophisticated.

Second, as far as the AI in crewmates is concerned, I agree with the idea of having an NPC be the engineer / etc.  Some people might want to do that kind of job on a ship, but most likely won't - they'll want to be piloting or whatever.  NPCs could do those jobs (similar to how we as a society are planning on having robots do those kinds of jobs in the future).  In the example given, the AI should automatically realize that the engines are damaged and begin repairing them immediately, unless given prior (or countermanding) orders not to.  You never know, the captain may need those resources for the final laser shot to blast the enemy cruiser into the unknown...

We also need to plan for the flightsim, RTS, and FPS aspects, and the AI associated with them.  I already have some ideas for the RTS / FPS interaction, so I'll post those in a separate thread later.  As far as the AI goes for the current flightsim aspect, I'd say mcrobotics is on the right track.

~Brian

[topher]

Boy that would be fun...getting 3 friends into one cruiser, one on the flight controls, one on gunnery, one on electronics (jamming, fixing, etc).   All of them working together to topple their enemy.  Maybe all ships always have that option, or the option to fill some positions with npcs.

For example...

BattleCruiser I
Pilot : Topher
WeaponSystems: Topher (no npc allowed)
Electronics: npc

BattleCruiser II
Pilot: npc
WeaponSystems: Topher (who just wants to blow the sh^t outta stuff)
Electronics: npc

Back to the original topic....

AI is important for wingmen and enemy.  Having variable routines would be nice to have, that way a group of pirate fast attack frigs knows it'll be better to hit and run then try to slug it out like a bigger ship alone.


topher

[Morgul]

Agreed completely. We don't have a design doc, or anything drawn up for the AI stuff, but we very well could define requirements like that, so that once we start programming it, we can make sure to check each of those off as we put it in.

--Chris

[Panda]

Hello!  i'm contingencyplans friend.  i'm rather interested in doing the AI since i have some experience in it.  i've had experience doing ALICE bot for the Palm4 http://alicebot.org/  and i worked on some AI using the Quake 2 engine, mainly tactical situations.  let me know if i can help.

Panda

[Morgul]

Definitely. Currently the behaviour system is in major flux (redesigning it) and all, but once it's set up, it will be wasy for us to write up some good documentation for it that will allow you to write an AI control behaviour without understanding majority of the code. :-)

I'll let you know more, as we do.....

--Chris

[Panda]

okie dokie.  when you get that done just let me know.  you should have my email addy.  if not just message me on the boards.

[contingencyplan]

Hey Panda!

Glad to have you aboard. I'm (hopefully - homework willing) going to add you to the svn and trac systems tonight so you can check out the code and the current task list for the project. We'll have to get together sometime, likely this weekend, and work on the code a little. Bear in mind I'm still getting my head around most of it, so I dunno how much help I'll be. However, when you're not busy at work, we can all get on IRC and discuss it (morgul and whitelynx included, hopefully).

Morgul, we should add a ticket to Trac for the AI stuff so Panda can start working on that (to some degree, anyways - I know we're still moving stuff around, but maybe Panda can help with that). I'd add it myself, but I am not certain what all's involved.

Thanks,
~Brian

[contingencyplan]

Panda, I sent you an email with the Trac and svn information. Please check it out and either email me or post (preferably) that you've gotten both of them set up.

Also, start posting your ideas on AI on the forums. Morgul and Whitelynx are both open to suggestions :-).

Thanks,
~Brian

[Panda]

just got the source and such last night.  gona look it over to see how you have things setup and go from there.