Artificial intelligence and video games
Over the last ten years, the realism of the games has improved considerably to the point where graphic performances have reached the point where players are immersed in a quasi-real world, but the performances of AI systems have not followed suit. This has led to a dichotomy. From the point of view of graphics, there is a similarity between reality and games; from the point of view of intelligence, there is a big difference with reality. “As graphics become more and more convincing, the difference has become increasingly marked: a very real form which does not at all act in a realistic way”! There is therefore some incoherence between the visual level and the level of AI of the different characters. In order to set themselves apart from their competitors, the actors in the sector have to “pull out all the stops” with regard to the development of much more efficient AI. Common basisThe work of the researchers from Liège and in particular that of Firas Safadi, including that which constitutes the core of his doctoral thesis, has attempted to get a grasp of the generic needs of AI developers for video games. Though game developers would certainly appreciate not having to build and AI from scratch for each game, they often find themselves forced to. However, while different AI solutions can give the impression of being different, they have in reality very similar requirements. The researchers from Liège have therefore considered that it was possible to create a generic AI system to which an adaptation layer could be added, making a connection between the specific needs of each video game. Firas Safadi worked on this transition layer between the two (middleware), between a generic AI and games. Thanks to his developments, it will no longer be necessary to design AI specific to each game (which is impossible, and it is this fact that affects the quality of current games). On the contrary, game designers will be able to use a generic AI and apply it to a large range of games. |
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