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SAE Magazine 13-3

124 PRODUCTION & KNOW HOW // ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE F rom the movement of a ping-pong paddle to taking control of huge armies in strategy games, the use of AI is fine as long as it im- proves the human player’s final experience. In single-player games much of the game experi- ence depends on or is closely related to the char- acters or computer-controlled agents. These agents are commonly known as Non-player Characters (NPCs). As the name implies, these are characters with programmed and automatic behav- iors. In the 70s, the first games with computer-controlled characters used to have static behavior patterns that were repeated over and over throughout the game. Because of their predictability the player learned them and they were no longer perceived as smart. Later, behaviours with random components were implemented. These added certain dynamism to NPCs, making their behavior less predictable. Supported by traditionalAI, games developers start- ed to use tools such as state machines, decision trees, search methods, robotics and even genetic algorithms - some more successful than others. Ironically, the simplest techniques have been the most successful when modeling NPCs in video games. AI games programmers fa conditions. They must work with limi generally a personal com device, which vary depen technology. Since some of the skills o agents surpass those of h mented AI should be ente Otherwise most players w ferior when pitted against challenges requiring precis ing, arithmetic, ordering o lems can be easily solved Finally, a player must enjo fore while constantly testi and remaining a challeng cible. If the developer achieves will make the user feel cle to keep playing.

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