Artificial Intelligence is what makes a single player game playable. When you don’t have your friend around, or online, you can always pick up a single player FPS and have some fun. But what has AI meant for us in the past and present; and what does it hold for us in the future?
The AI in Doom and Quake was the most simple. Scripted monsters stand on ledges or run straight toward you and fire at you or hold back until you get close. All you need to do is step out of the way in order to dodge their fire and shoot back at them. It was very simple since they were early games and were scripted. Like many early games, all you needed to do was learn an enemy’s pattern to win.
Unreal Tournament 1999 was a fantastic game with 8 different levels of AI! But are they really all that different? The difference between a level 1 newbie bot and a Godlike bot was how much they jumped, their reaction time and how accurate they were. The most difficult bot was a real computer; it was insanely difficult, just not very advanced. Not very “smart.” It rarely worked in teams and if you had some friends, it was possible to defeat them by catching them in a crossfire or using rockets.
So what is “smart” for AI? These four postulates are what I believe a decent AI should have:
1. Reaction - how fast and when the bot reacts
2. Choice - what the bot will do under a given situation i.e. run, hide, duck, kneel, shoot, switch weapons, retreat, call for help
3. Anticipation - scripted bot placement vs. actual deployment and finding a place to station itself
4. Teamwork - making decisions and/or taking orders (multiple rather than singular goals)
The 3 levels of difficulty that Half Life 2 presented didn’t offer much. Easy mode made your weapon damage higher and helped you aim. Medium was the “normal mode” and Hard gave the Combine a slight edge. Your enemies traveled in packs and shot at you in packs or alone. Sometimes they would even split up and hide behind an explosive barrel. My wild firing foiled their defensive plans every time. They would always run from a tossed grenade and once split up, they are easy to take out.
I’ve played 21 hours of Doom3 single player an 2 hour multiplayer. I have not yet sued id Software for the 23 hours of my life they owe me, but because I have played their game for that long I can safely say their Artificial Intelligence was created by artificial programmers. They stacked the budget for the art and sound departments stole the show and left the AI programmer with five dollars and a hunk of peanut butter on a playing card.
The Battlefield 2 (single player) AI is interesting because your enemies actually work together and stick in groups to carry out missions. Even though this is a linear process, meaning that they will work to complete an objective until dead or redirected, they can still pose a threat on the higher difficulties. Their commander can also make choices for them based on how their opposition is threatening their flags. But still, there is no "thought." They do not pick up extra kits when out of ammunition or even switch kits when a different kit is needed, such as being faced by a tank.
Quake 4 has going to show us what teamwork is made of! Our enemy yells out that were coming and shout when they need help. They’ll take guard against our assault and not just shoot to maim and ask us questions. They want us dead. So how are these guys placed and where do they come from? Are we going to expect waves of opponents or a small super-smart group? Who knows how good these baddies will be, they sure don't.
I’m Quakeing in my boots because of F.E.A.R. The most advanced opponants in a videogame to date. Or so-they-say. Monolith studio’s had their work cut out for them. I played HL2 on all difficulty levels. I played my own way too. Shotgun only. Then Ingram only. Then hand gun’s only. So far this game has make me A.F.R.A.I.D. But after learning paterns, just like Half life 2, I have overcome.
Many of the new and recent AI’s only have two of the four necessary qualities to produce a challenging opponent and that scares me a little. They spend so much time making games look good and feel real, which is important but they do not offer a challenge. Hold that a moment. Remember UT1999? Many opponents are beefed up in power, accuracy and health but not in smarts. There is a long way to go between computer code and humans, but to sell a single player game, I want a challenge, not a bot with a lot of hit points and computer guided sights.
C.G.M.
"Love all, trust few"
- William Shakespeare
