Artificial Intelligence for Computer Games: An Introduction

by John David Funge

Overview

Learn to make games that are more fun and engaging! Building on fundamental principles of Artificial Intelligence, Funge explains how to create Non-Player Characters (NPCs) with progressively more sophisticated capabilities. Starting with the basic capability of acting in the game world, the book explains how to develop NPCs who can perceive, remember what they perceive, and then continue in the game play to think about the effects of possible actions, and finally learn from their experience. Funge considers the system architecture and explains how to implement potential behaviors (both reactive and deliberate) for intelligent and responsive NPCs allowing for games that are more fun and engaging. Emphasizing enduring design principles, Funge covers the basics of Game AI and provides a clear, easy to read introduction that beginning programmers and game designers will enjoy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040157978
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	07/29/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Acting 3. Perceiving 4. Reacting 5. Remembering 6. Searching 7. Learning

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"He presents advanced AI research in a way that is meaningful to the working game AI programmer." -Craig Reynolds, Slashdot, January 2005

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
How do you differentiate your game when great graphics aren’t enough? One way: smarter, more cunning characters. Great villains, for instance. To get them, master AI -- with John Funge’s Artificial Intelligence for Computer Games.

Funge discusses just about everything game developers are doing with AI, organizing his coverage around a Non-Player Character. (Think, maybe, Mario’s Wario -- though NPCs can also be sidekicks, “cannon fodder,” or even the hidden non-characters that control lighting and cameras in the background.) You’ll learn ways to control how your NPC acts, perceives, reacts, remembers, searches, learns, and chooses from available options.

John Funge has written about AI and games before. But his earlier book, based on a Ph.D. thesis, was quite academic. This one’s for working developers. It’s far more accessible, and very useful. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2003 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

bn.com

A whirlwind tour of techniques from the literature of academic AI research and ... their application to the nuts and bolts of game AI programming. While some of these topics are quite advanced, the text remains easily readable and grounded in what the techniques mean to real game programmers developing real game AI.

Slashdot.org

"He presents advanced AI research in a way that is meaningful to the working game AI programmer." -Craig Reynolds, Slashdot, January 2005

From the Publisher