Gamasutra has an in-depth interview with the senior software engineer at Monolith, Matthew Rice, where they discuss the F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin game engine and AI development. It’s a good read and makes me even more intrigued to play this first person shooter horror game. It looks like some of the Lith developers are referring to Left 4 Dead as the correct way to go when it comes to intelligent AI. Read on to learn more on where AI technology is heading.
Excerpt-
What do you see? What is “an improvement” to AI? What is your expectation of where AI is going, and what is achievable within this generation?
“MR: I think you’ve seen a couple different things that have happened in this generation, and they’ll continue on. In terms of smaller, tactical scale AI, you’ve seen mild improvements in terms of the way they plan, and the way they challenge you in combat. But even more than that, they look better while navigating, and they look better while moving through the space. Navigation has increased across the board, and the way they interact with the environment has improved across the board.”
“Globally, across the entire games industry, you’ve seen more AI in games. Games like Assassin’s Creed. We’re getting to that level where you’re moving through large throngs of crowds. You just didn’t see that before; in previous generations, you’d step into a nightclub and it’s be barren, devoid, but now you’re actually seeing fully populated cityscapes.”
“So there have been big improvements in AI, in general, this past generation. There’s only so close that you can get before you get to the uncanny valley, in terms of games, and I think we’re approaching that right now. So, there will be a big leap at some point soon, when things such as the great small-scale tactical AI that a lot of games currently have, gets integrated with the crowd AI that you’re seeing. And you’re also seeing other things, like people are experimenting with AI spawning, and spawning dynamically based on the player’s condition and health, to try and tempo the game differently every time you play it.”
The Gamer Report 