AI Game Development: Synthetic Creatures with Learning and Reactive Behaviors

Key Topics

• Crafting Tactical Behaviors

• Behaviors and the Subsumption Architecture

• Applying Subsumption to Tactics

• Evaluation

To reveal practical issues when creating deathmatch behaviors, a prototype must be designed manually. As usual, this provides a reference animat that potentially justifies the use of learning behaviors (if better AI leads to visible improvements). The design in this chapter does not aim to satisfy the emotions of the animat, but rather to conform to strategic patterns established by the engineer.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Basic tactical behaviors that can be combined to form deathmatch strategies

• A description of the subsumption architecture in more detail, including a model based on finite-state machines, which simplifies to a layered approach conceptually

• An application of the subsumption architecture to provide deathmatch strategies with a behavior-based solution

• An evaluation of the solution in terms of performance and the design of the system

At the end of this chapter, the animats will be fully competent in the art of deathmatch combat.