From Book News, Inc.
This book confirms your suspicion that the scaly-eyed green monster on the left has somehow learned you always shoot to the right when you enter the third dungeon. Writing primarily for game developers, Funge describes how to use artificial intelligence (AI) to make non- player characters (NPCs), usually autonomous sidekicks or cannon- fodder, progressively more sophisticated. With AI, NPCs can act in the game world, perceive it, react to it, remember it, search within it, weigh options, and, in essence, learn from their experience. He describes conventions and architecture and gives C++ codes for sample NPCs.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in computer games. The author concentrates on the techniques and strategies for developing efficient AI engines for gaming applications. Building on fundamental principles of artificial intelligence, the author explains how to create nonplayer 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 to continue in the game play to think about the effects of possible actions and finally to learn from their experience. The author 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.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
How do you differentiate your game when great graphics aren￯﾿ﾽt enough? One way: smarter, more cunning characters. Great villains, for instance. To get them, master AI -- with John Funge￯﾿ﾽs 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￯﾿ﾽs Wario -- though NPCs can also be sidekicks, ￯﾿ﾽcannon fodder,￯﾿ﾽ or even the hidden non-characters that control lighting and cameras in the background.) You￯﾿ﾽll 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￯﾿ﾽs for working developers. It￯﾿ﾽs 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.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Building on fundamental principles of Artificial Intelligence, the author explains how to create NPCs with progressively more sophisticated capabilities. Learn how to develop NPCs who can: act in the game world; perceive the game world; react to what they perceive; remember what they perceive; think about the effects of possible actions; and finally learn from their experience." By the time you finish reading this book you will be able to recognize which techniques might have been used to generate the behavior you see in the computer games you play. You'll also be able to decide which capabilities are appropriate for the NPCs in your game.

SYNOPSIS

This book confirms your suspicion that the scaly-eyed green monster on the left has somehow learned you always shoot to the right when you enter the third dungeon. Writing primarily for game developers, Funge describes how to use artificial intelligence (AI) to make non- player characters (NPCs), usually autonomous sidekicks or cannon- fodder, progressively more sophisticated. With AI, NPCs can act in the game world, perceive it, react to it, remember it, search within it, weigh options, and, in essence, learn from their experience. He describes conventions and architecture and gives C++ codes for sample NPCs. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

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