Chapter 12. Making Characters Chase or Run Away

Artificial intelligence (A.I.) is where computer scientists work on giving computing device’s intelligence. Most people associate A.I. with robots and androids because of what they see in the movies. However, A.I. is mostly about algorithms that can be turned into software and hardware to give computers intelligence. For example, A.I. scientists can study the organization of information to enable a machine to make connections between different pieces of information in order to allow the computer to make a decision. A.I. scientists also study how humans learn. The goal is to build algorithms that allow computers to learn in similar ways.

In virtual worlds, A.I. is used to give the computer-controlled characters decision-making skills to navigate the world autonomously. The goal is to make the computer-controlled character move through the virtual world with a program. The character could be searching for something as it moves around the world, or looking to attack the human-controlled character, or just patrolling some area to provide an obstacle or distraction for the human-controlled character. Pattern movement is the simplest way to automate the movements of computer-controlled characters. A pattern is preset pathway through the virtual world. The character is programmed to follow the pathway repeatedly. Chasing and evading are two classes of decision-making algorithms. Chasing is where a computer-controlled character is programmed to follow another character. Evading is where a computer-controlled character is running away from other characters, including any human-controlled characters. This chapter is about using chasing and evading strategies in your projects to make your characters more intelligent.