This has been in the works for some time, but we are finally announcing a major change in the consulting wing of Intrinsic Algorithm. Until recently, IA consulting consisted only of Dave Mark. About the time of GDC and the AI Summit, however, a number of AI programmers got together and decided that there was serious merit in joining forces to provide a combined service.
At this time, IA Consulting includes three very experienced, full-time individuals and two "advisory" consultants. More detail on what those roles entail can be found on the IA Consulting page.
Because we are in a transition period, some of these individuals are still with their companies. That is why we aren't naming names just yet. As these people transition out of their jobs to work full time for IA consulting, we will announce who they are. Here is a summary of what the IA consultants bring to the table, however.
3 x Full Time Consultants
8 shipped titles - including numerous AAA titles - 5 of which were in the position of only or lead AI programmer
13 lectures on game AI at conferences such as GDC and AIIDE
For more information on who we are, what we believe in, and how we work, please check out the consulting page. After all, doesn't everyone need help with the intrinsic algorithms in their game?
Takeaway This lecture shows examples of some of the aspects of PvP games that are attractive to players, the AI techniques that can be used to replicate them, and the effect that inclusion of these aspects can have in an MMO environment. The attendee will leave with a variety of concepts that can be included in their own MMO designs.
Session Description Historically, PvE AI in MMOs has been a straight-forward affair. While this leads to predictability, it also leads to monotony. In online, team-based PvP games, however, much of the attraction is the dynamic nature of the engagement that necessitates that players read, communicate, and react appropriately to changing, even unexpected actions of their enemies. By leveraging more advanced techniques that are becoming common in FPS, RPG, and RTS games, the AI in MMOs can be designed to provide some of the more attractive and engaging elements of PvP games. This, in turn, can lead to more involved team play, greater replayability, and an increased sense of community in the game.
I will be speaking at the 2009 Austin GDC, September 15-18. Rather than the broad-based coverage of the GDC, the Austin GDC is more tailored to online games. In that vein, I will be doing a 1-hour lecture entitled "Cover Me!: Promoting MMO Player Interaction through Advanced AI".
I have finally returned from E3 in LA. Mom Nature didn't seem to want me to get out of Denver last night, but I made it back.
Thanks to all of you who I met with during the course of the week. As is always the case, there were a few of you whom I didn't get a chance to speak with - such is the way of conferences like these. Please shoot me an email so we can discuss business.
I finally did manage to look at some of the stuff on the show floor on Thursday (which usually ended up with a discussion about business). I have to say there are certainly interesting things happening in the game industry. However, I was somewhat dismayed by the wide array of genericy (is that a word?) still on display. Some have asked if we have too many titles on the shelf. I would contend that we have too many titles that all do the same thing.
Anyway, it is nice to see E3 back the way it needs to be - but without all the excess that was there in 2002-2003 when I last attended. There were only a few areas of the floor where I could not hold a decent conversation with people. I especially liked how many companies had headphones attached to their demo systems - some with a link so that the demo person could talk to them through the headphones as well. Very nicely done. It cuts down on all the ambient noise on the floor and lets you hear what's going on in the game. For some games that's actually important, ya know!
One thing that was somewhat depressing was knowing that people playing a game for 5 or 10 minutes really have no way of grasping any AI other than the surface issues. They can't "engage" with the game to feel things out. At that point, it's only a slightly more interactive version of the "back of the box" mentality... it's really difficult to hype AI in the promo posters and trailers. A 5 or 10-minute demo isn't going to change all that much.
Anyway, back to going through my massive stack of business cards. Keep checking back for more news on some of the interesting conversations that took place during the course of the week.
I will, indeed, be going to E3 this year. I will be speaking with a number of companies regarding AI consulting. If you are going to be (or are based) in town and would like to meet to discuss business, feel free to contact me so we can set something up.
I've already received my confirmation of free admission to the return of E3. I'm not sure if I'm going to be heading out there or not. Despite the travel being significantly cheaper than going to GDC, I would like to have a little business justification for my trip. I have a couple of potential clients to visit and definitely a few colleagues who will buy me dinner. I will be deciding in the next few days.
If you have a suggestion of how to make it worth my while (e.g. want to meet me for a potential consulting contract), contact me soon!
Due to a MySQL database error, the Intrinsic Algorithm message boards generated an error. I briefly thought about killing a lot of time trying to fix it, but then I realized two thing:
* First, I haven't been using it much anyway. The same can be said for the people who registered. Mostly, it was people who were interested in seeing the video presentation on Airline Traffic Manager. Those can be found on our YouTube channel.
* Second, it looked like someone had written a bot to automatically register users on (and subsequently spam) ubbthreads message boards. I had started receiving plenty of bogus registrations -- some of which were posting... well... less than savory items. It was time to move on anyway.
From a company announcement standpoint, I have been using this news blog for some time. This includes any news on Airline Traffic Manager. For general information on game AI, I have been using IA on AI. When you add Post-Play'em, my observations on the AI of games I play, you can find most of what I have to say on those three blogs.
