Intrinsic Algorithm News: June 2009

IA Information

Communication

Dave Mark's book,
"Behavioral Mathematics
for Game AI"
is available on Amazon.com!

Archives

Intrinsic Algorithm News

Saturday, June 13, 2009

IA Consulting is Expanding!

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
1 book - Dave Mark's 2009 release, Behavioral Mathematics for Game AI
11 articles or papers on game AI in Game Programming Gems, AI Game Programming Wisdom, and elsewhere.
15 lectures on game AI at conferences such as GDC and AIIDE
6 years as a formal game AI instructor

2 x Advisory Consultants

11 shipped titles - including a number of well-respected AAA titles - as an AI programmer
15 articles or papers on game AI in Game Programming Gems, AI Game Programming Wisdom, and elsewhere.
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?

Labels: AI Consulting

Feedback and ratings:

View blog reactions

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Details of GDC Austin Lecture

The information for my lecture, Cover Me! Promoting MMO Player Interaction through Advanced AI, at GDC Austin has been posted.

Here's the relevant information:

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.

Labels: Austin GDC, GDC, MMO

Feedback and ratings:

View blog reactions

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Speaking at GDC Austin

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".

More details soon.

Labels: Austin GDC, GDC, MMO

Feedback and ratings:

View blog reactions

Back from E3!

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.

Labels: E3, E3 2009

Feedback and ratings:

View blog reactions


	Looking for the GDC AI Roundtable notes and audio? Content �2002-2008 by Intrinsic Algorithm L.L.C.