Game Development Community

FPS/RTS AI question...

by Terry · in General Discussion · 01/20/2005 (7:11 pm) · 2 replies

My partner and I have been discussing the differences between the difficulty of AI coding in a FPS and a RTS. One says coding the AI (if it's good AI) for a FPS is harder, the other says it's much harder for a RTS. We both have various reasons for each argument, but I don't want to influence anyone's thinking by explaining them.

I am, though, interested in seeing what the comments/opinions of the community might be. And why. Anyone?
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Torque Owner Eric Lavigne
#1
01/20/2005 (7:27 pm)
I think it is easy to make a strong AI for an FPS. Just make them shoot straight at the player and they will rarely lose. It is common in FPS to intentionally make the AI miss some percentage of the time in order to make them beatable. Making them act intelligently while moving around the map is very difficult, but it's not essential if your only goal is to make them strong. Give them a few developer chosen waypoints on the field which have direct line of sight between them, and have the AI wander about randomly between the waypoints until the player is in view (just so the AI's position won't be predictable) then fire away. Throw in a little random running during a fight (or even deliberate dodging if you're feeling fancy) and players won't stand a chance. This works best in open areas, gets tricky in smaller spaces.

I'm not sure about RTS, but it seems harder. Suppose you chose a simple strategy for your AI: build these things in this order, send out some scouts, when you find the enemy send all troops in that direction. Would such a simple strategy work well against players? In the beginning it would. It would be good enough against new players who don't manage their resources well. I have a feeling it wouldn't be enough to challenge a decent player though.

Torque Owner Will Harrison
#2
01/20/2005 (9:03 pm)
Making AI for an RTS is similar to making AI for a chess game -- and therefore it's alot harder, IMO.