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What Would You Like to See from Game AI?
jtogel asks: "As someone working in new (bio-inspired) AI research with an eye to applications in games, but within an academic setting, I often hear that game developers are not incorporating cutting-edge academic AI into their projects because it's too "risky" (they can't really predict how gamers would react), and because they don't see the point in it. As a gamer, and as someone who cares what gamers think, I am often surprised by the sorry state of current commercial game AI - it has hardly moved since the 1980s. However, maybe the problem is that no-one really knows what we want from game AI. Academics keep coming up with innovative AI technologies, but what we should we use it for? What do you think? What sort of intelligent behavior would you like to see in games, but don't at present? Which are the most obvious intelligence deficiencies of current NPCs that need to be fixed?"
I want an AI that can do a convincing sex scene, that's different every time, and pays attention to what I want. Since I like to have sex with people I find interesting, I want the AI to be interesting, as well.
I plan on waiting a few (but only a few) decades.
What I want in a war simulation
X(7): A program for managing terminal windows. See also screen(1).
*cough* mario kart *cough*
fucking pisses me off
Notes to all friendly Oblivion NPCs: If your buddy shoots big angry light-making spell thingy at big angry gonna-kill-you-all monster, don't get in between. It probably isn't healthy.
Also (and this was, actually, the more frustrating one), if there's a bunch of you, and a large group of monsters in an area, do not, repeat, do *not* all go haring after different monsters that are very far away. This gets you all killed, and then the squishy little thief/mage needs to hop around dodging many many bad things until the immortal(s) wake(s) up. Or she quickloads for the 10% chance that at least a few of you will gang up and kill *something*. This does not make the squishy one happy.
Or, say, you're a certain nameless Orc warrioress with only melee abilities, and your squishy little thief/mage buddy has ranged magic, a nice new shiny black bow, and is currently running right the @#!%&$##!@ past you to try and get you to kill the big evil giant-weapon-go-smashy guy on her tail that is turning her into scrib jelly... it'd be rather nice if you took your attention off of that archer on top of the building (that you have no path to and no way to hit) and saved your panicking, dying, and probably-hilarious-to-watch buddy. Just a thought.
Seriously, the ways that NPCs target could be improved. A lot. I know it's better NPC AI than is generally available elsewhere, and I love Bethesda for all that they've accomplished, but it's just really reeeeally frustrating sometimes.
Since the games are all balanced around the AI, of _course_ changing the AI would unbalance them. The thing is that even if the encounter you described were to change all it would mean is that this sequence of events would follow:
1) A few hundred people will scream bloody murder on the forums since they can no longer get free candy from the Easter Bunny just for showing up and following the same script that everyone has used since November of 2004.
2) Regularly scheduled Loot Collection Visits will stop as everyone takes their toys and goes somewhere else for Ridiculously Easy Money.
3) A few People With Too Much Time On Their Hands will actually try to figure out how they can beat the new, more challenging encounter. Eventually they will come up with some loophole or flaw in the AI's logic which allows them to win.
4) The same hundred idiots will hear about this and continue to scream about how this only proves that Blizzard hates them and is in league with the girls who won't go to the Prom with them because the rewards haven't been changed.
5) Then the servers will crash. Despite what the conspiracy theorists think this won't have anything to do with steps 1) through 4), it's just something that happens a lot.