What Makes Good AI?

[@GMTK]

Want more detail on video game AI? Then check out this video on Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gp7Ccq2BZ5ygkLs - And this one on the autonomy system from The Sims - kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5jJY4CKYq6Cqck

[@adrianbik3366]

* Two guards in Skyrim sitting by a bonfire * Me: *Kills one with an arrow* The second guard: *"Must have been the wind"*

[@Doublemonk0506]

It was the wind because if there wasn't any wind, the arrow wouldn't move far

[@Doublemonk0506]

@@gerryjtierney, the wind supports the movement of the arrow through the air and keep it in the air for a while

[@gerryjtierney]

@@Doublemonk0506 do you mean the air? Wind and air aren't synonyms

[@Doublemonk0506]

@@gerryjtierney, wind is caused by air because wind is moving air and besides, it's a crummy joke/explanation of a funny quote

[@no_nameyouknow]

@@Doublemonk0506 That is not true at all. If there was no wind the arrow would go on until it hit something.

[@haxorinator8219]

FEAR always amazes me about how the AI reacts. Especially for a decade + old game. Especially when compared to modern shooters like BF or CoD 1. They notice flashlights 2. They scan the room, when their head turns to you you’re spotted 3. They use ordinary objects as cover (they flip tables and chairs for cover!) 4. They toss grenades when you’re in a tight area or cornered 5. They FAKE DEATH! 6. They change position as soon as you look away to reload 7. They swarm you from different angles/sight lines 8. Did I mention they feign death? Never have a played a shooter where I really felt hunted but not powerless

[@dotXyore]

The feigning death bit might come off as a bit unpredictable and frustrating. On one hand, it would change the way you play the game, making sure every enemy you "kill" is dead for good. On the other hand, assuming you don't see it early on, it can cause problems when you're at a point in the game without saving and seemingly end a close fight while low on health, only to be caught completely off guard by the jerk who just fell to the ground to sneak a shot.

[@ecod7r]

the reason why it was good, because two third of it was scripted according to the map. Where is now we have more of bigger maps and scripting became harder. we need to introduce new next gen AI into gaming. because games are only pushing graphics and nothing new about AI

[@davidcolby167]

Wait they WHAT!? I've never seen them feign death!

[@_mazarico_]

Never seen them feign death but I remember one time in the early part of the game (the water treatment plant), I was able to successfully sneak past a squad of replica and continue on with the game. I got into the next combat encounter (the last FEAR clip shown in the GMT video) and wiped out the squad in that area, when all of a sudden, I was getting shot from behind and realized the replica squad I snuck past had been alerted and rushed to the area that I was in. Keep in mind that there was several corridors and I think a ladder as well between the two combat areas and the Replica was able to navigate it with no problem. I was dumbfounded. I've never seen FPS AI do such a thing and to me, that was what made FEAR so impressive.

[@MrShadow1617]

Ecoder EliteCoder so true man. From what I've seen about new games in ongoing franchises, quite often the graphics were mindblowing, sequels had even better graphics. But gameplaywise either nothing changed or it just got a little bit better.

[@InquisitorShepard]

"predictability" Ye, civ5 does not have it. Japan: "hi wanna be my friend." Me: "sure thing." 5 turns later. Japan: "THIS IS WAR!" Me: "ok?" Japan doesn't send any armies the whole duration of the war, so I just keep my borders safe just in case. War ends. Japan: "Imma tell everyone you cannot be trusted." Me: "..." 5 turns later. Japan: "hey wanna be my friend?"

[@limeangelo6019]

Ill never forgive the japanese

[@Lyubimov89]

Maybe it helps that the turns are supposed to be years apart?

[@amberarmstrong5131]

Sounds like America’s relationship with Russia

[@TheRenegade...]

ww2 pacific front

[@georgen.2959]

Renegade не совсем.

[@cullenhutchison6528]

I had never really considered that "good AI" and "smart AI" would be different. I guess it depends on the game/situation whether they are the same thing or not.

[@truefiasco2637]

if all npcs had ai on the level of alpha go no one would ever win.

[@gabrielandy9272]

​@@truefiasco2637 if its a competitive game like bots for offline play Ai that don't use cheats and play very good is good...... but if it use cheats its bad/crap, so alpha go or open ai five is kinda the goal for bots that replace humans. i think theres a huge differencve betwen a single player adventure story game Ai where it could cheat and tyr to make the game fun from one that is replacing a human function, on the other example everything in this videos apply, but for the ones that are replacing a human its different.

[@henryplumb5200]

Ironically, the draw of the AI in games is that they are, in fact, allowing us to mostly indulge in our power fantasy by being vaguely inferior to human level gaming. Mostly, I say, because sometimes an AI behaving on par or better than a human is what draws the play to the game, for example, a beast AI that is amazingly "smart" would make a particularly scary antagonist for a horror game, as long as it plays by the rules that we're playing by.

[@alpharius3661]

Subnautica, the AI is amazing because of its ability to instill terror instead of fear by acting like a true predator. Stalking, watching, fleeing when the loss out weighs the gain, being territorial and being less like an enemy, and more like an obstacle.

[@bugsmith9751]

ah, i see you watched the "terror vs fear" video

[@jimothywhimothy8683]

I would disagree with that, the ai for me feels stupid and not like a real thing, but like a stone guardian that will always attack you if you get within range. For an actual example for a game that does something like you described then look at rain world ai

[@alpharius3661]

@Basically I'm Schlorping well that’s also why it’s such good AI, you don’t realize that. If it was obvious it wouldn’t be as good because they feel like animals. People who aren’t being dumb will usually never die, and if they do it’s from drowning

[@dapperturtle1559]

Dude it rushes at you and forgets about you the moment the attack connects. I love the games but definitely not for the shitty ai

[@ch4rmy]

thats not an amazing ai, thats just an amazing design

[@FredNugent23]

The amount of source material on your description deserves a shout-out, holy shit. Thanks for the good work

[@marcuss4697]

Yep. Seeing that amount of links and information makes me really happy for some reason hahah. I wish more channels did the same.

[@GMTK]

Wouldn't be a very good resource without links! :) You're welcome

[@Gamesforus1]

Or Zelda game. I'll show myself out

[@GMTK]

Oh you

[@variousthings6470]

Before he posted the video, Mark Tweeted that his initial attempt at listing all the sources had led to him hitting the ~5000 character limit on KZbin video descriptions!

[@l_t_jn]

Aaaand... there's NPCs who walk slower than player's running but faster than walking in escort missions. Developers designed this WILL go to gaming hell.

[@danielsharp2402]

I think the reason is that if you are clumsy for a moment they would outrun you and die.

[@karwashblark7499]

@@danielsharp2402 Or you could do what many games do and just have the NPC automatically match the player's pace

[@badreedinedjellali1328]

in arkham city he picked up an enime and thorough it at you so I think the ai is good

[@liamwalton4183]

Slow yourself adventurer!

[@Thalanox]

@@karwashblark7499 Different situations. In MHW, the NPCs are walking around to try to give you an in-gameplay cutscent / guided tour of the area. In the ones where the NPCs match the player's pace, the player is the one leading the way, while the NPCs are just baggage that occasionally spouts pre-written comments about the environment.

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

FEAR really really impressed me. I had mentally counted the number of enemies I killed and one was missing so I began searching for him. Turns out that he had went the long way around and was pursuing me from behind, and then he shot me in the back. Another game that impressed me was Killzone 2. If you shoot enemies they take cover, and if you keep shooting they don't pop up and shoot. Instead they lift their guns above the cover and fire blindly in the direction they think you are in. If you stop firing they quickly check by popping out their heads. So what I did was that I sprinted around a bunch of junk and came up beside the guy. He still turned around and checked behind himself to see if I was still there. Then he turned his head towards me and stated "SHIT." A third example is in Crysis, the most tense and immersive fight I ever had in an FPS. There is this small cemetry in the forest where you are supposed to extract. Yet in this area there are four enemies with nanosuits, sniper rifles and SMGs. In case you are unaware of what this means, they are invisible and once you shoot them they switch to armour. Taking a whole magazine of bullets without dropping. But since I was already aware of them being in the area I cloaked and snuck towards the place. Lying beneath a bush and trying to spot the camoflaged enemies through the damp mist. Occasionally I could see someone in the distance, sitting as their nanosuit regained its energy. More often I heard their footsteps but couldn't see them. If you make any noise they begin to quitely track you down. And if you are revealed you can expect fire from all direction and die. It probably took over an hour as I tried to sneak closer and closer to an individual enemy, then broke stealth and emptied a magazine of incendiary ammo into one. Then stealthed as I snuck away to hide under another bush. One by one, bush and tree, step by step until I had found every single one. This enemy was intelligent and had the proper tools to fight you on equal terms. It was terrifying and enjoyable.

[@Killerbee_McTitties]

Agreed. In case you replay Crysis any time in the future. those nansuit guys at the cemetery might take a lot a bullets but even they go down to a single sleeping dart, letting you finish them off easily.

[@iuliangirbea6316]

You should really give a try to brothers in arms good ai you have to flank them

[@diouranke]

It is interesting that those are all older games to my knowledge but have very good ai. Crysis really stands alone in so many ways. Great game

[@thanhvinhnguyento7069]

Wow the killzone one is surprising

[@airbornefilip9139]

That Crysis mission made me pause playing the game for a week or so. Decided to do my first ever playthrough on Delta difficulty and boy did it take hours to finish. :D That mission took at least 2 hours of trying out things. What's funny is that I accidentally finished it when I was showing it to my friend and while complaining that I just can't make it work. :D And boom, mission done.

[@ethribin4188]

"In a game, a patroling guards goal isnt to find the player. Its to provide interesting gameplay." Truest of words.

[@Phi_Lix]

@jackthegamer Far Cry New Dawn does stealth pretty badly, if you even get spotted for a second, every guard in the area is suddenly aware of you.

[@deadfr0g]

Half-Life: just some soldier guys: “Target MUST BE ELIMINATED. Find, pursue, and destroy at all cost.” Doom: vicious, abominable monsters from the depths of space hell: “We’re all a bit shy, actually.”

[@dkskcjfjswwwwwws413]

I mean hecu thought gordon was a nerd with a suit. Doom demons are fighting an entity that has been slaughtering their kin for eons.

[@ТомасАндерсон-в1е]

In the lore, Doomguy was sent to hell for a while and was the one thing that demons were absolutely terrified of. So it actually makes sense that they'd be shy and try and keep their distance.

[@jodyroane4219]

That's because in doom you play as the special event world boss and the enemies are your typical raiding guilds getting wiped.

[@choboibigly6565]

Just some soldier guys: fighting an engineer Vicious, abominable monsters from the depths of space hell: fighting the strongest being in existence that is known for vehemently hating their kind The fact that the demons fight at all is a testament to their bravery, stupidity, and/or their desperation

[@brknvods]

“Oh shit oh f*** it’s the doom guy AAAA”

[@theSato]

You're approaching a great balance between 'serious, informative' and 'lighthearted, funny' with the small gags and jokes here and there, I'm loving it. It keeps my mind from wanting to zone out after a long stretch of straight info.

[@KnakuanaRka]

How true; even more serious educational material needs to keep your interest. A few zingers here and there won’t hurt.

[@pierreo33]

Hows that ADD working out

[@durendenmp812]

@@pierreo33 Pretty good, how's that keyboard warrioring working out?

[@mlembrant]

"Enemy - looks at player" "Enemy - move forward" Developer - Is this the Artificial Intelligence?

[@sultim7570]

Serious Sam Developers: "YES"

[@nopity3057]

So your telling me that the AI is not an AI but code for the movement of the enemy???

[@v8wr253]

if(SeePlayer) { Enemy.stareatthatsonofab(); Enemy.moveforward(); } else { Enemy.effoffsomewhereelse(); }

[@michelveraliot]

@@v8wr253 if (distance > 30) { Seeplayer = false } Void Lateupdate { Distance = this.vector3.distance; Debug.log("THAT'S WHY IA ARE BLIND") } // I love you're comments btw and have a nice dah

[@emersonrivas3994]

@@michelveraliot Thanks for the code

[@-ism8153]

It's like in a movie where, when you analyze how the battle was won from a third, uninvolved perspective, you realize that the reason the hero won was just that the enemies didn't attack to their full extent.

[@binnieb173]

John Wicking it... when all the armed guards need to run up to 3 feet of Wick to try to shoot him.

[@edselcervantes6229]

dude got thrown off a building, he is clearly resisten to death at this point.

[@orbcat1790]

A New Hope "Hmm those rebels might destroy the Death Star... I know, send 3 tie fighters after all of them. That should work."

[@noisyplanet3397]

@@binnieb173 LOOOL that shit also happens with Batman, that's why I don't bother with his movies. They piss me off.

[@binnieb173]

@@noisyplanet3397 all those bad action movies get to me. also don't even get me started on how bad the Nolen Batman trilogy is. Heath Ledger saved that man, those moves are TERRIBLE except for one absolutely stellar acting performance and it killed the guy to do it.

[@umbaupause]

13:46 "You thought it was a jar of chemicals, but it was I, GORDON!!!"

[@youknowhizname3039]

KONO GORDON DA

[@commenturthegreat2915]

In Bioshock infinite it makes total sense that Elizabeth is "invincible". The enemy has a motive to keep her alive.

[@binnieb173]

Then don't be lazy and write the AI to leave her alone and even write barks of like 'hold your fire, hes behind the girl' But they don't. It makes no sense that she literally CANT die. The plot needs her alive and the AI wants her alive, so don't be lazy and write scripting where they don't use explosives around her, shoot at her or target her. Write scripting where if they can they will run up, grab her and try to take her away! The makers of infinite were extremely lazy with their AI, but that whole game was rough at best to be honest. A far cry from the original, which is the sad state of gaming. If you make something truly great and original the gaming market and CEO's will own the rights and will sell a sequal to the lowest bidding designer at the fastest turn around time. This has caused a HUGE rift in the gaming development world with game makers and their pay and CEO's.

[@deepfriedicecream576]

Binnie B I’m sorry what are you even talking about? Infinite isn’t lazy and it’s a completely different genre in comparison to the original bioshock. Bioshock was a semi open sandbox that has a very large emphasis on player creativity and gameplay. The enemies and world that Bioshock exists in is to compliment the game play. This enemy throws items at the player, there’s a telekinesis plasmid. Let’s litter then environment with situations where every plasmid is a viable option. Oil spills near explosive barrels, pools of water, explosive props, machines that can be taken advantage of and a reason to explore to enhance the players arsenal. Of course since the protagonist does not speak, environmental story telling will do most of the work that’s gives a reason for everything to exist and why it does. Electrical equipment is down, ice blocking a passage, or you need to bypass an area without doing any work, there is a plasmid to do the right job because the people that existed in rapture did the same things you are about to do. Bioshock infinite is a liner fps with the main focus being the characters Booker and Elizabeth. Booker and Elizabeth are literally the only main characters of the game. Even the antagonist Comstock is booker. The Lutecce Twins are a by product of Bookers actions. The female helped turn Booker into Comstock and the male helped Booker get his daughter back. Elizabeth has to exist for Booker to exist. Whether she die at an old age, die as a child, or cease to exist entirely. Characters like Daisy and Finkton are support characters to help build the world and add on to the main characters motivation to continue the story forward. I highly suggest you play Infinite again. Take off your rose tinted glasses with Bioshock, and actually pay attention to the story. And if you don’t want to the cool fine by me I really don’t care. But other games have done the Bioshock formula and have even done it better like Prey and I would argue Metro Exodus follows the Bioshock formula as well seeing as how it is probably the most detailed video game I have ever played.

[@JG-ib7xk]

@@deepfriedicecream576 nah, Infinite is embarrassing. It's so lazily made.

[@deepfriedicecream576]

J G argue with me. Why do you think so? I genuinely want to know why you think this video game is lazy

[@deathgaming7408]

@@JG-ib7xk bring your best argument mate why is it lazy?

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

One thing that Half-Life did right that games RARELY do was if soldiers take enough damage, they start limping/running away. That sort of realistic behavior helped make the soldiers seem more genuine even if their behavior was goofy at other times. It's a real shame that Half-Life 2 got rid of that concept.

[@Weaponsandstuff93]

It didn't get rid of it, the issue is the enemy have to get to a low health threshold before they begin to run for cover meaning you normally kill them before noticing the behaviour change. Metrocops flee more often than the Soldiers as well, apparently Valve designed the Metrocops to act either very aggressive or defensive, while the soldiers are polished versions of the HECU Marines, lots of people don't notice that because Combine soldiers have less HP, therefore seem easier because you often kill them before they demonstrate their AI potential.

[@veganhero1828]

Bethesda games do that.

[@DOC_951]

Goldeneye kinda did that

[@deepfriedicecream576]

Metro Exodus: when shot either in the leg or with a high powered weapon, they limp away to cover to die. They also continue to struggle and desperately try to fire their weapon in an effort to kill you. Enemies will also quit fighting you when overwhelmed and beg you not to shoot them Far Cry 2: behaves similarly to Metro Exodus where they will run off to cover and sit down and pull out a side arm as a last ditch effort to kill you Fallout: there is a crippling system in the game where different broken limbs cause different animations to play when an NPC is walking or trying to run away. Elder scrolls: enemies yield in combat and will run away, some holding their leg in pain Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5: the police in gta will drag downed officers to cover. When enough damage is dealt, some NPCs will limp away and eventually die, falling to the ground Call of Duty: enemies that haven’t been killed but are injured use the final stand perk. Far Cry 5: enemies will trip when shot and sometimes fall but will get back up. But if you shoot an animal and chase it down, it eventually cannot sprint anymore and will limp away and die A lot of games do it but I agree, it is very interesting to see the AI react to damage even if it’s scripted and should really be in a lot of games because it enhances the experience so much

[@odysseusinspace9704]

SoupMan Jones *Hammers down the E key*

[@robin_queer]

You made this episode just so you could talk about Chicken Boning, calling it.

[@warhawk4431]

completely worth it, honestly

[@CMY_Kat]

Petition to officially call it 'chicken boning'.

[@ShinoSarna]

Let's make chicken-boning a general slang for causing enemy infighting in videogames, too. "I positioned myself behind that zombie so the imp would throw fireball at him, chickenboning him".

[@wet_fart8674]

David DiMartino bo

[@VoltiGamingVG1Gaming]

You can chicken bone in watch dogs 2, just run into a gangs area while being chased by another gang, or police and they'll just start fighting

[@diesemautokerl2181]

3:21 I'm so glad you mentioned that I remember playing Hitman Absolution on the hardest difficulty, was in a shootout, one doorway to me behind cover and me going outside to shoot them was deadly to me, basically whoever was attacking first had the disadvantage. Then an A.I goon said "GUYS GUYS OKAY, WAIT FOR *HIM*, TO COME TO US" That level of A.I really makes it feel more real and that you're not just finding mindless models

[@the_master_coder2655]

my life just changed when i realized you can rob people in skyrim like that

[@pjdarkwolf0057]

me too i never know that guess i'm gonna play the game again and wake up on that old Imperial wagon one more time "Hey, you. You're finally awake..."

[@louismartin7608]

Every times he says "Hi I'm Mark Brown" I answer in my head "Oh Hi Mark"

[@JD-od6jh]

I did not hit her! I did not, it's bullshit. I DID NAAAAHT!

[@0Fyrebrand0]

So anyway, how's your sex life?

[@DrearierSpider1]

Thief: The Dark Project doesn't get nearly enough credit for its contributions to AI advancement. It basically invented the AI for stealth games as we've come to know it (reacting to light & sound, barks, etc.)

[@christianschweda2530]

I looked for Thief and had to scroll waaay to far to find it. You're totally right!

[@laseede17]

I'm sure he'll talk about it in his upcoming stealth video.

[@InfernalMonsoon]

It's really great stuff - I think the open, labyrinthine level design just wouldn't have worked whatsoever without the AI being as well made as it is.

[@t850terminator]

The Metal Age is one of the best stealth games of all time. Funny how console gaming still struggle with shit PC gaming achieved years ago.

[@jasonfenton8250]

Tilde White I think it was a design compromise. It's a quick way to make the ai competent at searching. Irl, the guard would look for an intruder in the shadowy alcove, but I assume they couldn't make the guards recognize logical hiding spaces. The game was in production hell, I think it was a quick fix to get the game out the door and it mostly works.

[@user-SerhijA]

hey, thank you for subtitles for the videos. My English isn't yet good enough to understand all words at first time and it makes it way easier to find what specific words mean

[@RekoTheProducer]

Your English is great

[@yoshi6236]

While this is true, I personally use subtitles when its loud and I cant hear the video, lol.

[@gabesterwitz9054]

Your English is great, at least when writing.

[@kadinriggs6840]

I know you mentioned Rain World, but that game really does have great AI. It doesn't feel so much like you're just trying to make your way through the game, it feels like you're struggling to survive in a living, breathing ecosystem

[@Lalaoz]

specifically in metal gear solid 5, when enemies start doing the things that counter your play style. you can usually swap to a different play style to nullify it. however something i genuinely enjoyed was how if you really wanted to. you could still play the way you have been. it'll just be harder. and you'll find yourself saying "ok so he has a helmet.. but HE doesnt.. so i'll take him out first. that guy will see him but its fine because then i'll be able to run up and cqc him" since theres nobody else here basically making you play the same way with some variation. or how about the fact that your buddy quiet can litteraly snipe the helmets off of enemies. if your looking at an enemy she does this to the game goes into reflex mode (slow motion basically) allowing you to capitalize on the moment and take him out instantly.

[@АндрейМарк-ч1х]

stalker has the best AI in any game ever made. ...when it works.

[@quan-uo5ws]

True, you had AI from different faction go around the map and shoot each other, and that is without the player's presense. Also there was packs of mutants hunting stalkers ( and then even eating them)

[@DavidMishchenko]

If you still love the game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Anomaly (mod) is the game to play right now. It has AI fixed along with years of community feedback and improvements. It's fully free to download and doesn't require the purchase of the original game. My favourite latest addition of theirs is Discord integration.

[@mrpetebojangles21]

Mannn, I was following the development of STALKER for years before it came out, and then for some reason I was without a PC when it finally came out. The early screenshots that were leaked etc blew my mind. Did it ultimately end up delivering? I wish I had played it when it was new as in 2019, it looks pretty janky.

[@ARatQuiRit]

@@DavidMishchenko Thanks a lot ! I'm inflicting myself a lot of pain trying to mod Fallout NV, I'll finally play this instead xD May I ask some things ? Does this mod add or is it "just" a remaster of one of the original game ? Can it be compared to Lost Alpha for exemple ? I can't believe I totally missed it ! Thanks again !

[@ARatQuiRit]

@Ian Goschman Are you kidding ? I'm playing it whenever I can since that last comment ! xD I'm back on my good old "full stalker mindset" ! And it's damn good !

[@EliasFrost123]

The half life 2 clip with the bottle reminded me of how in that game, they script the AI in such a way that when the characters miss their targets, they will actually search the immediate surrounding for "interesting things" to shoot at instead of their target, like props in the background. This in order to make the firefights look and sound more interesting. Thought I'd share that since it's actually pretty ingenious.

[@nameguy101]

I didn't know that, that's amazing.

[@StadtplanDan]

Ahh, that explains why they shoot out windows, destroy cover such as boxes and light up explosive barrels when they can't get a direct line of fire on you. It's actually a good way of making them intimidating and can also flush you out.

[@Weaponsandstuff93]

Also when Metrocops or Soldiers use machine gun nests their AI changes slightly, I think the item in front of face exploit was patched out of the game a while ago though.

[@CyberdyneSystemsSkynet]

Does the bottle glitch actually work? I've tried that with barrels and they still seem to know to shoot the barrel, do you have do not aggro them first?

[@Weaponsandstuff93]

It sometimes works but not always, with the cop on the MG nest it only works with him because the AI is scripted not to leave the MG to force the player to use grenades or cover. So when the line of sight is broken by the bottle the cop can't flank properly. If you try it in other areas of the game you might find that one enemy stops shooting at you briefly while another moves up and shoots you directly in the side of the head.

[@kalyxstudios6212]

chicken boning... a fowl way to die

[@humphred4912]

damn. that was pretty good.

[@gabesterwitz9054]

Sans would approve.

[@ggpt9641]

I'm Cucco for Cucco jokes! Well done.

[@Atoyihrs]

a part of me died from reading that...

[@IDFK7477]

You win comments

[@TheKotti]

Five minutes into the video I've screamed "YES!" so, so many times. Back in July the new Hitman got a patch that made the AI wildly unpredictable and just about ruined the otherwise outstanding game for me and I've since been trying to explain to people, the developers included, why it's such a terrible change. Unfortunately it seems that a lot of people think that unpredictable is realistic and that realistic is good.

[@InfernalMonsoon]

Taking a gamey approach with certain design and mechanical aspects is always often the best way of doing things in video games. Having unpredictable AI that can easily fuck up a well-executed plan in the player's head is not only less satisfying for the player but it can really hurt the game in a huge number of ways because the game itself is essentially cheating. Whoever the AI designer is on Hitman clearly missed the point of it being a game.

[@teamrabbitalec]

Humans can get highly predictable at times. By knowing how a person thinks you can predict what they will say or do or not do or say.

[@Grapefruit5000]

TheKotti I bought the game after the patch came out and I still think it's an amazing game and that the AI is rather predictable. Can you explain to me what's worse about it?

[@TheKotti]

I actually did mention in a recent video how people who got the game after the patch probably don't mind, heh. Before the July patch, the NPC viewcones would always point directly where their chest was pointing. It seems a bit stupid when NPCs would look to their side and not see a murder happening there, but it was extremely predictable. The July patch moved the viewcones from their chests to their heads. Logical on paper, but since the head movements are not on a set pattern and the viewcones are quite large, a lot of the predictability was lost. For example, in Paris there are tech stations in the second floor. Pre-July you could sneak past them no problem as the people were facing away from you. Now it only works occasionally, even if you try to time it with the head movements. That particular section working like it does now ruined a certain escalation I quite liked, making it far more difficult than it should be.

[@jarkokoo]

I totally agree with you and was also delighted to see, that predictability was properly mentioned as a strength in the video. Unpredictability in some degree was also one of the worst things in the previous Hitman 5 (Absolution). You could create situations, which were impossible to fix and in some cases even near impossible to beat, because the AI started to be so unpredictable. It wasn't about solving a puzzle anymore, which was not fun. Unpredictability (with sub par level design) was the reason I stopped playing that game somewhere around the 2/3 mark. This said: if they've patched in some unpredictable AI to the latest Hitman (which still is on my to-play list, but haven't had time for it), I might skip it altogether.

[@DiamondWolfX]

Another thought on the whole aggressive-vs-not-aggressive-general-AI-style-thing: You do not need to be limited to one kind of AI. You can have enemies whose goal is to hunt you down and enemies who patrol a given area. Intelligence levels do not even have to be consistent - there's nothing wrong with one enemy who can get to you effectively and another who can't see you behind a pill bottle. Both have their uses.

[@awesomness6775]

I remember when I was younger I thought the computer players in games like Mario Kart and Mario Party might have been cheating because they were part of the computer and had access to the game's code and stuff and could easily manipulate the game to win.

[@FlameUser64]

I mean, you're right on the money there. Some Mario Kart games have rubberbanding, actively making the AI faster while they're offscreen if you're in the lead, and on higher difficulties Mario Party AI has BS luck.

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

@@FlameUser64 Not only faster AI. Mario Kart's rubberbanding even applies to multiplayer and items. The further back a player/AI is, the better items they get, and the closer to the front they are, the worse items they get. That's why the AI always seems to get consistently better items when you're in the lead. Personally, I think it's lazy as fuck in terms of AI, and is pretty much why I gave up on racing games for good. If you're good enough to always wind up laps ahead of the AI, that's a good sign your AI is just crap for more skilled players. Making it adaptable, where they start cornering smarter and using their advantages harder against a more skilled player, would be a lot more immersive than them being able to get a 160mph max speed car up to 180mph just because you're in the lead.

[@FlameUser64]

@@ledumpsterfire6474 I mean, the item "rubberbanding" is honestly part of the fun of Mario Kart imo. It's the speed rubberbanding I have a problem with, as well as the CPUs occasionally cheating even harder at items than players in the back do.

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

@@FlameUser64 Sorry, I could've made it more clear that I agree in terms of MK items, I was just throwing that bit in. My secondary rant was more about the actual racing side of games, especially when it comes to standard arcade/sim racing games.

[@BrianMetolius]

One of my favorite Chicken Bones is the Mr. Freeze fight from Arkham City. The game sets up a room full of environmental traps for you to exploit, and tests your knowledge of the stealth takedowns and items.

[@seanthebluesheep]

Brian Hoes I don't think that's proper chicken boning. That's simply use of the environment to attack a boss, with some fantastic design and barks to encourage variability of attack rather than trying the same thing twice. It's a fantastic boss fight, but it's only using the mechanics of the game's predator mode. Chicken boning in Arkham City is more akin to luring a titan-enhanced mood into charging through the mob of enemies, or diving around enemies as you fight the one-armed brutes with a hammer and sickle so they smash their friends. I'm not sure whether hitting them with the shock gun to spin and wipe the feet from under the other mooks.

[@Minecraft101ToonLink]

11:54 **Smashes Through Window** Hello! **Walks off unharmed** Singlehandedly the best part of the video! 🤣

[@Edgeperor]

It’s made even funnier when it pans to an enemy just dropping from the sky

[@pussinboots9983]

YEah, I laughed about that when I first encountered that on Half-Life.

[@genericsavings]

Doom 2016 impressed me with its AI mid game. I was fighting against an aggressive Hell Knight and I turned a corner. I was thinking: “I’ll camp on one side and get the jump on this douchebag when he chases me and I’ll supershotgun him.” The Hell Knight takes a longer/higher route to get at me from overhead. Little things like that made me crack a smile and love this game even more.

[@pyr666]

changing hp/damage does change how "intelligent" an AI actually is. they don't just feel that way because they're more lethal, but because intelligence deals with understanding and using resources well. a light combat vehicle will try to flee if attacked. a tank will turn and shoot back.

[@vaclavjebavy5118]

So if an aggressive enemy has low health and dies easily, he's not as intelligent as if he had higher health and could be aggressive more effectively, even though the AI is the same?

[@Kenshkrix]

@@vaclavjebavy5118 Flip it around and it makes sense. It's the context which makes a decision good or bad. If you have low health and die easily a direct attack is obviously suicidal so it's a stupid plan. If you have a lot of health and don't die easily a direct attack is a less stupid plan. The actual decision doesn't need to change, but it was made to appear smarter by changing the context instead.

[@johanliebert5269]

The only games I’ve played where friendly AI actually helped me with enemies were Uncharted 4, The Last Of Us and Red Dead Redemption 2. Devs need to put more work into friendly AI because it still mostly feels like the player does all the work

[@semanticsamuel936]

Bioshock Infinite is a good example - Elizabeth won't kill enemies for you, but she actively assists in other ways. It's pretty cool. In struggling to think of other examples...

[@Agustin_Leal]

@@semanticsamuel936 Half Life 2 and some Halo games

[@atlev]

@@Agustin_Leal In HL2 the citizens tend to block your way and get you killed so really the only thing they're good for is sending them to die as a distraction.

[@ChrisSmith-xw5vw]

I like to look at Republic Commando for inspiration on how to do ally A.I. Your squamates are pretty tough and smart, but spend most of the game using the default weapon which means they are doing less damage than you, thus you still feel like the biggest badass on the team. The exception is when you order them to take up a sniping/heavy weapons position, which you can only do at certain points which while plentiful, are not SO plentiful that you'll have one in every battle, then they pull out their Sniper Rifle/Grenade Launcher and go to town.

[@hackergaming6372]

@@atlev Alyx is pretty helpful

[@ImSimplyMatt]

I'm a huge fan of Titanfall's AI. In Attrition mode, the grunts and spectres really help to give the game the appearance of having larger battles than it really does. The robot spectres often will attempt to take on the player regardless of the situation, while the human grunt soldiers can become scared and simply run, giving the player a sense of importance and power. Fantastic stuff.

[@GMTK]

Yeah, that's a really good shout. Instead of using AI as bots to stand in for human players, they're deliberately cannon fodder enemies that work alongside humans, making battles more dynamic (and giving new players some easy kills)

[@InfernalMonsoon]

It's a good way of utilizing the "useless" AI as I would say. Even having something like that for window dressing alone can go a very long way for some games.

[@Saphemeral]

I think the first game's AI fodder was much better than the new ones though. The new ones feel completely pointless almost. In the original game, they felt a lot more alive.

[@onlyicedgarrett7791]

And farming the AI actually does contribute significantly towards a victory. Lots of points towards the scoreboard and build time on your Titan, the tool you'll need to eliminate enemy Titans and farm the big point bags, the Reapers.

[@ImSimplyMatt]

Gotta agree with you there, Nicolton. Titanfall 2's AI feel less reactive to the battle and players, becoming a mere point scoring aid, rather than a worthwhile addition to the fight. I'm sure there's also less of them this time around. Either that, or they're just spread to thin with the addition of stalkers and reapers.

[@Curt924]

9:55 I think that's also a great way to give the game a sense of pacing too, since L4D can seem like constant action at times. Really smart design by Valve.

[@DizzyDenver]

Mister Scrub time traveler!

[@GMTK]

You too, can get early access to Game Maker's Toolkit, through the magic of Patreon! Sign up now and receive this free tea towel! Offer not applicable in any known country. Terms and conditions apply.

[@AdamFunk]

American here - Are tea towels a thing? Does one use it to clean tea-making instruments, or oneself after drinking wantonly and vigorously, are the Brits are so often wont to do? Is it akin to a napkin? Will it work against a ravenous bugblatter beast of Traal? So many questions.

[@GMTK]

That is a very accurate definition

[@Dover939]

Sure, but what's tea?

[@dariensukach5027]

I liked how in Hitman absolution the AI would talk out loud about events and future plans that would give the player a tactical advantage in the situation they are in or would face. I'm sure other games have done this, but Hitmans is the one that sticks out in my head the most.

[@pointlessannotation8540]

I think it worked really well in Hitman because as one of the core ideas is fitting in with the group you are disguised as so it fits perfectly however in some other games overhearing conversations doesn't work because the moment they see you they stop talking and start shooting you.

[@gamingjunkie707]

Most stealth game uses similar mechanics.

[@kylehart8829]

I have an subconscious aversion to barks in stealth sections because it reminds me of how awful Skyrim's stealth system is. In my opinion, if you're trying to be stealthy and an enemy sees their friend's dead body, they should NEVER stop scouring every corner until they find you. Stealth sections should force you to act quickly, not wait in a corner for the cycles to be in your favor. Especially when the player makes a mistake, allowing them to complete a section by slowing the game down to a crawl is a massive design flaw.

[@madformuser]

EXACTLY! Any enemy who saw their dead friend would never go "eh nevermind" and move on

[@FlameUser64]

I mean, the really logical thing for them to do when they see their dead friend's body is leave to get reinforcements to scour the area for you.

[@scepta101]

This is why the Batman Arkham games have such good stealth. You are fighting criminals rather than highly trained soldiers or aliens or anything, so when they find their unconscious buddies they panic, and never revert to a state of calm. In other words if you, as Batman, are there and the enemies are not aware of your presence, they patrol as normal. The moment they find something out of wack, however, they are searching for you constantly and getting more and more panicked

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

That would alienate a lot of players. If I remember correctly, one or a couple of the Wolfenstein games had stealth sections where being spotted basically meant you'd have to either reload the section or fight through wave after wave of enemies until you kill the commander, because they never de-aggro. A lot of people consider them to have the worst stealth sections of any recent game in history. There's definitely a correlation there. If you're making an outwardly hardcore stealth focused game, this is probably fine since your player base will be expecting a serious stealth focused challenge which punishes them dearly for mistakes. If you're cramming stealth into a whole other genre, E.G. Skyrim or Wolfenstein, then people most likely aren't playing it for the stealth anyway, so a more casual take is probably necessary if you want your target demographic to enjoy it. I don't know how you fix the dissonance of enemies forgetting you killed their friend 30 seconds later, because it is pretty immersion breaking, but unless you're making the aforementioned hardcore stealth game, then permanent aggro isn't the way to handle it either.

[@cognisentnt8613]

It's unfortunate that this video came out so long ago, otherwise Rain World's immaculate AI would have been the crown jewel of this video

[@sofern2681]

I hate it when one enemy sees you and suddenly all of them know exactly where you are without even talking.

[@Kaeporo]

Glad to see Rain World mentioned. That game has phenomenal AI.

[@ATLRIOT]

I remember respawning in Halo and watching the AI fight each other from a distance and the out comes would be different every time. It was a long time ago but at the time it amazed me.

[@JohnCena-fd5yw]

I think one important exception to the "good ai is predictable" rule is The Forest. They deliberately added an element of randomness to their ai mutants, and it worked really really well. It was done just right, in such a way that the randomness makes them seem more human, because its hard to predict what a real human would do when we know nothing about them or their motivations, so an occasional random action makes them seem smarter and adds intrigue

[@scotvince7847]

Totally agree about "the AI able to interact with the game's system."

[@SebastienDelfino]

If I may, friendly and enemy NPC that are able to interact with the game systems are also a way to teach players about those systems. I feel it's especially true in tactical games, where players can be taught different tactics by seeing the AI use them, but in can be applied much more broadly in most "system based" games (RPG and co.) : instead of relying on a long and tedious tutorial, we can teach the player a lot of things just by having the IA visibly "play around" with the systems. When it's done well enough, decyphering what the AI is doingand how it's doing it can, in turn, became part of the gameplay...

[@DrNotnert]

I think my favorite AI from the past few years was the xenomorph in Alien Isolation. In that instance the unpredictability made it feel much more realistic, like it was a real creature. Also #chickenboning

[@Tome4kkkk]

It was not unpredictable. Hence the popularity of the "unpredictable alien MOD". The stock xenomorph is a fucking leg-humping golden retriever!

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

It is actually a neat trick. The alien had two separate AIs. One always knew your location, the other could only track by your noise. But the first one dropped hints to the latter as to where it should search for you.

[@hiway19891]

Similar to AI in RTS games, they always know what your location is and what you're doing, but they got a code to ignore them so you'll feel like you're playing against a player.

[@Dead_End_Angel]

angelowl89 so basically the first ai only has control of the aliens senses, while the second ai had control over its movement/actions. And based on how much sound you make the first ai would lead the second ai to you.

[@Dead_End_Angel]

That would actually be a genius way for ai to be in a campaign driven rpgfps such as fallout or other similar games, only a lot more complicated so as to not have all the enemies in one area coming down on you at once, only the enemies in your immediate vicinity, it would also be neat to give them more human responses and tactics based on their intelligence level or preset in-game and the difficulty, as complex as it might be.

[@cvbxsta]

Why is AI discussion always focused on shooters and stealth, and rarely stuff like Rimworld of Dwarf Fortress, given the interactions and emergent relationships and all that

[@bluvsred9266]

Because in those games you discribed complex AI is not really needed. Stategy games altho could benefit from having an good AI, but it far more difficult to do than an FPS AI, because FPS ai to be good need to pose a big threat but still having fun battling him and be believable. As said in the video, players who deal with High damage, High Health enemies think it is good AI because they can supress you. It's now they hunting you down, not the other way around. Strategy game AI cannot be good just from being "believable", or pose an simple "threat". Civilization 5 AI for example, they are huge threat to the player, but they still make unbelievable mistakes. It's decision making and adaptation is what makes strategy AI to be good, because you are not dealing with the enemy personaly, so all that "believable" things are not an necessety.

[@jasonfenton8250]

Blu vs Red You're just wrong here. Read about Dwarf Fortress' ai. Sometimes it behaves, oddly, but the game's still in development, they're genuinely intelligent and even quirky.

[@viktorvlasov483]

StaySkeptic Because to make half decent AI for those games you have to triple system specs and do the same with development budget.

[@VelvetAura]

Reila Nimu How's that coming along?

[@BioGoji-zm5ph]

To Christian Valentin, I believe the main reason is that in shooters and stealth games, the AI is part of the obstacles for the player to overcome, meaning that the AI's interactions with the player are far more intricately tied to the game's difficulty levels. When fighting against an enemy AI, the player is engaging in a scenario where the design of the AI has a direct impact on their enjoyment of the game, as the underlying mechanic of the game is tied to interaction with the AI. Shooting at the AI is technically interacting with it, and in Stealth games, the same can be said for having players lay traps and try to avoid the AI. The AI serves as an obstacle (enemy AI) and/or helpful resource (friendly AI), and therefore the player's interactions with the AI can determine their enjoyment of the game. Stealth games and shooters rely on mechanics that more often than not involve interaction between the player and the AI.

[@JaceCavacini]

I hate game AI that leads to INSTANT targeted shooting when an NPC “becomes aware” of the player character (Crysis 2, if I’m remembering correctly) was awful with this). More along that line, there desperately needs to be VERTICAL line of sight in NPCs. I love Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but the lack of this kind of line of sight is really obvious. There needs to be more behavioral modeling done in game “AI”. The lack of context adjustment often makes them seem like world class idiots with world class reflexes. In the real world, we have to scan the environment for the cause of a noise, not just instantly know what it is and be responding to it. We need to adjust our line of sight in two dimensions, and then focus our eyes. Then we need a moment to cognitively deal with “what is that”, prepare our responses, etc. Is there any behavioral modeling done at all in game AI, or is it all just simple rules as shown in this video?

[@alexlawson4173]

In half-life 1 the enemy soldiers seemed to hit the player at least 90% of the time. their near perfect aim was the reason I had to re-load soooooooooooo many times, but at the same time it makes victory a bit more rewarding.

[@dougaldhendrick3497]

You are spot on, it is lazy and predictable use of our 'known' positions at all times down to micro-millimetres. In one supposedly realistic shooter based on tacticals etc, you could get one shot death from completely unseen and unseeable NPC's from hundreds of yards, whereas the player had less than a third of that range, if you could see the enemy at all. I yearn for the day when some devs do up the already existing algorithms of facial recognition, body and gait recognition, and use it for the NPC's to spot us in the same way we have to spot them. That would be awesome AI. And the next bug bear, spawning in a never ending wave as in just cause 4, any random encounter with enemy guarantees absolute hours of non stop battle, even if it is in the middle of nowhere, miles away from anywhere, they just keep on magically appearing.. utter bullshit AI!

[@Jackpkmn]

In crysis 1 the enemies all had sniper scopes for eyes and super precise weapons that and were omniscient of the players position at all times. This leads to some incredibly immersion breaking experiences like trying to snipe an enemy a half mile away that just stares directly at you and bobs his head perfectly out of your crosshairs and the instant your cloak drops he's already hit you with 2 bullets.

[@AnaseSkyrider]

Some games work this problem to their advantage, though. In the indie game Heat Signature, AI actually react to you very quickly, and a lot of the things you can do in the game are rather quick. What they do to counteract how quickly an enemy can notice you and shoot you with precision is they give you the ability to slow down time and give you a lot of tools for dispatching enemies. The game plays with a fairly handled balance of stealth and action, where speedy action requires you have a strong toolkit and have a good plan, and otherwise stealth is required. And stealth in and of itself also requires a toolkit for some of the more difficult stealth missions.

[@phareye5079]

This is why I love the uruks' AI in Shadow of War. The uruks will talk, say stuff like "Is someone sneaking around?" and "I swear I heard something.". Beyond that, the game tells you if they hear something with 4 modes and everything in-between, starting with them having no idea you're there, then "something's there, I know it" (when they will search but not that well) continuing to "Is the ranger (player) here?" (they search very well around where they heard you) and finally they found you (they will attack), all with a little marker above their heads that goes from nonexistent to changing to yellow to changing to red and then gone with them attacking you. And when they spot you, *THEY TAKE A MOMENT TO REACT AND PROCESS WHAT'S HAPPENING*, as well as calling out that you're there, getting all other uruks in a certain radius to look at the fist uruk while taking their weapons out, and THEN start attacking. ALSO, if you're in an outpost and the alarm has been pulled, newly arriving uruks don't immediately know where you are, starting with a yellow marker and going vaguely towards the noise. Oh, and I tell you that this is just for the basic foot-soldiers of the uruk army whose AI pales in comparison to the captains' endlessly complex yet somehow manageable and understandable AI that seems just like a real person, that practically can't be exploited no-matter what you do? *Mid-game Shadow of War captain AI is the best AI humanity has ever created, not just in video games, and I will Defend that claim until I have no more breath to do so with.* Sorry for the wall of text, TL;DR, Shadow of War did good AI-wise.

[@Neightr0]

7:03 I'm adding that to the list of things I didn't know were possible in Breath of the Wild.

[@KnjazNazrath]

>FEAR enemies have a lot of HP Tell that to my kung fu strats. Also, it's interesting that lots of people talk about FEAR AI. I always mention it but I wasn't aware others did as well. Nice to know that game gets the credit it so rightly deserves. I also disagree w/ a lot of these points, as I love RNG and not knowing what the AI is going to do in any specific scenario. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I love the unpredictability of Hotline Miami more than the predictability of MGSV.

[@_vofy]

The AI of FEAR is even more memorable due to the unique setting of the game imho. Synergy on the epic scale.

[@tinycatfriend]

i'll never forget when i was doing a shrine quest in BOTW where i had to carry an orb through a crowd of enemies. i put the orb down to attack a moblin and he decided to pick it up and throw it in the water! it was surprising to me, but still within the realm of "huh, that makes sense" for that game. not to mention how all other objects these enemies picked up before this point in my playthrough were weapons, which means shrine orbs had their own specifications in the code.

[@MrSniper9296]

really love the updated logo, helps me find you easier in my sub feed. keep it up Mark excellent work on this channel.

[@pointlessannotation8540]

I agree, It looks much better.

[@noa_1104]

MrSniper9296 should be a bit smaller for circular profile pictures, though. Also, I loved the colourful text tansition things in this video

[@MrSniper9296]

Noa Hoffmann yeah a little bit smaller would make it a lot neater. but its miles more legible than what was before. yeah the transitions are great.

[@L4sket]

I feel like SWAT 4 should also get some credit for its AI, seeing as they reacted to about everything the player does (hearing lockpicking? Let's go check that door). If they see the whole SWAT unit of you, they might decide to run to some other friendlies into cover.

[@videogiocatore3]

Also when they decide to run away from you, they always go camping behind a door or stuff like that to get and advantage, which also encourages you to play more carefully

[@CosplayZine]

Best ai game ever imo

[@matteofrancescogiusti2359]

I have just subscribed to your channel! I’m writing my final university essay and I was surfing the net in search of something about the main argument I choose so “NPC A.I”. I was a little bit upset cause I didn’t find what I expected and than I found your video...Simply amazing. The quality, the fact that u cited sources, the knowledge...everything! You deserve the best, millions and millions of subscribers, cause this is the quality KZbin needs! Congratulations for your work and effort! 👍🏻

[@MrSyntaxman]

How can you talk about good friendly ai and not mention Republic Commando?

[@sonicbhoc]

I was waiting for the name "Republic Commando" to drop for literally the whole video. I will never forget when I died at the second to last level, and I told my teammates to attempt to revive me. They'd always succeed, and the enemies would all agro me and I'd die again. Eventually I realized that revival attempts were actually *slowing them down*, so I instead told them to finish their objective. I watched in awe as they finished 3 waves of enemies without my help at all, and even worked together and targeted strong enemies together to increase their chances of victory. That moment will never leave me. I was literally impressed by AI partners. In a video game.

[@Manglet762]

Because barley anyone's played that game, sadly.

[@zakback9937]

Played and finished it... but doesn't have much replay ability. and the enemies such as super battle droids felt why to chunky with health. but the AI were great.

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

Great game although I have been frustrated to no end by the endless numbers of geonosians.

[@TheAmbientWarrior]

Charles Christie I noticed that as well and would sometimes just be like "Leave me here and do your thing, guys. I'm clearly just getting in the way" during particularly hairy fights when I was downed.

[@sebbb_ch]

"future video" *3 years later* school of stealth episode 1! **finally**

[@Waitwhat469]

The cannibal tribes in The Forrest are still some my favorite AI in a game. Trying to figure out what they are thinking, and what makes them do certain things really adds some nuance to the game. In some circumstances it's terrifying, as they sneak around your fire, and try to surrond you, in others it satisfying as you realize you've become the monster they fear in dark. Not to mention some of the other less straightforward options that the AI present you, that you might not even catch without reading the wiki, or lots of gameplay (and some serious curiosity!)

[@cold_chili3356]

I'm glad you mentioned Halo at the start of the video. This series has always stood out as having exceptional AI to me.

[@GoldieTamamo]

My favorite bit of the Half-Life 1 marines' AI is when they throw their hand-grenade, it doesn't go anywhere, and then they take cover from it, right on top of it, sparing me the trouble of needing to fight them. Oh dear.

[@soullinks]

Breath of the wild has some of the funniest and best ai I've seen

[@bleuthoot]

Arthur Jeux I agree. I've been playing for a while. It's amazing!

[@redpandai1]

such as monsters being angry when you take their weapon.

[@Vyz3r]

Or enemies attacking adventuring NPCs, hunting their own food, sleeping, cooking, or throwing rocks at you if they don't have a weapon or can't reach you.

[@soullinks]

Psycorruptor also when the hinoxes hide their eye after a while to make the fight more challenging, it's awesome

[@KevlarCaviar]

It's a shame that they didn't make it so enemies that you've killed remember your strategies after they're resurrected by the Blood Moon, if they actually see you. Now that would be an interesting mechanic.

[@h4724-q6j]

HL1 had really bad AI except for the marines though... Scientists or security would get lost if you tried to get them to walk around a corner, and they'd sometimes stand directly in the path of ranged enemies, or shoot each other, and they either freaked out or couldn't follow when walking through areas that were even vaguely tight.

[@dk1480]

Yeah I hate when ppl complain about hl1 ai being better than hl2's becouse ThErE iS aReAlIsTiCk RoAcH ai. The combat ai is still shit the only enemy that really achives a smrt and dynamic battle is the assassin(still easy to get past them(wich is a good thing maybe))

[@Johnnywilsonforever]

I always thought that was part of their personality given they are civilian scientists and not particularly aggresive people. They can get coward or confused considering the situation they are in.

[@Agustin_Leal]

I would say the AI is really good except for the scientist and security guards. Not only the marines have good AI but the alien species as well. Houndeyes have a pack leader that stays alert while the others are asleep, they feel curiosity about machinery and blood, some aliens eat others and react to sounds (not only the tentacles) the vortigaunts run away and hide from the players until you turn your back on them, etc.

[@h4724-q6j]

@@Agustin_Leal Random details that don't impact gameplay at all don't make good AI. I love this game, but I'd rather they spent all that time just getting it to work.

[@MarsBar_]

The AI in RAGE was pretty good. I remember them getting panicked and running away as you killed off their friends. They would vault and climb around the level to flank the player too

[@PoppingPopper]

Around 8:10 he talks about AI that remember's a players actions, does anyone remember Animal Crossing on Gamecube when the construction beaver guy would get SO MAD at the player for turning off the Gamecube before it could finish saving? LOL talk about memorable experiences, I was SHOCKED from this little guy when I was younger! :D

[@AllThatJuice-]

that last quote was enlightening af. never thought of it like that before

[@forever-raine]

Please talk more about RAINWORLD. I would really like to hear what you have to say about it.

[@drGeppo]

cattharsis I agree, it's a shame how it is generally going unnoticed. It has some really awesome stuff in it

[@jmlkhan5153]

Flawed, but still one of the best games ever made. Yes please comment more about it.

[@AmeshaSpentaArmaiti]

you can't make something look smart if you don't give it a chance to shine.

[@Sir_Duckyweather]

In Final Fantasy XI, there are penguin-like creatures called Apkallu that behave differently than any other enemy in the game. While many enemies may "link" (join in the fight) if they happen to be nearby when aggressive actions are done to other enemies of the same species or allegiance, these birds will actually stop fighting and run away when they get lower in health, actively seeking more of their kind to aid them in their battle with you. Apkallu are not normally hostile, but they also work on a "hate" system in which they will begin attacking the player on sight (and sound) if the player kills a number of them. In addition, killing several Apkallu will cause them to fight harder and smarter against you, becoming more resilient and more likely to focus on your healer than your tank. The "hate" accumulated will diminish over time if they are left alone, albeit slowly. While these features can be perceived as annoying, I find their unique behavior intriguing for otherwise friendly birds.

[@hak-en-slash4636]

One of my personal favorite AI examples is the creatures of Rain World. Their AI is procedurally generated, which gives them what appears to be personalities. Despite this, they are still somewhat predictable, as enemies will work to find the shortest path to you (some even react to sound rather than your position), and non-aggressive creatures will either run away and hide from you are look at with what seems to be genuine curiosity.

[@thegameneededme5]

I understand where you're coming from with AI needing to feel predictable to plan your approach in games, but I kinda like the times when volatile, unpredictable enemy movement forces me to react on the fly, as opposed to waiting for an enemy to make their rounds and know exactly when to make a move. I was so excited by the idea of herds of robots migrating in Horizon and suddenly bigger robots coming in and altering your plans when they first showed that game off at E3, but was disappointed to get the final game and the enemies be sequestered into their own zones on a track. Sure, that gave me the information to attack them strategically, but that's kinda boring compared to the holy crap moment of dealing with something coming outta nowhere.

[@plox8279]

Dark Souls AI: Silver Knight:"Lemme just stand here so you can backstab

[@ironsm4sh]

and then, most grand strategy games are biased against the player.

[@pierreo33]

@F.u.c.k Go.ogl.e umad

[@yahyachothia]

@F.u.c.k Go.ogl.e what u on about lol.

[@XLNC_YL]

Do you have any thoughts on the role of AI in fighting games? I personally play Super Smash Bros, so it is something I think about in terms of how AI could be used to help improve as a player. The problem is that the AI is not only predictable, but predictably bad. It will make the same dumb move over and over. But different still is the AI's ability to react to things that are unreasonable (i.e. powershielding 4 attacks in a row). Is there any way that the AI could possibly become better, not by becoming simply better at the game, but by being a better teaching tool, helping players learn what options opponents have (and options the player themselves has) while practicing against an opponent who does not "cheat" by being part of the game?

[@GMTK]

So the main thing this video didn't cover is symmetrical AI, when you're facing someone who is supposed to be your equal (i.e. stand-ins for human players in fighting games, strategy games, online shooters etc). The most interesting stuff happening in this space right now is the shadow fighters in Killer Instinct where Microsoft is training AI to learn from players to make better bots - it's the closest thing to "real AI" we have in games - definitely something to keep an eye on.

[@Fin0fLenster]

Playing against the AI in fighting games is not advisable for the most part if you want to improve. Certainly not advisable as far as neutral strategy is concerned. The only thing it's really good for is practicing stuff like hit confirms and other execution related stuff. I don't see much that could be done to fix this either. All you can really do from a design perspective is make the AI engaging enough to play against on its own merits and do enough such that the player can practice hit confirms against it and possibly learn basic mechanics against it. Making the AI mimic players or such things is a bit of a fool's errand IMO and typically leads to stuff like frustratingly unpredictable AI.

[@Izhuark]

The role of an A.I. in a fighting game is not only challenging the player but empowering him. They are not made for actual competitive player to train (wich they are no other way than technical training and sparing with real people) but for casual players to enjoy a better solo experience by doing absurd stuff that no pro player could ever pull out while making enormous mistake to let the player place his super attack, giving most of the time a really satisfying solo experience rather than the ersatz of a multiplayer experience. Making an AI a "training tool" for multiplayer while a good idea in theory would be a mess to put together and to balance.

[@shawklan27]

Izhuark well said

[@yvesgomes]

AIs in fight games also tend to defend a bit too well, but punish poorly.

[@redsohc]

The one game AI that truly amazed me was FEAR (forgot which version). At that time i was used to AI enemies just rushing you out in the open in single file, so it was a really fresh experience when the enemies would call for reinforcements behind cover and avoid LOS while flanking you.

[@ExEBoss]

You should talk about the AI in *CrossCode,* which is really good. I’m mostly talking about the party member AI, which is made to act like a real player would.

[@CharcharoExplorer]

STALKER Clear Sky's buggy as sin Faction War AI that combined Grand Strategy AND Tower Defense strategy game AI with up front and close and personal FPS AI. When it worked (like 30% of the time) it is amazing. Call of Chernobyl's Simulation AI crushes all AAA Open World games. It isnt even a fair fight and it is VERY sad when a free mod for an 8 year old game with a vodka and tracksuit budget makes an absolute mockery of 200 million dollar 300 people staffed AAA game developers. *It is almost as funny as it is sad :P

[@pointlessannotation8540]

I agree however I think that with a few mods the battles become incredible, and the end product with the mods still holds up today.

[@InfernalMonsoon]

It just goes to show how little video game studios think about actual AI in video games and how much great AI can offer to gamers. Hell the vast majority of studios these days won't even go out of their way to make bots for their games even though they want to focus heavily on multiplayer now - it just boggles the mind when excellent AI like in the Unreal Tournament games exist, surely studios can learn from that and make it even better.

[@xBINARYGODx]

"Western AAA game developers." Remove the "Western" part, and that statement is still true - so not sure why it need to be said, unless your biased about WHERE games come from, which is silly rubbish.

[@DiegoAlanTorres96]

How much is AI improved in Call of Chernobyl?

[@deriznohappehquite]

Alexander Yordanov AAA devs have intentionally been making their AIs dumber to be more enjoyable since around 2004. People don't like being shat upon by bots that are good at video games.

[@lipeckih]

"What Makes Good AI?" Being able to consistently lose in a manner satisfying for the player(s). Preferably, without cheating. A 'duh' answer, perhaps, but that is the ideal end goal.

[@anonanon359]

I love how the enemies in botw change the way they attack based on you play style to counter it.

[@buubaku]

No they dont

[@BellalisDope]

My favorite AI is Far Cry. The enemies have multiple alert modes and they track you based on where they heard or saw you last. So, you can be spotted then go behind something and they become unaware of your exact location. It felt like fighting very aware enemies similar to human enemies. So, moving fast and constantly surprising the enemies works really well. The same strategies can be used in online FPS games.

[@kaironjohnson8695]

I really love that you used dont press the button music because it's really good and you do it so seamlessly.

[@rpkiller2489]

Apparently at one point in oblivions development they had very intelligent ai and sometimes you'd walk into a town and everyone would be dead.

[@MogamiKyoko13]

I do a lot of running in and out of combat areas or hovering just on the edge of where enemies are able to attack me in games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Breath of the Wild to cheese the AI and give myself a better advantage in combat, mostly because I'm so bad at it. But one of my favorite manipulating-the-AI moments was in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. I commandeered a bush that was slightly on the edge of the combat area but also was next to most of the enemies' patrol routes and proceeded to stealth kill every one of them that passed my bush. Some of them would notice that someone had gone missing and would look for them, and then pass my bush. At the end, I had like 6 or 7 enemies piled into that bush. It was a lot of fun to see how many of the enemies I could stealth kill, even if it was pretty ridiculous that I was able to do the same thing so many times in the same spot.

[@iMeta4]

Thank you for this presentation. I find that a part of my enjoyment (either playing or watching) of a game comes from changes that have to be made around both the competition and the allies. What I have found most interesting in my viewership of Dark Souls plays is that human players can change the difficulty of your campaign. And that variability is more welcomed (like God Hand's adjustment) than an enemy who is intentionally designed to be overwhelming or impossible to make it difficult, especially if it does not fit the narrative of the player's journey.

[@vee9066]

game maker's toolkit is legit the best yt channel for dev advice. i still can't stop playing it

[@zig8925]

Barks in watch dogs be like: "imma look over here" "Imma look over here" "I got nothing" "I can't see shit"

[@hexadecimal973]

Hmm What should I write. Oh yea, cockroaches in hl1, passive ai that reacts to light nad sound. So much work put into those but no one noticed

[@caseygoddard]

Great video! I kind of wish you mentioned Dwarf Fortress though...

[@shayoko6]

The AI in Perfect Dark (N64) still impresses me to this day. i'm especially talking about the vs mode AI.

[@renatocorvaro6924]

Perfect Dark was an underrated masterpiece.

[@xandermurdock6131]

I'm surprised you didn't talk more about F.E.A.R. The AI there act like real soldiers, and act in groups and teams, throw down objects for cover, break open walls, crawl under rubble to surprise you, and provide covering fire for their teammates.

[@DBD120]

I honestly don't mind unpredictable AI, but I do think certain actions by the player should elicit specific, logical responses from the AI that players can use to capitalize on. Best example is that one bit where you showed the MGSV gameplay with the generator. It would be very odd if you turned the generator off and no one thought that it needed to be checked out. EDIT: Props to this guy for including all his sources.

[@Bobio]

Sam Fisher: "He was wrong." Made me choke on my drink. So out of character and out of place - great comedy timing! (Great video, too ;)

[@theFloatWave]

"Enemies doesn't have to be smart, they just have to look smart" -Julian Gollop (original X-COM creator)

[@Teflora]

I think finding out how an AI system works is a fun gameplay element in itself. I remember Amnesia for example, where your first engagement with the monster is terrifing, but at the end of the game, you pretty much figured out how to avoid it or just walk with a chair in your face.

[@sawyerbobby]

5:30 Vanquish was so ridiculously over the top and fun. Wow, what a throwback.

[@MrNobleme]

i like halos A.I, like how the grunts sometimes go suicidal, or the elites get enraged when they're last man standing or taken enough damage, it just adds to the experience.

[@Nison545]

I have yet to be truly impressed by an AI in an action game. I just want something that can truly hunt me and surprise me.

[@ruolbu]

There is a problem with this. Being hunted and surprised might lead to the player failing at that point, having to repeat and possibly fail again. Unless the player is given the ability to see through the enemies behaviour and reliably outsmart them they will often get frustrated. Frustrating your customers is bad from a business perspective. There is some wiggle room, but I bet many devs and especially the publishers behind them prefer staying on the very safe side of this matter.

[@deriznohappehquite]

ruolbu this is true. The best (at playing the game) ai I've ever seen is halo 2 with the whuppopotomus skull on. The game is basically unplayable with it. It's hard to make the player feel like a badass when the enemies are smart.

[@randomguy6679]

Nison545 play alien isolation

[@Nison545]

I actually find the Xenomorph to be super predictable. It just plays by a lot of "rules" that, once you know, are super easy to abuse. I'm mainly talking about an enemy that needs to ambush you in order to hold an advantage. That would be an amazing enemy type in a game.

[@charlierose7153]

Nison545 Ive heard good things about the fight with The End i mgs3, an old sniper guy who runs to different places on the map and takes potshots at you when you arent looking, maybe look into that?

[@isabellev9576]

The Metrocop you showed as an example of unintelligent A.I isn't dumb, it's that the game tells it not to leave the emplacement gun until you're close, but at the same time it's attempting to flank you because you're behind an object. This makes it unable to fire at you with the gun but also unable to move.

[@Weaponsandstuff93]

It's also because originally in HL2 you could exploit the game by holding objects in front of Gordon's face, Gordon's actual model is quite weird, basically a human shaped shimmering object, the AI used to always notice the player by seeing the head and then attempting to aim. Obviously this was fixed on the various patches and re-releases of HL2. Still better to have a system like that than have psychic AI that will aimbot you and track you through walls. But as you said, couple a more "realistic" AI with a scripted sequence and it's easy to exploit.

[@derptomistic]

AIs don't all need to be super smart. Sometimes, they just need to be dumb in the right way... And like that I've hit my philosophy quota for the day. Later nerds...

[@Arcaryon]

We all can remember an enemy realizing that he had a grenade in a pvp shooter, panicking and trying to throw it and then proceeding to throw it against a wall, I bounced back and killed him. This is the behavior I want in games - not the god who's grenade flies 500 meters through the air but such a human behavior. Because as you said, sometimes stupid is good.

[@delaneyklutes]

At 2:26 where is that music from? I’ve heard it in a game before? Hyper light drifter?

[@delaneyklutes]

PLEASE DONT TOUCH ANYTHING!!