March 15, 2008

Game AI U?

I was catching up on the activity on this blog not long ago, and I read through the awesome thread that Adam started on Industry/Academic collaboration, and it occurred to me that I’ve never seen discussed here one of our industry’s biggest recent trends: the rise of the game schools – the Digipens, the Full Sails, the DeVrys. Even many of the standard 4-year schools are now offering full Game Design and Game Development degrees, or at the very least courses in these areas. Bungie had a recruiting booth at GDC this year – first time we’ve done it – and I think we were all surprised by the number of students coming out of such programs.

I was particularly surprised by the number of visitors we had who cited AI as their main focus of interest. The point was driven home at the AI programmers dinner when one of the Full Sail guys said something to me like “… and of course, everyone wants to do graphics or AI, those are the sexy fields…” Wow, really? When did THAT happen?

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Posted by naimad at 08:33 PM | | Comments (10)

March 03, 2008

Slides and Further Thoughts on Building Better Battles

We finally got the slides for my GDC talk up on-line in a format other than the ultra-elitist powerpoint 2007:

http://www.bungie.net/images/Inside/publications/presentations/betterbattle.zip

That ZIP file contains a .ppt and .pdf, so take your pick. Unfortunately you get EITHER the correct fonts (pdf) or the correct animations (.ppt) but not both!

In the meantime, I thought I would take this opportunity to give a little more background on the development of the Objectives System.

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Posted by naimad at 08:15 PM | | Comments (11)

February 25, 2008

What Didja See at GDC?

I missed GDC this year, so I'm curious to hear from others about AI-related talks and/or demos. There were a few talks that sounded interesting -- Richard Evans on The Sims 3, Soren Johnson on Civilization, Damian Isla on Halo 3. Please post your thoughts on AI at GDC here, along with any relevant URLs.

Posted by jorkin at 09:24 AM | | Comments (22)

January 28, 2008

Farewell to The Professor

Before we return to AI-related topics, I'd like to add a few more words regarding Mark Haigh-Hutchinson.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Tim Schafer for his kind words regarding Mark.

Second, I'd like to announce that the Retro Studios engineering team has organized a task force to finish Mark's book, Real-Time Cameras, along with the generous assistance of Mark DeLoura and Akintunde Omitowoju.

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Thirdly, we said farewell to Mark last Friday in a very moving ceremony, and I'd like to repost some of what was said here.

Mark's wife Melanie asked me to say a few words:

I’m deeply grateful for having been able to know Mark as a colleague and as a friend.

When I think of Mark, I will always think of him as a man who gave of himself.

Mark gave us his time, his unstoppable energy, and his boundless enthusiasm. He gave to us from his endless knowledge and his rich imagination -- sometimes more than we could handle, always more than we deserved. He gave to us his deep and genuine warmth, which came from a heart even bigger than his extraordinary intellect. Mark gave us three games that will always be remembered, one book that will change our industry, and countless memories of a great friend. He gave us more than we could ever hope to repay.

Mark never acted out of ambition or self-interest. He gave of himself, and he gave because he had a vision for Retro and for the industry. He gave because of that vision, out of a genuine desire to help move all of us forward to that better place.

I offer my condolences to Mark’s family. I offer my condolences to everyone who considered Mark a friend. But I especially offer my condolences to those in our industry who never had the opportunity to work with Mark, to learn from him, and to know him as a friend, and will never know what they have missed.

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Posted by PaulT at 11:51 AM |

January 17, 2008

Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and Real-Time Cameras

I need to take a moment to discuss the news about my friend and colleague Mark Haigh-Hutchinson.

Mark was not only one of the finest engineers I have ever had the honor and privilege to work with, but one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever known.

Although the IGN article I linked to above is accurate, it is also incomplete – Mark did much more than the camera systems. If you've ever played Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and wondered who it was that created the player control and Wiimote aiming systems that received so much praise: you’re looking at him.

Photobucket

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Posted by PaulT at 02:52 PM | | Comments (6)

January 13, 2008

Call for Papers: AIIDE'08

AIIDE'08: The Fourth Conference on Artificial Intelligence
and Interactive Digital Entertainment
October 22-24, 2008
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

Submissions deadlines:
Papers and Industry Track abstracts due April 22, 2008
Extended abstracts for demonstrations due May 6, 2008


AIIDE'08 - the Fourth Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment - is intended to be the definitive point of interaction between entertainment software developers interested in AI and academic and industrial AI researchers. AIIDE'08 will include invited speakers, research and industry presentations, project demonstrations, and product exhibits. While traditionally emphasizing commercial computer and video games, we invite researchers and developers to share their insights and cutting-edge results on all topics at the interface of entertainment and artificial intelligence, including serious games, entertainment robotics, and beyond. AIIDE'08 is sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

(more below...)

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Posted by rob at 02:06 PM |