AI Game Development: Synthetic Creatures with Learning and Reactive Behaviors

by Alex J. Champandard

Neural networks, decision trees, genetic classifiers: If these are AI concepts you'd like to employ in your own games-and you know your way around C++-this is the book for you! In these pages, leading... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592730043
• ISBN13: 9781592730049
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: New Riders Publishing
• Length: 721 Pages
• Weight: 2.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

One of a Kind

This is truly a unique book, there is no other text available at the moment which covers the material that Alex covers in this book. If you're looking for an introduction to a lot of the major concepts in AI, then this is the book for you. As for the people saying the code is useless, its more likely that your programming skills are lacking. I used Alex's FEAR SDK to write an agent for use in my own research, and the product was again unique. Alex is not only a talented writer and AI expert, but also an excellent programmer.If you are interested in seeing something before you buy this book, check out ai-depot.net, also having read Alex's research paper for his masters I can confidently say that Alex is one of THE authority on these subjects! So check out the book already!

Bridging the Gap

The book does come with source code, part of an ongoing open source project in game AI. The SDK with the book has in fact hundreds of C++ files demonstrating each technique in practice. You can even get the framework supporting the book freely over at http://AiGameDev.com/. One of my main focuses when writing the book was to bridge the gap between theory and practice, academia and industry. The book covers a lot of ground, but also leaves the reader room to experiment and try out the ideas in practice. You'll get as much out of the book as you put into it. A tutorial series entitled 'Exercises in Game AI Programming' has just been launched based on the book. You can find it over at http://AiGameDev.com/ also. Decide for yourself! Alex Champandard

Practical Fun

This book is a treat. The first few chapters introduce the topic and setup the rest of the book very well. But part 2 is where the fun starts. It explains how to create a bot moving around with different AI techniques. I was quite pleased to find that the code wasn't printed, it's on the website. That's usually a good way to pad the book out. The C++ code is very well commented, and the demo bots have kept me busy for hours already.I have a few minor complaints though. It does take a bit of time to setup the game ready for the AI demos, and the SDK can get a bit complex at times. Having a CD would have made it a bit easier rather than downloading the files.Anyway, I've learnt a lot already, and there's still a lot more for me to take in. At this price, I'd recommend the book to any programmer. Edutainment at its best!

An excellent, well-presented look into AI

For so long, the computer gaming industry was concerned with making their products look and sound better - and for good reason. There have been many instructional books and articles that have paced the advances in graphics and sound technology. Game AI, however, has only recently come into the primary focus as the next frontier of game advancement and the resources available to AI programmers have been few and far between. After spending time on game AI message boards, I have seen the endless torrent of people asking the simplest questions about game AI in general. I have also seen those who have a grasp of the basic tools but are unsure how to apply them in their situation. Also present are those who are looking for a better way to model larger problems but are faced with a wide array of academic, non-practical research and theories. "AI Game Development" caters to all of those people... from those that are learning the basics up through those that want to apply just that extra "nudge" to their projects. It fills a valuable need in the game development community to provide that "go to" tome to allow even the beginner to make steps in adding true interactive gameplay into his or her products. So often people find a tool and look for a way to use it in their game. They fail to stand back and look at their problem and then select the correct tool, or combination of tools, for the job. Mr. Champandard has supplied the reader with reasonable examples and, more importantly, ways of thinking about and dissecting their problem so as to choose that correct tool. Rather than a disjointed collection of tips and tricks, this book provides a smooth, overarching treatment of the concepts behind the AI. It explains why and what rather than how. Alex has a disciplined, outlined style that breaks down a very complex, multi-faceted subject into separate but connected stepping stones. Each one can be mentally processed alone, but always with the awareness that is a part of the whole series. The reader is not bombarded with pages of code, but is supplied with the reasons to make the code that way.All in all, "AI Game Development" is an excellent piece of work from a very knowledgeable source and should be on the shelf of every game AI programmer. After all, as AI programmers, we ARE trying to build enemies, not targets!