So which video game actually had the best AI?

[Inkompetent 0]

It's 2010 and we are still talking about bots. =[

Of course. Even scientists doing nothing else with their time than to develop artificial intelligence still haven't succeeded. And if people doing NOTHING else than work on creating artificial intelligence can't, and that's with super-computers as brains, then how can we expect 'real' AI in a game?

EVERYTHING about making games is to cheat. Cheat as much as possible and maintain immersion. A good AI should use as few CPU cycles as possible and still behave believably. A good graphics engine cheats the eye as much as it can, still creating a graphically believable and/or impressive environment.

And after all, if you get the same end result from a terrible complex thought process as you'd get from a simple list of criteria, then why not use the latter?

As for good AI though... I agree that Half-Life did do a quite good job on AI, as is BIS considering the scale and environment. FEAR's AI was really impressive too, as also mentioned.

Not that the Total War games belong into shooter-AIs though, but just in response to earlier posts: It sucks. Campaign, diplomacy and battle AI are all terrible, and has always been. Or okay, the battle AI in the first Shogun: TW was good. But that's about it. No single mod has managed to save that game's AI, despite Darth's skillful attempts to do such, for example.

Only other game I can think of with a nice AI is SWAT 4. I like the different characteristics of enemies and civilians there, all believable enough, but admittedly the actual combat AI in that game leaves something to wish for.

[kyfohatl 10]

It's 2010 and we are still talking about bots. =[

Why wouldn't we be? I mean, gaming is not all about seeing who can get the most headshots. Its also about interactive sotry telling, and tell me, how are you going to tell a story in multiplayer? (not coop, because that involves bots/AI as well).

Besides, there are so many things about multiplayer that a game can't help. One example is its servers turning into ghost towns three moths down the line. Just cause people still play OFP doesn't mean that every game has a running multiplayer for more than a year or so. Besides, a game's multiplayer can only get as good as its community. Good community = fun multiplayer, lots of cooperation and etc. But a bad community means servers full of people who for example silently watch while you spend all your resources/power intro defeating one enemy, then all of a sudden deliver the final blow, steal youre reward for killing the enemy and then say, "HAha I P'wnd you noob... go suck d***". Also, you have the 12 year olds that play the game 24/7 and learn to exploit all of the games issues and ruin the game for everyone, and believe me I saw A LOT of that in BF2, especially during its initial realease.

Furthermore, not everyone sees gaming as some big comptetition in which you have to be better than everyone else. Some people have too much on in their lives, and simply cannot dedicate too much time to gaming. So playing in servers where everyone is way to good for them can be nothing but frustrating. The advantage of the AI on the other hand is that you can adjust their difficulty.

Not that I'm saying multiplayer is a bad thing... all I'm saying is that singleplayer is in my opinion a very important part of a game, which why you need a good AI. Also I don't get what you're talking about when you say "2010". Yes... the year is 2010... and your point is?

[ben_s 11]

Anyway, I normally find bots more of a challenge than people. As people sometimes get more repetative than bots.

and if you tell a human to flank there, or cover you. ha! Good luck.

[sic-disaster 311]

FEAR1 might seem impressive but the fact is that the AI in FEAR usually only had option A, B or C to chose from. Their area of movement is severely limited, which allows them to look very intelligent but in fact they are pretty limited.

I doubt they could hold a candle to ArmA 2 AI if placed in Chernarus :p

[maturin 12]

There is an article by some of the developers that tells you how FEAR's AI actually worked. They didn't know how to flank or use complex tactics. The only knew to run from cover to cover while avoiding the player somewhat, and the level designers placed the cover in positions that would result in the player being flanked. They didn't know how to call for reinforcements or any number of things, but used conditional dialog that fools you into thinking that they do.

Almost no FPS AI ever made would be able to operate in an open world like Chernarus.

[Tonci87 163]

I somehow liked the Crysis AI (The Koreans, not the Aliens. The Aliens were really dumb)

It was a funny thing to play hide and Seek with them^^

[instagoat 133]

There is an article by some of the developers that tells you how FEAR's AI actually worked. They didn't know how to flank or use complex tactics. The only knew to run from cover to cover while avoiding the player somewhat, and the level designers placed the cover in positions that would result in the player being flanked. They didn't know how to call for reinforcements or any number of things, but used conditional dialog that fools you into thinking that they do.

Almost no FPS AI ever made would be able to operate in an open world like Chernarus.

I would still count FEAR´s AI as one of the best, if not the best FPS-bound AI so far, at least as far as Tunnel shooters go. Sure, it wasn´t physically "thinking" about flanking you, but the AI together with their environment achieved flanking and other tactical finesses as a positive byproduct.

But this is also why I´d rate Arma 2s AI very very highly, because here the AI has to physically notice cover to move into it, they have to notice things like killzones and flanking opportunities (which I´ve tested both, and they do notice killzones and try to flank them.), and they have to do that in any environment presented to them and using a wide range of vehicles and weapons.

Good AI in most games is really mostly about cheating and using tricks a lot, and do it so subtlely that the player doesn´t notice.

I´d really love to get some technical insight into how Arma 2s AI is built, though, out of curiosity.

[NoRailgunner 0]

Here you can watch and read about AI bugs in games (ArmA included):

http://aigamedev.com/open/articles/bugs-caught-on-tape/

The AI developments are always behind customers expectation. :p

Maybe if games would have an option to temporarily override current actions of AI... at the end of the day the AI is not human.

[andersson 285]

I would still count FEAR´s AI as one of the best, if not the best FPS-bound AI so far, at least as far as Tunnel shooters go. Sure, it wasn´t physically "thinking" about flanking you, but the AI together with their environment achieved flanking and other tactical finesses as a positive byproduct.

But this is also why I´d rate Arma 2s AI very very highly, because here the AI has to physically notice cover to move into it, they have to notice things like killzones and flanking opportunities (which I´ve tested both, and they do notice killzones and try to flank them.), and they have to do that in any environment presented to them and using a wide range of vehicles and weapons.

Good AI in most games is really mostly about cheating and using tricks a lot, and do it so subtlely that the player doesn´t notice.

I´d really love to get some technical insight into how Arma 2s AI is built, though, out of curiosity.

Very true. A good AI can be very stupid to achieve the impression of smart AI. As long as they act smart it doesnt matter.

I havent seen any AI that comes close to arma2 AI (except OFP and armed assault), as you say they have to adapt to so many scenarious and situations (which they do just fine if they have enough CPU).

[CW001 10]

The AI in the Creatures series is supposed to be very good, although I don't have much experience with them (didn't know what to do, just kept spawning cheese).

[pre-Vet 10]

Operation flashpoint: Dragon Rising....

...no just making your heart beat faster.

I say farcry 1

maybe brothers in arms: hells highway, not sure because I dont know how the supressing worked.

like BiA:HH most games have a ristricted terrian, like you are walking through a hallway that is dressed like a battlefield, makes it easyer for scripting and AI I guess.

[KorpeN 0]

Company of Heroes

[Baff1 0]

The AI in the Creatures series is supposed to be very good, although I don't have much experience with them (didn't know what to do, just kept spawning cheese).

The chaps who made them gave up videos game and went on to program the AI for cruise missiles.

---------- Post added at 02:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:53 PM ----------

Company of Heroes

Those AI's want to win.

They really want it.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Company of Heroes

Yer, although it's funny how they drive their tanks backwards and forwards in and out of your own AT gun range. :D

[kyfohatl 10]

Company of Heroes

Yeah, company of heroes AI is not bad. Though, has anyone else noticed that the AI becomes "inactive" in long games? I mean kind of like the old Command and Conquer: Generals' AI, where they play full on for the first 20 minutes, and then completely stop afterwards (i.e. don't produce units or attack or etc.). Of course CoH AI last much longer than that (maybe even a couple of hourse), but in very long games against the AI, the AI seems to eventually stop producing units, or spam just one unit which make them very easy to defeat. Anyone else notice that? (By long matches I mean like when you play for an hour and a half, save, come back another day and continue for another hour or so)

[ben_s 11]

AI in RTS' are very odd. Lower levels seem to end up doing that, just ends up not making many units or so little that you can walk in with a rifleman and clear the area.

Whereas, in other RTS' if you get hammered by the AI, and pushed back. They seem to become VERY un-balanced against you. Like you both having tanks, then he pushes you back. So now you can only just produce a few machine gunners and now he can produce masses of heavy tanks. Then he carries on, you struggle making 2-3 riflemen whilst the AI seems to have no probelms with hordes of shermans and artillery at very high prices...

[Tonci87 163]

Thats because many AIs are cheating, they usually get money bonuses to competet against the player....

[SteveJA 12]

Yeah, company of heroes AI is not bad. Though, has anyone else noticed that the AI becomes "inactive" in long games? I mean kind of like the old Command and Conquer: Generals' AI, where they play full on for the first 20 minutes, and then completely stop afterwards (i.e. don't produce units or attack or etc.). Of course CoH AI last much longer than that (maybe even a couple of hourse), but in very long games against the AI, the AI seems to eventually stop producing units, or spam just one unit which make them very easy to defeat. Anyone else notice that? (By long matches I mean like when you play for an hour and a half, save, come back another day and continue for another hour or so)

Yeah i had the same problem with the DOW series, i loved the all out war for hours then suddenly they just give up, quite odd and unfun.

[kyfohatl 10]

Yeah i had the same problem with the DOW series, i loved the all out war for hours then suddenly they just give up, quite odd and unfun.

Same here. I also experienced this problem with DOW. This is a strange experience that I get with almost all RTS games (maybe with the exception of a couple like WIC). I don't know why it's such a common problem. As I said, the worst case was Command and Conquer's General; the AI was very active for the first 20 or so minutes of them game, and then all of a sudden, they'd stop doing stuff... just when I had completed getting upgrades and began proper assault (against a non existing force because the AI stopped making units).

@Ben_s: So true. The most noticible example for me was Tiberium Wars (C&C 3). Played it on easy/normal and the AI was good for the first 15 to 20 minutes, and if you managed to hold them off for that long, they were VERY easy to beat. Then I switched to hard, and all I can say is that the stream of enemy hording my base was LITERALY NON-STOP. Doesn't matter what I did, or how many of them I massacared using good tactics, more and more kept coming. Then I had a look at the minimap and I could see a line consisting purely of enemy units going straight from their base to mine (they were all top-of-the-range and expensive units too). I played a few more times and the same thing happened, even when I had TWO normal AI's assisting me. So I got frustrated and stopped playing.

I must say, just as you pointed out, that the AI seemed very badly balanced. I mean, the jump from normal difficulty to hard was huge. Normal was no challenge, and then hard was... impossible to hold off even for 20 minutes (at least for me).

[Rak 0]

It may come a bit odd, but for the FPS combat AI, I'd say Killzone 2.

Every opponent had a distinct personality. eg. the riflemen kept their distance and used cover while putting down suppressive fire, SMG and shotgun guys quickly closed the distance between you and them and then blasted off in your face, all while using cover. It was pretty intense. They even shouted each other, giving tactics :)

That being said, I can't wait for the third game.

[Vultar 0]

The worst AI I've ever seen? Probably that piece-of-crap Real Life.

Bots in the game simply don't know what they do, they are unaware of they surroundings. Etc. Etc.

The best AI... Oh well, I was surprised with what 1.00Skill AI in Arma2 v1.07 can do.

Also, OFP with SLXmod.

[Big Mac 19]

No dev team can match the AI awesomeness of...Pong

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

The example of PacMan wasnt so stupid after all. In the end the quality of the AI is about making the gameplay harmonise with the player's experience. A good AI is making you forget that it actually is AI. It doesnt necessarily have to be smart at all.

The only game where I didnt notice that everyone had left the server was Counterstrike Source.

[mrcash2009 0]

I wouldn't say best AI ... ever compared to many, but one game that had great Ai for its time was Ghost Recon (The original).

Sneaky, stealth could be used, flanking tactics and group flanking tactics, prone and crawling, hiding by objects and leaning etc. Could always have a moment of WTF did that come from??

[Mac_Spliff=ISK= 10]

Best Ingame AI are the Boy's from Company of Heroes!

When they get shot at, they hide them selfs behind things, not in front like arma2

They shoot back at Hostiles, In ArmA 2 they are blind, dont see shite at 10 meters in front LMAO

The AI Medics go get the wounded AI soldiers !!! Bring them back at MASH, after a few saves u get AI Units back for fight....

When u call Arty support or Air support, they strike where U Want it.....

Company of heroes, all the 3 parts!! i play them when i get bored from ArmA 2 bugs

Lucky for us, and me! people like gunter compile nice MOD's to use with the ArmA 2 AI

Thanks Gunter! @A2Warmod !!!!!!!!!!!!

Zeus ! @zcommon

SLX ! @SLX

if those guys did not exist.....pfffffffffffffffffff wat a AI mess in ArmA 2.....sigh sigh :(

PS: And also a big THANKS for all those that made the AI in ArmA 2 better ! Tally-hoooooooooo!!!!!

Mac out

Edited November 16, 2010 by Mac_Spliff=ISK=