My idea about AI

[Kinexz 1]

Does the AI use cloud computing and become more and more smarter with the number of user connected?

Does the AI in certain situations, can reach higher levels of awareness without the client to know?

Or how much of the computing power is related to AI computation?

If the AI use cloud computing to execute even more larger and complex algorithm this could be a good idea to improve it.

You make the clients connected work too using their connections and their processors, without overloading the server. This is not to make the server work less of course, but to reach the best AI ever made.

You could do it that every piece of complexity and algorithm (you need to rewrite it, ask to AI scienstits help, i'm just a chemist) is startled when a certain level of computation is reached. When the computation level is not reached or get below a certain level, the ai get dumbed down to a previous level. I'm not asking to put this feature in Arma 3, but maybe in Arma 6.

In 5 or 6 years everyone will probably have a much better cpu ( you should see this in even less time tho), this would lead to a self improving AI where you just need to develop even more complex and faster algorithms.

You could make even more level and sublevels. I'm talking differential computation. Just imagine with your programmers brain where this could lead.

Of course reaching the level of a single human brain is far from accomplished, and how much this would improve the AI in Arma is out of my view, but i guess that 20 cpu working is better than one.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Kinexz

[Hornet 1]

Technically you are right, more processing power would allow more advance AI system.

But the problem with that is if the game relies on cloud computing to run, then you need to be connected to the servers all the time to play the game. If you have some internet problems, or the server have some problems, your game is dead.

This is the problem with Simcity right now. The game relies on the servers and when the servers get cranky, people are not able to play the game at all. Its really annoying.

[metalcraze 290]

Yes starting with OA ArmA supports a kind of cloud computing for AI called "headless client" which is essentially a dedicated server created only for handling AI and nothing else, there can be several of them in a single mission. It's not finished yet though and there's no complete official documentation on how to run it. There's also no separate exe for it available as of yet which means you must dedicate a whole copy of the game just to running it.

[Kinexz 1]

In response to first poster: you won't disable the actual way AI works, so you can play in single player.

To Hornet: having a different server managing AI is not what i meant, because what i said is to implement a differential AI and using more Cpu elaborating power would make more advanced the AI. This is not simple stuff and of course the kind of advantage would be experimentally measured first of all, and i have no data regarding this. The idea of differential is that every AI complexity level as a minimum, once you go past this number( elapsed with a benchmarking tool like ) you go up a level in complexity and so go on in a Piramid like system.

If a client disconnect the level of ai go down.

This of course should be a selectable custom difficulty level, like "rookie", amateur", medium, hard leaved at actual AI settimg and a fifth option " Enable cloud computed AI".

You would need to make Arma run a small benchmark ok cpu power and performance, but again, only if you enable the C.C.AI.

Let me know what you think, i mean, maybe in Arma 6 could make Arma the only FPS played by people.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Kinexz

[naizarak 4]

the core problem isn't computing horsepower but the AI algorithms themselves. there's a reason most games have garbage AI: it's difficult and costly to implement properly.

the arma headless client was developed to address server optimization. basically arma would run on only 1 core, and having large numbers of AI would severly degrade performance. the headless client allows you to offload the AI calculations to a separate machine(or the same server, just run as a seperate arma process). that way you could make arma utilize multiple cores by essentially running multiple instances of the game. a fairly simple fix that doesn't require extensive code modification.

so anyways the headless client just allows for more AI to be present at any one time, it doesn't actually make them smarter

[aseliot 2]

Or you could just make a button or something to update your cloud computed AI so you don't have to be online all the time, or have a folder with all kinds of AI scripts to choose from.

[Kinexz 1]

I clicked canc and lost all what i wrote.

I rewrite. Let's say we have a level 5 AI, enabled after a sommatory benchmark cloud score of 2000(again every pc run a little benchmark tool if they decide to play on this difficulty setting). On level 5, the AI is able to patrol, shoot, and use vehicle.

But let's say the cloud benchmark score sommatory is 3000 thousand. This would enable algorithms of level 8. On level 8, if a enemy unit spots you in this case is able to communicate to other enemy patrol and startle them, so they enter in a more vigilant status, once startled. On level 9, they decide to make a heli run toward your position. On level 10, they would be able to acquire intelligence on your weapons, let's say you have 3 AT, they would not run with a car toward you.

There are multiple level, and the algorithm can only grow, this would tend to a maximum bench mark cloud score. Of course one can only imagine the Algorithm can be rewrote and made faster and implemented more in the future and in different version of arma.

Yes, there is also the differential technology release problem (transumanist current), and in poor words and in fact, that is the reasone every years they come out with a different video card slightly more powerful and slighlty more optimized, but this is a political choise that is bigger than you think, and has to do with the threat of nuclear war. It's a subtle agreement so they decide to make you pay for every small upgrade, this regards cellphone, oculus vr, google glass, different driving system. Of course, this is just an idea that i decide to believe. The entire progress of science and humanity is dumbed down by a agreement. This is real, and have nothing to do with Illumanatis and paranoia. I know for a fact.

So this entire differential AI system base on cloud computing, maybe just too much to do in the near future, not of course for the technical difficulties, that are already achieved, but more for a balance of the effect. OF course, i don't think a smarter AI can give me more than funnier times! But you now, there are the bad guys too.