Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in games is a broad topic. A.I. covers a range of techniques that allow the computer to think and act based on a set of rules. The aim of most A.I. is to succeed at whatever its goal is. In the case of game A.I. its goal is actually to lose, but to lose convincingly and encourage the player to overcome a challenge.

Brian Schwab, author of “AI Game Engine Programming”, says the aim of game A.I. is “to be a good dad”. Imagine an A.I. entity playing a game with their kid. A bad dad would defeat their child as quick as possible. A good dad would encourage their child to rise to the challenge and overcome it, adapting the difficulty to meet the skills of their child.

This subject will teach you various decision-making algorithms and techniques used in games, along with locomotion techniques to move entities around your game worlds. You will also learn pathfinding algorithms that help A.I. find their way to a goal, be that a location within the level or a certain goal state such as world domination!