Core Techniques and Algorithms in Game Programming

Chapter 8. Tactical AI

	“We are not retreating—we are advancing in another direction.”
	--General Douglas Mac Arthur

KEY TOPICS

• Tactical Thinking Explained

• Military Analysis: Influence Maps

• Representing Tactics

• In Closing

Now we know how action-oriented AI can be built into any game. We have seen simple methods to convey the illusion of intelligent behavior, from chasing a spaceship to choosing an attack move in a fighting game. However, these behaviors can hardly qualify as “intelligent thinking.” They more closely resemble the behavior of a robot. They are simple sequential tests, which, despite looking intelligent as a whole, are not very far from conventional programming.

Now we will move one step higher on the reasoning scale as we advance into ...