Game Development Patterns and Best Practices

Artificial Intelligence Using the State Pattern

In the last chapter, we discussed the Component Object Model. Giving an entity a behavior is now as simple as just creating a new component and having that control the game object.

Whenever someone starts to make a game, they begin by writing gameplay code. That is the fun stuff. Everyone wants to see graphics and physics take effect on screen. Things such as a pause screen, options menu, or even a second level are an afterthought. The same happens for organizing the behaviors of a player. Programmers are excited to make a player jump and make a player dash, but with each new ability a player has, there are combinations that you may want to disallow. For example, the player might not be allowed ...