There have been truly exemplary examples of AI in video games. There’s this myth that it depends mostly on processing power but that’s not really true, is it? Majority of advancement depends on the amount of work developers are willing to put behind pushing the AI in games. Bungie did it with Halo Reach, and showed that it is not entirely dependent on processing power.
Overgrowth Alpha 193 is a game that not many people have heard of, and for a good reason. It’s an obscure PC game with very less coverage, but hopefully after this demonstration it picks up a bit.
They’ve developed a technique called adaptive AI, in which the AI adapts to your techniques, so you have to vary your moves and be quick on your toes. The AI is relentless as you can see in this video which shows two rabbits… err, yeah kicking the crap out of each other.
The main objective here is to make the AI ‘more human’, and based on this video, and ignoring the fact that these are rabbits fighting, the combat is really impressive and realistic. You can visit their website here to learn more.
Here are the new features you can see in this video:
- AI has slower reaction time to changes in target position
- AI pays attention to attack pose (if target is planning to attack)
- AI can try to provoke attacks while intending to counter
- AI mixes up counter attacks and counter throws
- AI can predict attack patterns; vary your attacks and combinations
- AI avoids potential jump attacks
- Fixed problem with player passive block not triggering
- Fixed occasional crash on script live-update
