04-04-2002 01:22									#1
	ai engine research project HELP!! Tired of ads?

hello all!!

I'm doing a small cs research project due in next week (aagh!) entitled: "The ai engine in Sid Meier's Civilization 3" to be exact.

Basically I'm finding it hard to find concrete information about the actual structures used in creating the ai itself and how it was created/written etc.

I've been trawling through sites for about a week now and have found lots of information on playing the game, creating new units etc but not alot on the actual core ai engine itself.

Could anyone lead me in the right direction??

many thanks
p

	04-04-2002 05:05									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

I don't know much about AI, but there is something I know about the Civ III AI, it is multi-layered. That is the AI does not act as one large algorithm to calculate the 'best' actions. One part of the AI decides what units(or buildings) are to be produced, other part of the AI decides where to more the units, etc.

The main advantage of this multi-layered AI is the realtively small amount of programming required (therefore low cost); this also makes the game little faster because the decisions are made with small amount of information (each layer of AI ignores the information that is not revelant to itself).

However this type of programming does not allow the AI to make complex plans. Consider a chess program where one layer of AI decides which piece should move, and other layer to decide where it should move; obviosly this program will not be able to beat most humans or other chess programs.

I hope this helps... I don't think that you can find many sources about the core of the AI, because most of this material is considered intellectual property of Firaxis.

	05-04-2002 09:20									#3
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: I don't know much about AI, but there is something I know about the Civ III AI, it is multi-layered. That is the AI does not act as one large algorithm to calculate the 'best' actions. One part of the AI decides what units(or buildings) are to be produced, other part of the AI decides where to more the units, etc.

had just found that out actually, you're dead right!

quote: The main advantage of this multi-layered AI is the realtively small amount of programming required (therefore low cost); this also makes the game little faster because the decisions are made with small amount of information (each layer of AI ignores the information that is not revelant to itself).

indeed, the low budget approach seems to have been what the boys at firaxis have taken, most notable employing Mr. Johnson! it seems from what people are saying though, that this approach does lead to some "holes" forming when applied to "realistic" gameplay.

quote: I hope this helps... I don't think that you can find many sources about the core of the AI, because most of this material is considered intellectual property of Firaxis.

yeah, unfortunately I can't, but many thanks for the help! much appreciated, I'll keep posted as to how the research pans out!

thanks
p