AI in competitive computer games

[tom the legend]

Hi, I am researching AI in competitive games for my dissertation, and am looking for the opinion of the gaming community. I was originally just going to ask you to fill in my survey and thanks, but that is boring and you will probably think of things I won't. So lets open it to discussion.

So, to the topic at hand. Do you think the AI in competitive games (any game that you play against human players) is any good? Does the AI help newer players learn the game, and be able to play competitively? most importantly, is it fun to play against? Would you say a competitive games lifespan can be reflected in their AI? or does it not matter at all, people will play the game regardless. Would a better AI bring in more players.

The AI in more limited games, such as chess, is usually good as there are a certain amount of possible moves for the AI to calculate, thus it needs to be programmed once. In a computer game, where it get patched frequently and players find new strategies, the preprogrammed AI becomes redundant.

My opinion is that developers ship a basic AI with game then they don't have the resources to improve it, in most games the players don't play against it anyway and it would only limit newer players trying to learn the game. That been said I think it is possible to create a learning AI that can look at player replays and find the common strategies. The possibility is there, the implementation is where the decision is made.

TLDR: Is AI in competitive games good enough? Or does it even matter?

Also shameless plug to fill in my survey and I will post the results is there is enough response. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NRXRZ7Y

 

[skywolfblue]

That been said I think it is possible to create a learning AI that can look at player replays and find the common strategies. The possibility is there, the implementation is where the decision is made.

Well, it's easy enough to copy a known pattern, but the difficult part is having that AND making it adaptive. It's really really really hard to have both.

There are some games with decent competitive AI. The Unreal Tournament series and Gears of War 3 for example. The Gears3 AI in particular struck me as being interesting in that they seemed to have done a good job in copying player mannerisms, they may not be very smart, but they do act like the typical player. The UT AI is extremely predictable, but they do get very fast and accurate on higher setting and are able to provide a good challenge to the average player.

 

[Keoul]

I'm going with "depends on the company making the game"
I mean take League of legends for example. The bots are actually fairly good human replacements to the point where "losing" to them isn't that uncommon.
It's great for the newbies who just started playing the game to learn the ropes without pros swearing at them for not knowing how to "last hit".

So myes AIs are indeed improving and is a great addition to the gaming community

 

[Dandark]

In most games I find AI's to be a good idea. I played Section 8 a lot and my favorite kind of game is about 16 players and then 16 bots.
Of course, AI are usaully only fun if they work well. Gears of war bots are terrible and just annoying to fight. I liked the bots in Section 8 and League of Legends as they work quite well.