Best AI in games?

[joebthegreat]

Galactic Civilizations

It is a 4X strategy game, so it's market appeal is very niche... but let me tell you, that game had a setting to maximize the use of your CPU purely for THINKING ABOUT THE ACTIONS THE COMPUTER WOULD TAKE.

Without any need for compensation (though there were options for that too if you liked to torture yourself) the AI could easily compete with any human player and damn they could be ruthlessly political too.

 

[iamthelizardqueen88]

As usual when i post about a game my answer is gonna be Tales of the Abyss. All the Tales of games have REALLY good AI characters but Abyss is the ony one where theyll use their specials even when your not controlling them

 

[scorptatious]

Halo games on the higher difficulty settings. I swear, I can't even face a grunt without being paranoid on Legendary...

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Halo 3, MW2 and F.E.A.R. all have great enemy AI.

Also, those things in Dead Space 2 that peek over the wall or around corners and wait till you're not looking then charge at you... I hate them.

I'd agree with Halo but not the other two. Most of the "AI" in MW2 is simply the result of clever level design an scripted action. The enemy actors are not coming up with a plan but are instead following one made by a person. Their actual "AI" governs little more than pop out and shoot from cover from time to time logic. FEAR may qualify but firefights in that game are incredibly brief and any intelligence the enemy may have is thus mitigated and hard to spot.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Bots in Perfect Dark on the N64.

Anyone who has had matches against various types of Perfect Sims will know exactly what I am talking about.

Those same people probably also want to kick me for reminding them was a Dark Sim is. =3

That really isn't an example of good AI. The thing is that a computer player in an FPS can always beat a human player. They potentially have perfect knowledge of the terrain and player locations, they have the capacity to have perfect accuracy along with instant reaction. Good AI generally relies on the bot not having access to this information and trying to simulate what a human player might do.

The Dark Sim in Perfect Dark was not even remotely smart. It just knew exactly where the player was, moved faster than a player, shot weapons faster than the player (they could fire the magnum revolver like a machine gun), reloaded quicker, and always aimed for (and hit) the player's head. In short, the bot was basically cheating.

 

[ImprovizoR]

F.E.A.R. and Metal Gear Solid 3. Enemies would try to flank you and they didn't simply run into your line of fire. And they were able to wait for backup to try to get you.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I'd agree with Halo but not the other two. Most of the "AI" in MW2 is simply the result of clever level design an scripted action. The enemy actors are not coming up with a plan but are instead following one made by a person. Their actual "AI" governs little more than pop out and shoot from cover from time to time logic. FEAR may qualify but firefights in that game are incredibly brief and any intelligence the enemy may have is thus mitigated and hard to spot.

I'd disagree about MW2. I've gotten flanked and surprised by those bots many many times, especially on that one level. They know how to use the environment to get at you.

 

[Zantos]

The ally AI in Mass Effect 1 and 2 was incredibly clever, with teammates using intellingent strategies to aid you against the enemies. Important note: I could only keep a straight face up to about the first comma with that statement.

Without joking, I'd probably agree that on harder difficulties Halo enemies are pretty clever. Covering their backs and always trying to flank. Some even work together.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I'd agree with Halo but not the other two. Most of the "AI" in MW2 is simply the result of clever level design an scripted action. The enemy actors are not coming up with a plan but are instead following one made by a person. Their actual "AI" governs little more than pop out and shoot from cover from time to time logic. FEAR may qualify but firefights in that game are incredibly brief and any intelligence the enemy may have is thus mitigated and hard to spot.

I'd disagree about MW2. I've gotten flanked and surprised by those bots many many times, especially on that one level. They know how to use the environment to get at you.

And you can play that level again and again and they do exactly the same thing. That isn't the result of the AI being smart, that's because the designer scripted that action. This is precisely why playing the game on the hardest difficulty levels is so incredibly frustrating. All you are doing is identifying patterns of action and countering them. You get surprised once and then you go back and use your new knowledge to solve the problem only to be bested again.

 

[Hiname]

Worms.

... What? Stop looking at me like that. On hiher difficulty settings they could throw a granade under your feet from miles away with surgeon precision over half a dozen obstacles using the three walls around you.

 

[EmpressZombiKitty]

The Left4Dead and L4D2 AI was incredible. Worst thing they do is try to heal you like a distressed mother. It got better in L4D2.

I also didn't mind all the survivors of Dead Rising 2. Like I gave the 3 Rockers some Assault Rifles and they mowed zombies down. I kept them around for a psycho fight or two.

 

[mrF00bar]

The Left4Dead and L4D2 AI was incredible. Worst thing they do is try to heal you like a distressed mother. It got better in L4D2.

I also didn't mind all the survivors of Dead Rising 2. Like I gave the 3 Rockers some Assault Rifles and they mowed zombies down. I kept them around for a psycho fight or two.

The L4D2 AI was better? I found them to be almost unless.

 

[Rayne870]

The ally AI in Mass Effect 1 and 2 was incredibly clever, with teammates using intellingent strategies to aid you against the enemies. Important note: I could only keep a straight face up to about the first comma with that statement.

Without joking, I'd probably agree that on harder difficulties Halo enemies are pretty clever. Covering their backs and always trying to flank. Some even work together.

I agree with this, and also think that girl you babysit in RE4 has the best partner AI. "Go hide in the dumpster" "OK" and she actually stays there until you pick her up.

By far the partner AI I have hated most is Dom in Gears of War, that son of a ***** single handedly ruined so many attempts at General RAAM on insanity.

 

[archvile93]

The AI in FEAR tends to be pretty clever. I don't usually think about the AI though, so there might be games with better and I just didn't notice.

 

[The Night Shade]

Hitman 4 has great AI and also Worms on the hard difficulty settings they are freaking awesome

 

[BoredDragon]

Nearly every character in every fighting game ever made. It must be hard to program a fair AI because every fighting game I play it seems as fair as "spider vs boot"

 

[MiracleOfSound]

And you can play that level again and again and they do exactly the same thing. That isn't the result of the AI being smart, that's because the designer scripted that action. This is precisely why playing the game on the hardest difficulty levels is so incredibly frustrating. All you are doing is identifying patterns of action and countering them. You get surprised once and then you go back and use your new knowledge to solve the problem only to be bested again.

I'll happily take that over infinite respawns any day though.

I found MW2 by far the least frustrating COD to play through on Veteran.

 

[Kadoodle]

I always liked F.E.A.R's AI.

At the time it was released, F.E.A.R.'s AI was state of the art, and was, literally, next generation. Now we see it all the time. Enemies flank you, enemies take cover. Enemies use their surroundings. It's normal by today's standards.

 

[cainx10a]

Weird that no one mentioned Stalker. The 3rd game definitely had some amazing encounters with the humanoid enemies.

In one of my earlier missions, I was sent to recon a merc stronghold, and everything was ok until one of them spotted me, and in RPG fashion warned me to back off, or face the consequence. 30 mins later, I was still in battle with the forces holed up in the refinery. And it took me 15 min to finish off the last guy, as he maneuvered around the compound trying to flank me, when he had the chance, he took it, I backed off, and our cat and mouse game continued until I got lucky and got him in the back.

Cover was important as it didn't take much to die from a burst, same went for the enemy, but they weren't, like in most FPS, standing next to explosive barrels, or in the open. They were quick to react, knew how to use their environment, and worked as a team. That was an exhilarating experience.

Had the same experience in FEAR as well, except, with slomo and what's not, it definitely gives you the edge over the AI. Too bad FEAR 2 had a pretty sub-standard AI, and level design, you couldn't sneak around them much.

 

[Azure Sky]

Bots in Perfect Dark on the N64.

Anyone who has had matches against various types of Perfect Sims will know exactly what I am talking about.

Those same people probably also want to kick me for reminding them was a Dark Sim is. =3

That really isn't an example of good AI. The thing is that a computer player in an FPS can always beat a human player. They potentially have perfect knowledge of the terrain and player locations, they have the capacity to have perfect accuracy along with instant reaction. Good AI generally relies on the bot not having access to this information and trying to simulate what a human player might do.

The Dark Sim in Perfect Dark was not even remotely smart. It just knew exactly where the player was, moved faster than a player, shot weapons faster than the player (they could fire the magnum revolver like a machine gun), reloaded quicker, and always aimed for (and hit) the player's head. In short, the bot was basically cheating.

Hence why I used the Perfect' variants as examples.
The variants themselves strangely enough had very human patters, even if the game had poor bot pathing.
A bot that picks on players that are losing? Great idea.
A bot that picks on the top players? Even better
One that likes hit-and-run tactics? etc