Using value iteration to solve sequential decision problems in games

Solving sequential decision problems in computer games, such as non-player character (NPC) navigation, can be quite a complex task. Current games tend to rely on scripts and finite state machines (FSM) to control AI opponents. These approaches however have shortcomings; as a result academic AI techniques may be a more desirable solution to solve these types of problems. This paper describes the process of applying the value iteration algorithm to an AI engine, which can be applied to a computer game. We also introduce a new stopping criterion called game value iteration, which has been designed for use in 2D real time computer games and we discuss results from experiments conducted on the AI engine. We also outline our conclusions which state that the value iteration and the newly introduced game value iteration algorithms can be successfully applied to intelligent NPC behaviour in computer games; however there are certain problems, such as execution speed, which need to be addressed when dealing with real time games.

Citation

In: Mehdi, Q. and Gough, N. (Eds.), Proceedings of CGAIDE’2004. 5th Game-On International Conference on Computer Games: Artificial Intelligence, Design and Education, 8-10 November, 2004, Microsoft Academic Campus, Reading UK

Publisher

University of Wolverhampton, School of Computing and Information Technology

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/2436/31519

Type

Conference contribution

Language

en

ISBN

0-9549016-0-6

Collections

Faculty of Science and Engineering