Making an AI Fun (Space Duel)

Storyyeller · 2011-10-03T21:13:59

I made an approximate clone of Space Duel. Each player controls a little spaceship which orbits around the moon and can shoot bullets or lay mines. Trajectories follow the inverse square gravity from the moon and wrap around the sides of the screen. Collision with the moon or another player is instant death. Anyway, I have had a lot of difficulty making a fun AI opponent. I want something that is very challenging, but which can be mastered with a little practice. I want an opponent that doesn't fall for cheap tricks but is beatable normally. The problem is that no matter what I try, I can't manage it. I've figured out how to make a near unbeatable AI, but not how to make a fun one. Even when I try weakening it, it doesn't really work. The main advantage of the AI is the ability to calculate exact trajectories into the future. I've intentionally simulated some uncertainty in the aiming calculations so the AI will sometimes shoot a close miss. However this isn't enough. Anyway, here is a download link for the game so you can see the problem. (This is a precompiled Windows version. If you want to run it on other platforms, just pm me and I'll send you the source code) Here's a video of the AI's dodging abilities at full strength. Obviously, the version in the actual game is weakened a bit.

Artificial Intelligence Programming

Started by Storyyeller September 30, 2011 02:10 AM

9 comments, last by IADaveMark 13 years, 1 month ago

IADaveMark

3,839

October 03, 2011 09:13 PM

Add some noise to the AI's "observation" of the player's position/velocity and the position/velocity of his projectiles.

Which goes back to my post where I pointed out that there are so many places you can add randomness, it's silly.

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Making an AI Fun (Space Duel)

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Making an AI Fun (Space Duel)

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