Alright, so I’ve been messing around with AI in games lately, and one thing that always bugged me was how to keep things on the rails, you know? Like, making sure the AI doesn’t go completely off-script and break the whole experience. So, I started digging into ways to “block guidelines,” as I like to call it. Basically, setting up some hard rules that the AI just can’t ignore.
My first step was just brainstorming. I grabbed a notepad and started jotting down all the ways I’d seen AI go wrong in games. Stuff like:
- Characters suddenly acting out of character.
- NPCs giving away crucial plot points too early.
- The AI just plain cheating, like knowing where you are at all times.
Once I had a good list, I started thinking about how I could prevent each of these things. I wanted something simple, not some crazy complex system. My first idea was super basic: just hard-coding some “if-then” statements. Like, “if player is in area X, then NPC cannot say Y.” It worked, kinda, but it was clunky. Every single rule had to be manually coded, and it got messy fast.
Experimenting with Constraints
So, I started looking into constraint systems. This was a bit more involved, It’s like defining certain perameters for the AI’s behavior.
I spent a good chunk of time just tweaking these constraints. It was a lot of trial and error. I’d set something up, run the game, see what the AI did, and then go back and adjust. It was a slow process, for sure, but I started seeing some real progress. The AI was staying within the bounds I set, but it still felt…robotic. It wasn’t breaking the rules, but it also wasn’t very interesting.
Adding a Bit of “Fuzziness”
That’s when I realized I needed to add some “fuzziness” to the system. The constraints were too rigid. I needed a way for the AI to have some leeway, to make choices within the guidelines. I experimented by making minor changes to the AI’s decision-making, allowing it to make choices that, while still adhering to the rules, felt less forced.
This is where things got really interesting. I started playing with weighted probabilities. So, instead of saying “the AI cannot do X,” I’d say “the AI has a 1% chance of doing X.” This tiny change made a huge difference. Suddenly, the AI felt much more alive, more unpredictable, but still (mostly) within the bounds I’d set.
It’s still a work in progress, of course. I’m constantly finding new ways to refine the system, make it more robust and more natural. But I’m pretty happy with where it’s at now. I’ve got a system that keeps the AI on track, prevents it from breaking the game, but still allows for some surprising and engaging moments. And that’s what it’s all about, right?