Artificial intelligence or AI has grown from being just a figment of our imagination to an integral part of the IT industry. As with all other sectors, AI in game development and gaming industries has gained considerable traction over the past few years.
AI is used to create realistic NPCs, enriching the gameplay by providing gamers with an adaptive and interactive system. This blog highlights the advantages of AI in gaming and how AI in game playing provides users with a more captivating experience.
1. Enhancing NPCs using AI in game development
Artificial intelligence has been heavily utilized to improve the behavior and conversational skills of NPCs in video games. Early video games were often mocked for their predictable behavior as NPCs showcased repetitive mundane behavior.
These predictable patterns were eliminated using AI algorithms as NPCs became more adaptive and interactive, providing them with better decision making.
In games like Red Dead Redemption 2, the NPCs react intelligently exhibiting emotions, anticipating player moves, and creating a deeper narrative for players.
2. Content Generation
Creation of game worlds has been revolutionized through the concept of procedural content generation(PCG). Algorithms are used to generate vast environments which is particularly important in open world and Sand Box games.
In games such as No Man’s Sky and Minecraft, AI is used to generate vast spaces of content. No Man’s Sky contains billions of unique planets for players to explore.
3. Adaptive Gameplay
Games are meant to be challenging and playing in easy mode never poses as a challenge for the player. However, if the games are too difficult then playing becomes a chore!
Adaptive Gameplay is a concept developed by studios to change the difficulty of the game to match the player’s performance. This is currently being utilized by games such as left 4 dead through an AI-based director system.
3. Real-time Decision Making
Imagine a single-player game where the enemy reacts and acts similar to a human. This would effectively eliminate the need for a multiplayer game for most as the game would be competitive enough to pique their interest.
Games such as Starcraft II use such a system where the system analyzes the player’s strategy to create a strong counter-strategy. The AI will push the player’s boundaries allowing them to improve their game skill.
4. Realistic Animations
Back in the early days of game development, games were always completely designed and created by human developers.
While this added a certain unique sense of charm to the game, the human aspect severely hindered the potential of realistic animations and game physics being engineered into the game.
It simply took too much time and effort to implement, oftentimes considered to be impossible for smaller studios.
However, recent advancements in AI in game development allow developers to create realistic animations by using machine learning to create fluid animations.
This is done by processing enormous amounts of motion data captured by sensors. This concept was brought to life by the developers of Mortal Kombat and Fifa, where AI was used to simulate realistic kicks and environmental interaction.
5. Gameplay Testing and Debugging
Games are some of the most complex pieces of coding out there and ironing out the kinks can drag out for months and in some cases for years on end.
Testing gameplay and ensuring that every combination and scenario play out perfectly can be tedious. But, an AI-powered testing phase can reduce the time taken exponentially.
AI bots can simulate different gameplays which can be used to locate glitches, issues in balancing, and more.
6. Cheat Detection and Fair Play
AI algorithms identify cheating patterns, ensuring a fair and competitive gaming environment in multiplayer games.
7. Concluding the Advantages of AI in Gaming
The advantages of AI in gaming and game development are just too hard to ignore! With the rapid advancements in technology, every industry will have its own implementation of AI.
With menial tasks being eliminated and development timelines getting cut back, the gaming industry is in for a treat! The line between reality and virtual gaming will blur, which will promise an eventful future for all gamers.
