Unscripted AI - what is it?

[Stretchman]

Hello there,

A while back, before the release of HL-2, I was speaking to a Gamestop employee who was lamenting the fact that although Valve had promised "Unscripted AI" in their upcoming titles, this just wasn't the case. The AI in HL-2 was actually still heavily dependent on certain variables. Can someone explain to me what unscripted AI means, and how it is implemented in game technology?

 

[EightySix Four]

Unscripted AI would be ai that does not use scripts for events to happen... The AI causes these events to happen beacause they would be logical.

 

[Stretchman]

Thanks for that explanation. So, are we finally moving toward the realm of unscripted AI in video games? I'm recalling the comments of many producers from recent games like FEAR and that Band of Brothers WW-II FPS that the AI is 'intelligent'; they make tactical desicions like taking cover and flanking based upon the players moves and reactions.

However, when a programmer goes to make his AI 'spontaneous', how does he encode the type of independent variables that instruct the AI to, "go there" or "do that" without waiting for some sort of external stimulus from either the player or the environment?

 

[Gamingphreek]

I would assume that there is still a certain extent of script. A few If...Else statemtents or something. The AI still has to be given the commands that dictate its logic (from my understanding).

-Kevin