I am currently working my way through A.I.: A Modern Approach, and find it quite informative. But, I am wondering if there are any suggestions for a next book. Specifically, I am looking for books related to programming artificial intelligence in relation to games. Or atleast books that discuss implementation. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks MatrixOps

AI Game Programming Wisdom, although I haven''t read it.

AI Book Reviews @ Gamedev (AI Game Programming Wisdom seems to have the best overall score)

That section is pretty anemic, if you ask me.

You could check out the accu. Some of the AI books are in the Algorithms section.

Cédric

EDIT: Speaking of AI Book Reviews @ Gamedev, couldn't some of you (the knowledgeable, good-natured regulars of this forum) write a few reviews in there? It doesn't have to be very long, and I would certainly appreciate it...

[edited by - cedricl on August 2, 2002 1:37:49 PM]

quote: Original post by cedricl
That section is pretty anemic, if you ask me.

Though you have to admit there really are not a lot of titles on A.I. to begin with, and most of the titles that do exist are about academic AI, not game AI (there is a difference). For instance the site you listed (one of the better comp book review sites) has only 17 books in the AI category. Of those 17 almost half are on ALife and the remainder are dotted with titles like "7 Methods for Transforming Corporate Data into Business by Intelligence" and "Beyond Contact A Guide to SETI". Thats not to say that its a bad site, just that there are very few Game AI books written, and most that exist are already reviewed on Gamedev.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody...now all I need is a simple environment with agents in it to start programming and testing.

quote: Original post by Michalson
For instance the site you listed (one of the better comp book review sites) has only 17 books in the AI category. Of those 17 almost half are on ALife and the remainder are dotted with titles like "7 Methods for Transforming Corporate Data into Business by Intelligence" and "Beyond Contact A Guide to SETI". Thats not to say that its a bad site, just that there are very few Game AI books written, and most that exist are already reviewed on Gamedev.

I don't think the AI section should limit itself to AI books designed with games in mind. Look at the Graphic book Reviews @ Gamedev. Very few have anything to do with games.

I admit that AI is different from graphics, because it is a much broader subject, and very little of it(comparatively) is actually usable in games. However, if general books on AI were reviewed here, the reviewer could write about their relevancy to game development.

Cédric

EDIT: The reason why the accu's book reviews section on AI looks that way is that both Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms are part of the Algorithm section.

[edited by - cedricl on August 2, 2002 3:24:21 PM]

I doubt texture mapping was originally conceived for games, but that''s where it sees the most use now. So the same could be said for AI - so-called ''academic'' AI may find uses in games that have just not been thought of yet and taken for granted in the future.

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I''d definitely concur Kylotan. There are dozens (probably a lot ore than that!) of books I have read regarding AI and I would say that almost every technique I have come across could be put to good use in a simulated environment (sure, some of the frame rates might be a bit kludgy... but hey, I still enjoy a good text adventure!).

There are so many AI techniques that ARE applicable to games but that have never been tried out, mainly because there haven''t been people in the industry who knew about them. That''s going to change over the next 5 to 10 years as the industry realises it''s going to have to start employing specialist AI personnel, as it did when graphics became the ''in-thing''. Could you imagine a large 3D project now that didn''t have a dedicated modeller, or texture artist?

Cheers,

Timkin