hey guys can u suggest some links or some available resources on the net that teaches on how to implement simple AI in an FPS game.. i just need this for school project and i dont have much money to buy books for AI.. If there aint any, can u guys share some sample code on how to implement this, im implementing my scene using a simple mesh implemented in an OCTREE.. pls pls guys i really need help since this is my project for school. thanks

To keep it simple I'd suggest a waypoint based navigation for a bot. Manually place waypoints around the level, allow them to connect to other waypoints. Then run A* on the resulting graph. FPS games have been doing this for a long time now. Most still use a similar approach, though some big games like HL2 and Quake3 & Doom 3 use more of a navigation mesh method.

could do something that makes the mesh go differnt directions based on distance from user. This is probably the most simple AI.

Re: Doom 3 and HL2

Doom 3 uses a 3d spatial representation that is automatically generated, refered to as the AAS (Area Awareness System). There is a bit of info on the net. This is likely much more complex than you need for a school project, though its pretty nifty tech.

Half-Life 2 still uses a manually placed waypoint system I believe (similar to HL1). The SDK includes a navmesh system, but think this was used by other projects shipped with the codebase. I think the most recently shipped versions of Unreal and Half-Life still use manually placed waypoints pathing, with lots of local movement tests/triangulation to allow the AI to path off the graph.

There are lots of options, but use of manually placed waypoints is safe and very simple to implement. If you want to spend more time on it, there are lots of other options out there to though.

The book 'Programming Game AI by Example' is a practical and direct into getting an AI like that up and running rapidly (good job on it by the way Matt).