Hello all. What are the general steps that programmers take when creating AI? For instance, when designing a character my general steps are to identify their purpose (ie will they be a standing NPC who spits out random phrases or the type that attacks/helps the player), and then moving on to working out what should be in the prototype for the MVP (minimum viable product). My second question relates to that, which is how much content of a planned AI should go into a prototype? For instance, if one planned to make an AI that was an enemy to the player and came with a range of attacks, dialogue options, ect.. What's the best method to determine how much of that content belongs in the prototype? My concern is that if you spend too much time planning, it'll take forever to get the work done. But if you don't plan enough, the project would be doomed to fail.

Thanks,

J

As you might have already guessed, it depends.

What's the purpose of the prototype? For example, if the purpose is a technical test of animated speaking NPCs you can use a single fixed phrase and perhaps stress the game engine with extra copies of the NPC, while if the purpose is evaluating how the NPC affects the player varied phrases (maybe picked randomly or scripted, without smart decisions) would increase realism.