Presentations

NASCAR races have forty-three cars racing in tight packs around the tracks, and for the game Eutechnyx set out to create a realistic experience where drivers have distinctive personalities. Optimizing that game to run smoothly on modern consoles, particularly the PS3, was quite a challenge!

The most recent iteration of Crytek’s sandbox shooter, set in New York, combines the incredible technology of CryEngine 3 along with the trademark gameplay that defines the series. In particular, the animation system is on of the biggest challenge since it must combine responsiveness to player and AI control, as well as achieving realism to match the graphics.

In the tradition of its developer Maxis, DARK SPORE is an innovative RPG game that features some radical AI design. In particular it addresses two of the most promising game design frontiers: player monitoring and experience management. How do you create a compelling challenge for gamers, keeping them interested through hours of play?

How do you make a virtual koala or zebra fun to interact with? Koalas can be rather static even in real life, so what's the solution for video games? What does the player expect when given the opportunity to watch and play with those animals? In a way, these moments are intimate conversations that the player has with the animals on screen.

When building a racing game, the immersion of the player and the entertainment value of the gameplay is heavily influenced by the believability of the opponent drivers. But how is the AI built to cope with physically-accurate simulated vehicles? Milestone, an Italian developer specializing in racing, is famous among fans for delivering a hyper realistic driving simulations, both in racing cars and superbikes.

In terms of character animation, the games industry is currently split into two groups: studios trying to achieve highly realistic motion, and those going for stylized characters. Interestingly enough, both these groups are converging on procedural animation as a way to reduce mocap overheads, reduce memory usage, provide animators with more direct control, and increase the space of animations possible...

Bringing environments to life with ambient behaviors is something most games struggle with. Bystanders, pedestrians and civilians often look lifeless and mechanical. To address this issue in upcoming expansions of EVE ONLINE, CCP Games are collaborating with Reykjavik University to build the character technology that will populate the inside of ships and space stations.

So you've built a pathfinder. What now? It turns out you're only just getting started! Have you figured out how do you handle dynamic obstacle avoidance locally for single characters, or even coordination with other characters? There's loads of research on the subject, but how do you tie it all together?

The most recent game in the survival horror series, SILENT HILL: SHATTERED MEMORIES recently became famous by psychologically profiling its players. The game received acclaim from the press and players alike, in particular for getting into people's head — and adding replayability to the game. But what combination of tricks and techniques were used to pull this off?

BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 is most recent FPS from EA's acclaimed DICE studio. The game certainly has its fair share of AI challenges — including many BATTLEFIELD-specific problems such as finding cover in highly dynamic environments and driving physically realistic vehicles. How did a AAA studio known for its multiplayer games set out to build the AI a story-driven game in BAD COMPANY 1, and how did it evolve for the sequel?