Evolutionary Algorithm

This week’s Thursday Theory article looks at academic research in Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies (a.k.a. NEAT) developed at the University of Texas. In particular, you’ll learn how it’s applied at runtime in a video game to allow the actors to learn neat behaviors over time by evolution. (You can curse at the pun if […]

euphoria, a physics-based animation system capable of synthesizing motion dynamically, has been getting a lot of attention recently. The gaming press in particular seems to have sunk to the level of screeching groupies. So, in the interest of providing you with balanced coverage, here’s a more technical (and possibly a little cynical) review […]

Saturdays at AiGameDev.com are dedicated to rounding up Smart Links from around the web. There’s been lots of news this week due to GDC, including some interesting announcements in San Francisco!
This roundup is brought to you by Novack and Alex Champandard. If you have any news or tips for next week, be sure to email […]

AI research ties into games and simulations in many ways, but one of the most fascinating is the evolution of artificial life. Here’s a compilation of the best videos and white papers about applying genetic algorithms to generating the morphology and behavior of virtual embodied creatures in 3D worlds.
A big thanks goes to […]

A new book recently came out explaining how to apply biologically inspired AI to games. It covers the classics in computational intelligence such as genetic algorithms, neural networks, artificial immune systems and particle swarm optimizations — not forgetting underrated techniques like reinforcement learning, independent component analysis, and radial basis functions.
I found out about […]

Evolutionary algorithms (EA) fall into the category of general optimization strategies, which can be used to find approximate solutions to problems given a measure of fitness. Modern game developers certainly uses specific optimization techniques heavily, but evolutionary algorithms still haven’t found a regular place in the development process.

Today is just one of those days I’d rather forget… Hmph. If you have a few seconds to spare and a StumbleUpon account, could you post a short review of AiGameDev.com? It’d certainly help put the spring back in my step. Thanks!
Anyway, this Saturday, there are quite a few interesting Smart Links […]

A new book on artificial intelligence and game design is due to come out in the next few weeks. Using examples and case studies, the book shows how to apply emergent principles in game design — in particular using modern AI techniques. It’s written by Penny Sweetser, who worked as a designer […]

This week’s Thursday Theory post features an interview with Julian Togelius. Julian got his Ph.D. by doing research into computational intelligence (CI) — a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) inspired by biological systems. He has published multiple papers about applying these techniques to video games, notably racing games.
I caught up with Julian by […]

Saturday’s here so it’s time for some Smart Links from around the web! There are 9 interesting game AI links for you this week. Thanks everyone for your submissions. Also note the new splash screens for this category :-)

Also, I’ve put up a little Tumbleblog over at news.AiGameDev.com, which features all […]

The Creatures game has played a very unique role in the history of games, selling over half a million units by incorporating many ideas from academic AI. It is touted as a breakthrough in artificial life, and incorporates both neural network algorithms and a form of artificial evolution to implement the Norns. This article reveals how this was done in practice.

This Saturday, there are many Smart Links for you to browse. If you have news or announcements, be sure to send them in.