Artificial Intelligence (AI), in general, is a vast, deep, and intimidating topic. The uses for it are diverse, ranging from robotics, to statistics, to (more relevantly to us) entertainment, and more specifically, video games. Our goal will be to demystify the subject by breaking down the use of AI into relatable, applicable solutions, and to provide accessible examples that illustrate the concepts in the ways that cut through the noise and go straight for the core ideas.
This chapter will give you a little background on AI in academics, traditional domains, and game-specific applications. Here are the topics we'll cover:
Exploring how the application and implementation of AI in games is different from other domains
Looking at the special requirements for AI in games
Looking at the basic AI patterns used in games
This chapter will serve as a reference for later chapters, where we'll implement the AI patterns in Unity.