Book Image

Unity AI Game Programming - Second Edition

By : Raymundo Barrera, Aung Sithu Kyaw, Clifford Peters, Thet Naing Swe
Book Image

Unity AI Game Programming - Second Edition

By: Raymundo Barrera, Aung Sithu Kyaw, Clifford Peters, Thet Naing Swe

Overview of this book

<p>Unity 5 provides game and app developers with a variety of tools to implement artificial intelligence. Leveraging these tools via Unity’s API or built-in features allows limitless possibilities when it comes to creating your game’s worlds and characters. Whether you are developing traditional, serious, educational, or any other kind of game, understanding how to apply artificial intelligence can take the fun-factor to the next level!</p> <p>This book helps you break down artificial intelligence into simple concepts to give the reader a fundamental understanding of the topic to build upon. Using a variety of examples, the book then takes those concepts and walks you through actual implementations designed to highlight key concepts, and features related to game AI in Unity 5. Along the way, several tips and tricks are included to make the development of your own AI easier and more efficient.</p> <p>Starting from covering the basic essential concepts to form a base for the later chapters in the book, you will learn to distinguish the state machine pattern along with implementing your own. This will be followed by learning how to implement a basic sensory system for your AI agent and coupling it with a finite state machine (FSM). Next you will be taught how to use Unity’s built-in NavMesh feature and implement your own A* pathfinding system. Then you will learn how to implement simple flocks and crowd’s dynamics, the key AI concepts. Then moving on you will learn how a behavior tree works and its implementation. Next you will learn adding layer of realism by combining fuzzy logic concepts with state machines. Lastly, you learn applying all the concepts in the book by combining them in a simple tank game.</p>
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Unity AI Game Programming Second Edition
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Setting up the rules


Our "game" is quite simple. While the actual game logic, such as health, damage, and win conditions, are left completely up to you, our example focuses on setting you up to implement your own tank-defense game.

When deciding on what kind of logic and behavior you'll need from your agent, it's important to have the rules of the game fleshed out beyond a simple idea. Of course, as you implement different features, those rules can change, but having a set of concepts nailed down early on will help you pick the best tools for the job.

It's a bit of a twist on the traditional tower-defense genre. You don't build towers to stop an oncoming enemy; you rather use your abilities to help your tank get through a gauntlet of towers. As your tank traverses the maze, towers along the path will attempt to destroy your tank by shooting explosive projectiles at it. To help your tank get to the other side, you can use two abilities:

  • Boost: This ability doubles up your tank's movement speed...