A.I. System and Arcade Games
The first arcade games were built on discrete logic and were strictly based on competition between the players. In those days there wasn’t any A.I. system.
Peculiar algorithms have been used in the arcade games. A [popular method of controlling an NPC in the game was by scripting.
Path finding is a commonly used A.I. system in the real time strategy games. Path finding determines how to move an NPC from one place to another after considering the terrain and obstacles.
Games like Quake and Pursuit based all the enemy moves on particular stored patterns. The space invaders further refined this movement by adding in-game events which were triggered by the hash functions.
This resulted in more varied and complex enemy movements.
Pac-Man not only adopted this technology but also added different personalities for each ghosts.
Even hough the ghost movements in Pac-Man appeared random, it was a cleverly scripted and well disguised action.
1990s saw the emergence of finite state machines. The arcade racing games were powered by a ‘rubber banding’ A.I. system.
If the computer determined the opponents “fall behind”, they received a superb boost allowing them to catch up.
The system too, works the other way around, enabling the human players to catch up if they fall behind. The arcade shooting games should ideally have a large rule base which is basically the list of NPC options like attack long range, call for help, flee etc.
The secret lies in using a random factor to choose from this base factor. This has provided an increased feeling of intellect and improved the fun quotient.
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