Game AI Pro: Collected Wisdom of Game AI Professionals

Successful games merge art and technology in truly unique ways. Fused under tight production deadlines and strict performance requirements, shaped by demanding player expectations, games are among the most complex software projects created today. Game AI Pro: Collected Wisdom of Game AI Professionals covers both the art and the technology of game AI. Nothing covered is theory or guesswork. The book brings together the accumulated wisdom, cutting-edge ideas, and clever tricks and techniques of 54 of today’s top game AI professionals. Some chapters present techniques that have been developed and passed down within the community for years while others discuss the most exciting new research and ideas from today’s most innovative games.

The book includes core algorithms that you’ll need to succeed, such as behavior trees, utility theory, spatial representation, path planning, motion control, and tactical reasoning. It also describes tricks and techniques that will truly bring your game to life, including perception systems, social modeling, smart camera systems, player prediction, and even an AI sound designer. Throughout, the book discusses the optimizations and performance enhancements that enable your game to run while maintaining 60 frames per second.

Steve Rabin is a principal software engineer at Nintendo of America, where he researches new techniques for Nintendo’s current and future platforms, architects development tools, and supports Nintendo developers. He also teaches game AI at the DigiPen Institute of Technology. He was previously an AI engineer at several start-up companies, including Gas Powered Games, WizBang Software Productions, and Surreal Software. He is the founder of the professional group AI Game Programmers Guild, with over 350 members worldwide. He earned a BS in computer engineering and an MS in computer science, both from the University of Washington.