Pathfinding

Pathfinding is the act of finding a path between one point and another. Pathfinding and controlling enemy behaviors are the main areas in which you'll probably use AI.

 Types of AI

  Level generation
  Enemy behavior
  Neural Networks
  Turn-Based Games
  Custom Logic

 Rules for Controlling Characters

Developing rules for controlling characters and their vertical and horizontal movement in your game.

 The Perfect Maze

  Object Definition
  Implementation
  Assets

 Pathfinding Algorithms

Three popular types of algorithms:

  One: starts at the first tile and randomly walks from tile to tile (in memory) until goal is reached
  Two: starts at both the starting tile and the goal tile and walks randomly until the paths intersect
  Three: moves in the direction of the goal from a particular starting point until it hits an obstacle, then moves along the obstacle until it can get around it (tracing).

 A* Algorithms

The A* Algorithm finds the shortest distance between two paths. The examples in the Flash mx Game Design Demystified textbook are similar to those found on the Gamasutra web site.

 Flash Examples

 Custom Logic
Run the pong.swf file
Open the example file in Flash

 Homegrown AI
Run the shark_attack.swf file

 The Perfect Maze
Run the maze.swf file
Open the example file in Flash

 Implementing A*
Run the astar.swf file
Open the example file in Flash
Run the iso_ai_astar.swf file
Open the example file in Flash

 Game Review

Raise the Blocks - An isometric grid of 25 blocks – the object is to raise all the blocks.

 Reading

  Flash mx Game Design Demystified: Chapter 9