Modular Tactical Influence Maps

A large portion of the believability of AI characters in shooter and role-playing games (RPGs) comes from how they act in their environment. This often goes beyond what the character elects to do and gets into where the character decides to do it. Certainly, technologies such as traditional pathfinding and automatic cover selection provide much of this illusion. However, there is another layer of “spatial awareness” that, by helping to inform the decision process, can provide even more of the appearance of intelligence in game characters. Much of this stems from the character not only being aware of the static environment around it (i.e., the fixed level geometry) but also being aware of the positioning of other characters-both enemy and ally-in their immediate area. This is often done through the use of influence maps.