One of the most requested features for Dark GDK, along with physics were A.I. (artificial intelligence) commands. Commands that would help with pathfinding, and adding intelligent behaviour into your games, making opponents and allies smarter. To this end we're pleased to present to you the Dark A.I. extension. Dark A.I. offers developers the following abilities, implemented as native Dark GDK functions:
Download Our 3D Demo ...
We have released a Dark A.I. 3D demo showcasing just some of the Dark A.I. features, wrapped up in an FPS style interactive walk-thru. This demo requires DirectX 9.0c Feb 2006 Edition. This demo was made using the Dark Basic Professional version of Dark A.I. All of this functionaliy is available for Dark GDK.
| Dark AI 3D Demo | |||||||||||||||||
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Download: | dark_ai_3d_demo_v2.zip |  |
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| File Size: | 36.39 MB (37262 KB) | |
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| Released: | 24th May 2006 | |
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| Description: | This is a demo showcasing some of the Dark AI features. It requires the February 2006 version of DirectX 9.0c installed. | |
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| Downloads: | 12146 | |
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... Or Watch the Video!
We have also produced a video of this 3D demo, which is a quarter of the file size, so more suitable to those on a slow connection. You can download either a WMV (Windows Media) version - dark_ai_med.wmv (11MB), or a MOV (QuickTime) version - dark_ai_med.mov (8MB).
Path Finding
Flexible waypoint based path finding system that calculates a set of waypoints around all obstacles added to the AI system. Entities then use an A* algorithm to calculate a path between their position and destination. This means your entities should always use the shortest path between two points, no matter how complex the situation.
Teams
Provides 3 teams (enemy, friendly and neutral teams) to organise entities in the AI world. Neutral entities run away from combat, friendlies attack the player's enemies whilst enemies attack the player and his allies.
Entity Commands
By default entities will automatically move about the world and react to events (e.g. Sounds) and other entities according to their team and aggressiveness. Set the entity aggressiveness and restrictions by using commands such as 'Defend Point' or 'Patrol Path', the entity will then act in accordance with these restrictions.
Manual Control
Alternatively entities can be moved around the world using a set of more specific commands such as setting the entity destination or look at point directly with 'Set Destination' and 'Look At' or 'Look At Target', the entity will create a path automatically to its destination and inform you when it's ready to fire. Entities will detect nearby enemies but not act against them during manual control.
Avoidance
Entities will automatically detect and avoid other entities in its way, you can also use an external physics/collision system to notify the AI system that an entity has collided with something to force it to avoid non-AI, non-static objects.
Zones
Add one or more zones to an entity that will trigger a response when an opposing team member enters it. Entities can be set to ignore people if they leave a zone or chase them until they can no longer see them.
Direct Integration
If using DarkBasic Professional 3D objects you can set the AI system to automatically move and turn your objects for you.
Not Limited To 3D
The internal system is based around a 2D top down view and allows you to create your own 2D avoidance shapes manually, allowing its use in any situation that can be represented with 2D shapes. Entities can also be added without an associated 3D object, with their AI modified position values available through 'Get Entity X' and 'Get Entity Z' to position your own entities.
Debugging Commands
A range of commands are available to display the internal state of the AI system, including displaying all waypoints and their connections, entity paths (calculated to avoid obstacles), obstacle bounds, AI events (e.g. Sounds) and entity view / hearing ranges.
Containers
Areas of your world can be separated from each other using AI containers, such as different floors in a building. The player can freely move between containers whereas Entities can be restricted to the bounds of its container.
Included in the purchase
Dark A.I. comes with a comprehensive help file explaining all of the commands spread across the 11 sections. It also comes with 10 example programs, each showcasing a different aspect of the Dark AI system.
| Dark AI | ||||||||||
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Add A.I. capabilities to your Dark GDK games with this expansion pack
Dark A.I. is distributed electronically. |
