Develop 08: Bungie AI guru lays out future plans

By Alex Sassoon Coby, GameSpot UKPosted Aug 1, 2008 7:55 am PT

The man behind the artificial intelligence in Master Chief's last two outings talks to developer conference about where Halo AI is going next.

BRIGHTON--Damian Isla of Bungie Studios addressed the 2008 Developer Conference and Expo yesterday. The AI expert talked about the challenges he'd faced leading the artificial-intelligence development on Halo 3, how the AI has changed since the original Halo, and the problems being faced by the development team on their next project.

It is friendly AI, rather than opposition AI, that is currently his team's focus, according to Isla. Making friendly NPCs react in a manner that is both useful and natural is a great challenge, he said, as it requires the AI to be able to accurately determine player intent and act accordingly. The team have looked at two possible ways of solving this most vexing of problems. The first is to improve the AI's player modelling--essentially teaching the machines how players are likely to behave so that they can react in a more realistic and considerate way. This is, however, incredibly difficult, Isla said. "We'll never be 100 percent there, and 99 percent is very often just not good enough," he explained.

The other option, and the one being actively worked on, is to implement what Isla described through the medium of his presentation as a "UR DOIN IT RONG" button, so that players can easily correct errors made by their virtual colleagues. Described as the one Isla was "really excited about," this will allow players to "have a conversation, not give them orders," he explained. The challenge here is that it requires the development of a language that can be understood by the AI, and allows knowledge to be both shared and derived. Isla made it clear he had no interest in developing a system based on natural language, but indicated that the solution could be symbol-based.

Isla summed up the challenges surrounding AI by saying that, "Animation technology still sucks. Design interfaces still suck. Pathfinding will suck forever." He then concluded by saying that Bungie was currently hiring in "every position imaginable."

93 Comments

  • Vasya7

    Posted Jan 1, 2009 3:10 pm PT

    "I need a Warthog ASAP Marine!"
    "Sir, yes, sir"
    [Warthog motor noise]
    "Here you go sir"

  • ebookerd1

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 9:55 am PT

    Interesting I wish they would implement voice recongnition! Now that would be hot!

  • ebookerd1

    Posted Sep 11, 2008 9:55 am PT

    Interesting I wish they would implement voice recongnition! Now that would be hot!

  • awia

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 4:44 pm PT

    UR DOOIN IT WRONGZ

    lol, this actually sounds like a bad idea. I dont want to have to manage my teammates in any game like halo, then its not really AI.

    Any type of control the player exhibits over the NPCs makes it a strategy game.

  • Humorguy_basic

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 2:07 pm PT

    If text parser technology had been continued, instead of abandoned for the glitzy graphic side of gaming, we would have a natural language parser by know that would understand this statement I have just typed and could respond like you are going to respond to this post. With this parser technology, AI could be way further ahead than it is, and we would have a much wider PC games market because of it!

  • PieCrusher

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 8:31 pm PT

    Thats cool. The AI in halo 3 was better then its prevous ones but it still could have been better. I think the enemies should have communicated better and when they are shot at they should actually try to take cover or do some good evasive actions. As far as the marines go though they were still for the most part idiots who got in the way. What i would've liked to see is them actually coordinate with you and eachother. This would have made the game more fun and whole some.

  • Pangamaster

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 5:54 pm PT

    I wonder if they are hiring a position as mascot...

  • GhostStalkerX1

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 7:26 pm PT

    I agree with Ra's paragraph. Halo CE was my favorate Halo of them all. If it had online ability it would be sweet. Back to what Ra's statement was about. Halo CE AI to me was awsome, when i went to melee elites they didnt sit there and flinch like they did in H2. They meleed me right back (Pending on if there shields were up and how much HP they had after they were down). However i do remeber Bungie saying that, someone that helped do something with H1 (Dont rember the person or position) left the Bungie team before H2 was made. Mabie it was that one person or not idk personaly. But none the less imo when i clicked legendary and begun my mission, the Enemy Ai seemed smarter and more in number. In H2/H3 the number of Enemy was turned up but everything else seemed tweaked. All in All excluding the graphics, Halo CE was the best...IMO.

  • Yugor1000

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 3:17 pm PT

    If the AI could drive better, I wouldn't really have any complaints....after all, they have unlimted ammo, can snipe with a Rocket Launcher, and are generally not retarded.....except behind the wheel......

    However, I would like to know WTF happened to all those big enemy AI promises Bungie made in their vidocs before Halo 3 came out......the Legendary AI Brutes in Halo 3 are dumber then Normal Elites in either of the two previous games!

  • anti-viper

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 5:10 pm PT

    The only bad AI is the regular marines. Everyone else is great. Even with that being said, the only real problem they have is driving.

  • Halochampian

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 10:25 am PT

    and edibleFood... I think that is highly unlikely.


    I could be wrong but I am a big Bungie follower. And the whole dedication to Xbox seems reliable. Unless Sony buys them... i dont think it is going to happen.

  • -White_Knight-

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 9:46 am PT

    As long as games have good split-screen/online multiplayer, I'm fine.

  • K-Grogg

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 6:36 am PT

    LOL "every position imaginable."

  • EdibleFood

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 5:05 am PT

    EGMs rumor mill said bungie is developing something for ps3

  • gertish

    Posted Aug 6, 2008 8:48 pm PT

    I hope the AI passes their driver's test in the next Halo game!

  • Twoleggedpirate

    Posted Aug 6, 2008 6:35 pm PT

    Halo is amazing... better than gears =D

  • BRAWLL

    Posted Aug 6, 2008 2:55 pm PT

    well they wont make that mistake again

  • zgreenwell

    Posted Aug 6, 2008 2:20 pm PT

    I'm sure if there was a situation similar to the events in Halo in real life there would be tons of marines gunned down by Spartan friendly fire.

  • e1_bandito_rojo

    Posted Aug 6, 2008 12:59 pm PT

    I wonder what they're going to do... how this button thing is going to work... and when is the new halo game being announced? I heard it's kinda like a mix between Gears and Ghost Recon. So its a good thing they're working on the AI.

  • thesethcohen

    Posted Aug 6, 2008 4:31 am PT

    The worst thing about the Halo 3 AI was letting an NPC be in the driver seat of a vehicle and you get into a passenger seat. They'd regularly drive off cliffs or flip the vehicle...However the answer to this.You drive.

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