Chapter 5. Movement in Game Worlds

Key Topics

• The Environment and Space

• Types of Game Worlds

• Handling Movement

• Assumptions

• Testing Conditions

Before getting carried away thinking about the implementation, it's a good idea to analyze the platform for the AI (that is, the engine and the environment's design). Luckily, this book reuses an existing game, so the specification is already established! In most cases, the specification is not frozen at this stage of development. Nonetheless, the game design has already focused on these issues as they also apply to human players. The aim here is to explain parts of the design to be reused and customized by the AI, to fulfill general requirements from the rest of the development team (for instance, efficiency and realism).

This chapter covers the following topics:

• A study of the environment as it implicitly defines movement down to every possible step, and restrictions on the behaviors of animats

• The types of movement supported by game worlds, which will reveal some assumptions reused during the specification phase

• How the game engine ties everything together, with a focus on the simulation of the world itself

• A description of the ideal environment, providing testing conditions and guidelines to assist when creating movement

The analysis from this chapter provides a foundation for the specification of a world interface for controlling movement and for the understanding of behaviors relating to movement.