Summary

This chapter discussed the importance of scripting, even when modern AI techniques are used:

• Scripts are easy to modify; there is no separate compilation phase.

• The syntax is simple, flexible, and high-level, which leads to less coding.

• Scripts are separated from the code and are handled in a data-driven fashion.

• As customizable glue between generic components, scripts provide the ideal complement to native code.

The idea of a voting system was also presented in detail. In the case of weapon selection, the following concepts apply:

• Candidates are the weapon properties.

• The features of the situation are the voters.

• The votes can be cast with different weights and for multiple candidates.

The solution works very well, and matches our requirements for justifiability and decisiveness. This requires a certain amount of experimentation and adjusting by the developer. However, sometimes the assumptions do not lead to the best decision, and the system is not tailored to individual skills.

The next chapter covers the theory behind decision trees, an AI technique that can be used to make decisions by evaluating the benefit of a choice. The advantage is that the weapon selection can be learned from examples, and the application of this theory is covered in Chapter 27, "Learning to Assess Weapons."