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Playing to Lose: AI and "Civilization" (Soren Johnson)

Google TechTalks · 66.8K views · 2010-08-30 · 1:00:29

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Overview

Soren Johnson, a lead designer and AI programmer on Civilization games, discusses game AI design, including whether AI should cheat, behave like a human or be fun rather than strong. He uses the Civilization series as a case study.

On Hacker News

HN commenters recommend it as the key talk on why game AI is built to be fun rather than to win.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2011–2026

Topics

Game designAI & data (other)
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civilizationgame aisoren johnsonai cheating

What people said

JonnieCache · 2011-12 · Strong recommendation

Continuing my theme of posting relevant google tech talks, here is Soren Johnson, the lead designer and AI programmer on Sid Meier's Civilisation, discussing this very subject with specific reference to the evolution of civ's AI over the years. Extremely enlightening, whether you are a gamer or not. [VIDEO] "Artificial intelligence is crucial to any strategy game, providing a compelling opponent for solo play. While many of the challenges of AI development are technical, significant design challenges exist as well. Can the AI behave like a human? Should it? Should the game design be adjusted to accommodate the limitations of the AI? How do we make the AI fun? Should the AI cheat? If so, how much? Do we even want the AI to win? This session suggests some possible answers to these questions using the "Civilization" series as a case study. Ultimately, developers must choose between a "good" AI and a "fun" one, with an understanding of the trade-offs inherent when deciding between the two."

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aggronn · 2012-09 · Recommendation

You might enjoy a talk by the designer of much Civilization AI: [VIDEO] Its a very good talk, but applied video game AI as a field is kind of a let down.

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JonnieCache · 2012-06 · Recommendation

You may well enjoy this lecture at google from one of the civ5 devs talking about the AI design, and game AI design in general. [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Google TechTalks, played through YouTube.

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