Sunday, September 22, 2013
Summary
Yesss!!! We're on the downward slope now, I can feel it! AI is picking up and it's picking up fast.
I feel really good about the high-level architecture. The planning algorithm, the structure of the AI's understanding of the world, the concept of delegation and the theory behind collaborative AI...it's all just coming together And with the conceptual architecture in place, I can feel myself gaining more and more confidence in implementing the details. The meat. The game.
So yeah, I finally started filling in more of the "details" of the AI interactions today! Things like building an understanding of credits, items, power, construction, trading...etc. Not all finished yet but it's interesting how easy these things seem with the right architecture. All I really have to do now is give the AI some minimal details about the ways in which it can interact with the world, and the secret-sauce planning algorithms will do the rest, transforming these little details into elaborate sequences of intelligent action
At the same time, I'm still working to extend the planning algorithm to handle delegation. What it really amounts to is introducing the notion of "parallelism" in planning. An AI that can delegate must understand the concept of parallelism, otherwise it cannot possibly understand the value of delegation. A leader gives tasks to subordinates precisely because the parallel solving of his goals decreases the time it takes to achieve them. It's taking me a bit of work to understand the relationship between the owner of a plan, the person executing it, and the objects affected by the execution. But I think I'm close
That's right folks. It's time to get real. No doubt you've been wondering where the gameplay is...but trust me, it's coming. I'm ready to roll on the AI front. The simulation front is largely solved as well, and although I don't feel as comfortable with LOD sim as I do with AI, I'm still confident that the architecture is solid enough to start dropping down into the details.
Also! I only have two days before I need to make the monthly video I'll be taking a weekend trip to Las Vegas (on my own money, of course ) for my friend's birthday at the end of the month and need to get the video done before the trip so that it's ready to release when I get back. Crunch time!!! But I have a feeling that we'll all be pleased with September
[ You can visit devtime.ltheory.com for more detailed information on today's work. ]
Post
Sun Sep 22, 2013 11:43 pm
#1
Week of September 22, 2013
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford