When BioWare launched Dragon Age: Inquisition, it not only made a huge leap into open-world game design, it had to create an artificial intelligence system that would work in these larger combat environments. 

Fortunately, at the 2016 Game Developers Conference, BioWare’s Sebastian Hanlon took the stage to share key lessons BioWare learned from that process. One of the key takeaways is that going open-world didn’t just mean rethinking enemy AI, it meant refining the friendly AI to keep players in control of the flow of combat. 

If you’re a programmer working on open-world AI, Hanlon shares everything from flow charts to tether systems that you can learn from. You can watch the full talk up above, or for free on the GDC YouTube channel.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas