Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Prey) has earned a reputation for designing games with sprawling, complex levels that run like clockwork (sometimes literally), affording crafty players a plethora of avenues to get through them.

As part of the GDC 2017 AI Summit, Arkane's Laurent Couvidou and Xavier Sadoulet stepped up to explain how the AI of Dishonored 2 was designed to complement that complexity by giving players challenging, yet outwittable foes.

The pair discussed a variety of systems in fascinating detail, including how Dishonored 2 allows multiple NPCs to coordinate, the implementation of spatial reasoning for stealth and search, and a data-driven rule system for dialog and animations.

It was a fascinating presentation, and now it's completely free to watch on the official GDC YouTube channel! Whether you're catching it for the first time or just want a quick refresher, it's well worth a watch.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying 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 or VRDC 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.

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