Podcast: Big Huge Games' Reynolds On 'How AI Enables Designers'

Gamasutra is proud to present a series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will feature exclusively the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conference. Today's GDC Radio lecture comes from our extensive archive of Game Developers Conference recordings. This week, we present 'AI and Design: How AI Enables Designers', the Game Developers Conference 2004 lecture from Big Huge Games head Brian Reynolds which looks at how the game design process and the creation of AI overlaps in today's game business. An extract from the official panel abstract follows: "Whether you’re a programmer who’s always wanted to work on the game design or a designer who thinks there might be something to this “programming” thing, here’s your chance to talk with someone who has worked both sides of the fence. We’ll focus on AI and the ways in which AI development does (or should) overlap with the game design process, drawing case studies from the presenter’s experiences as Lead Designer for Rise of Nations, Alpha Centauri, and Civilization II. We’ll talk about why delaying AI development “until the design docs are final” is a wasted opportunity, and how both AI and Design benefit from simultaneous prototyping. We’ll explore not only the traditional use of AI to determine goals and strategy for computer players, but also the critical role of AI in supplying “personality” to computer-controlled characters. Perhaps most importantly we’ll talk about the sometimes-unexpected ways AI techniques can be invaluable in content generation.." You can now download the 'AI and Design: How AI Enables Designers' lecture (.MP3, 15 MB). [In addition, you can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcast using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually add the GDCRadio podcast to your iTunes by using the Subscribe to Podcast option from the Advanced menu. When it asks for the URL enter feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.]