ABSTRACT
In the companion chapter “A Control System for Enhancing Entity Behavior”, we dealt with one focused aspect of enhancing entity behavior in a nonspecific game engine. This was essentially detecting an error and generating a subsequent corrective action to a perceived discrepancy in the environment, such as an alien soldier being too close to a wall to execute an effective turn. This chapter focuses on a hierarchical control system to model an entity’s AI. While many games’ AI appear to exhibit nothing more than a simple stimulus and response mechanic, more robust behavior can be crafted through the use of control systems, ideally resulting in more compelling gameplay. Instead of coding for specific behaviors that may break under unknown game situations, we compose a hierarchical architecture of negative feedback systems to minimize disturbances between the entity and the environment, allowing it to exhibit purposeful behavior, even when those disturbances may be unknown.
