xaitment upgrades its AI game tools to version 2.6
Posted by: Drew Sikora at November 23, 2009 4:30:09 PM
xaitment is a German-based developer of artificial intelligence tools for games and simulations. The Company’s tools provide far more than just pathfinding - they offer game developers the ability to easily create advanced artificial intelligence that make non-player characters more intelligent and unpredictable, and games more fun to play.
Gamedev.net just learned that the company upgraded its AI game tools to version 2.6. We sat down with xaitment to get a little more information on the new versions. Here’s what they had to say:
Q) What’s is the Brain Pack Suite and what’s new with version 2.6?
A) The Brain Pack Suite includes our AI game tools xaitMap, xaitMove and xaitControl. The latest Brain Pack Suite 2.6 offers new module releases that provide easier debugging, faster integration of new and existing code, and optimized performance across platforms. Moreover, the improved graphical user interfaces give both game designers and programmers easy-to-use tools for design and implementation.
Q) Can you tell me more specifically what is new in each module in the Brain Pack Suite?
A) The most prominent new features in xaitMap are the ability to create sectored navigation mesh builds and an enhanced streaming technology. Both of these allow for much faster handling of huge maps in, for example, MMOs. xaitMap 2.6 also comes with a new graphical user interface including a project system that optimizes the workflow of creating navigation meshes. Path objects like spawn points, blockings or non-walkable geometry allow for easy local modification of the navigation meshes without re-importing the geometry. Geometry tags help the user to support customer terrain types such as street, mud, etc. And a new batch build system improves the handling of large game projects.
xaitControl comes with a completely remodeled user interface. Using the proven technology of previous versions, xaitControl now includes a new manager for events, functions and variables, presents useful additional information of states and transitions and, last but not least, offers a new graph renderer and zoom-able view. The new error-handling window lets developers easily debug their projects. The included full-featured source code editor has an expressive syntax, syntax highlighting and powerful auto completion. xaitControl lets all users extend FSM expressiveness beyond typical finite state machines by adding custom variables and much more. The library comes with new time-based transitions, which add even more features and control to game design.
xaitMove now has built-in 2.5D support for movement in multi-story buildings.
Q) Is there anything else a developer should know about version 2.6 of your AI tools?
A) All of the changes come as a result of user input, so we’ve included features that developers have been asking for. Given the modularity of our tools, developers only buy what they really need for their project.
Upgrading is a simple process and will not slow development. In fact, we can integrate our toolset from scratch in 24 hours. All xaitment game tools come with full support, as well as integration and training services.
Q) Can you tell me about your high-level AI game tools?
A) Our high-level AI module xaitKnow provides developers with a framework for creating a world description and managing knowledge within that world. However, rather than forcing developers to do so with complicated code, xaitKnow (like all of our AI game tools) gives all developers an easy-to-use graphical editor to maintain and modify the game world.
xaitThink is a rule-based system that lets developers achieve a new level of realism in artificial intelligence. Based on the knowledge created in xaitKnow, this module provides an interpreter for the rule-based language, replacing complex scripts with rule sets. xaitThink is capable of interpreting and inferring world knowledge based on the ontology and the rules given. NPCs will be able to generate new knowledge and new goals as they learn about their world. This will make the NPCs more dynamic and adaptive enemies in the game. Together with the outstanding capabilities of xaitControl this simplifies the handling of special circumstances in the game world, and creates the impression of more intelligent NPCs.
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