IAUS

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The Infinite Axis Utility System is the primary behavioral decision-making system in Intrinsic Algorithm's library. While it can be supported by information from other systems (such as the Imap system or Tagging system), it is the "brains" of the game agents. This can be applied to individual characters, invisible "team leaders", or even to inanimate objects.

The IAUS exists as a stand-alone black box that can be installed into a project codebase with minimal work. We have both C++ and C# versions based on the needs to the client. In theory, minus any specific custom language or library issues, this means that this core AI system can be installed on day 1 and work can begin on hooking it up to world information, existing behaviors and animation code, and behavior logic can be authored in the tool we have developed for that purpose.

Concept

The concept behind utility is that we are putting together a score for a particular Behavior based on how appropriate it is at the time. That is, what utility does this have for the character? Once these scores are assembled, we can pick the behavior with the highest score under the assumption that it is the most beneficial and, therefore, is the most appropriate action to take.

Each behavior is comprised of one or more Considerations representing a piece of information that the agent is taking into account when scoring that particular behavior. Each consideration maps the value of an input through a response curve to convert it to an output value. The scores from all of the considerations are then multiplied together to generate the score for that behavior.

Rather than some architectures that decide solely on a type of behavior and then subsequently choose a target, any behavior that can be targeted at more than one object or character, is scored individually for the combination of the behavior on each specific target. This is called a Context. For example, rather than deciding to "shoot" and then trying to decide who to shoot, the IAUS scores all of the shooting action and target contexts individually. So "shoot Chuck" and "shoot Ralph" would get their own scores right alongside each other. The reason for this is that shooting Chuck may score higher then another potential action but shooting Ralph may score lower.

Each scoring of a Behavior in a Context (i.e. "Behavior A against Target X") is referred to as a Decision. When deciding what to do, Decisions are scored rather than Behaviors. While the Behavior provides all the necessary reasoning for whether or not it is a good idea (through it's Considerations), if it is a targeted behavior, it cannot be scored without understanding who or what is being targeted. For example, a Behavior "shoot enemy" that has a Consideration for the distance to that enemy needs to be able to reference the specific entity's location to calculate the distance. If it is not a targeted behavior, then any Considerations that expect there to be a target in the Context will not return a value.

A behavior is linked with a Behavior Type that it will execute if the behavior is selected. Behavior Types are the core actions that an agent can perform whereas behaviors are more "reasons why" a particular Behavior Type would be executed. For example, different agent types may have different reasons for engaging in a melee attack. These would be differentiated by each Behavior having different Considerations. However, they all ultimately perform the Behavior Type, "melee attack". Another wide-ranging example would be the Behavior Type "move to target". Whether we are moving towards an ally, an enemy, an object on the ground, or the tavern across the street, they would all be executed in the same way -- i.e. moving to the target object (as specified in the Context that was scored).


Installation

Software

Core Code

Data Tool

Connections

Inputs

Outputs

Usage