Artificial intelligence(AI in short form) is the intelligence of machines. An intelligent machine is a system that senses the surrounding and operates accordingly to maximize its chances of success. Artificial intelligence deals with creating intelligent machines. It is being used different domains like robotics,medical diagnosis, scientific discovery,etc. Along with those domains it is being widely employed in computer games.
Growing use of AI in computer games
Computer games is the genre of computer programming which is widely using the concepts of artificial intelligence. It has gone through drastic changes in the past few years. It will not be an exaggeration to posit that Moore’s law could be applicable to computer games as it is applied to the speed of a processor. The computer games, using AI, not only got complex,interesting and engaging, but also acquired the artistic form of expression for the programmers and developers .
First use of AI in computer games
First time AI was used in the video game named “Pong”. It was released in 1972. It was a basically a table tennis game featuring two dimensional graphics. The AI principle was implemented in the operation of the computer paddle which would block the ball from scoring by hitting it back at the user. A simple equation used to determine where the paddle would move. The calculation was done based on measurement of the height at which the ball would cross the net. Based on the calculation the computer paddle would be moved there.
Improved versions of AI in computer games
“Pong” reigned supreme in the video game market for long time. The reason is that there was no significant improvement in AI applications in video games. Later, considerable advancement of AI was witnessed in the two games of “Kung Foo” by Nintendo and “Mortal Kombat” by Sega Genesis.
In these two games the moves of the computer opponents were calculated by the activity and position of each player.