Fallout creator shares his thoughts on what AI in games should be like

Tim Kane, one of the creators of the legendary Fallout series, touched on the current topic of artificial intelligence, especially the behavior of AI opponents in modern games.

In his blog, Tim Kane shared his vision of what artificial intelligence should be in games:

“AI opponents should constantly challenge the player: make the player feel that they are in danger, that this opponent can really hurt them.”

He emphasized that enemies should not be too predictable or patterned, so as not to oversimplify things for the player and make them bored: “The enemies should not be too stupid or robotic (unless they are robots) so that they are too predictable, because then the player will know, 'I can do this and that, and the AI ​​always reacts this way.' It's fun when you feel like you can control the fight, but if the AI ​​is too predictable, it feels too simplistic.”

However, Kane noted that some predictability can be useful for a sense of progression. Then the player thinks he's smarter than the computer: “Some predictability in AI is good, it makes players feel smarter, like they have more control, but it's something that should come with the abilities that players get. If enemies are always predictable in all circumstances, regardless of the player's level, the abilities they have, then maybe the AI ​​is too simple.”

Tim Kane is a veteran of the games industry with over 30 years of experience. In addition to working on the original Fallout, he was involved in the creation of such iconic games as Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. He currently works at Obsidian Entertainment on The Outer Worlds series, continuing to contribute to the development of the role-playing game genre.