14 DAY TRIAL // Artificial Intelligence is one of the biggest problems associated with video games at the moment, and a new initiative aims to solve it by introducing a range of ideas taken from the way genes are spread by natural sexual reproduction.
On Reddit, a developer named Zolden explains that his idea is to take any novelty developed by any of the organisms he is simulating and to then spread it inside the entire population, where it can mix with other beneficial ones.
The work is done using Unity 5, and after a few weeks, some interesting results are starting to appear, as shown in the attached video.
Zolden states, "Organisms can see what's going on around them, and can move in 2 directions. They die from contacting the lines-obstacles. 40% best survivors reproduce. And after 500 generations of constant improvement they managed to become a pretty agile beasts."
In the near future, the developer is aiming to introduce complex creatures and environments and see how they interact.
The Reddit thread has a lot more comments, with gamers venting their frustration with the way AI works in most games and expressing support for the new concept.
It's unclear whether Zolden aims to continue simply creating this concept or if he wants to integrate it into an actual video game in order to see how it works under more real conditions.
Artificial Intelligence is not as important as graphics for the current generation of consoles
The major releases coming from big studios tend to be focused on visual fidelity on the PC, the Xbox One from Microsoft, and the PlayStation 4 from Sony.
Developers believe that good graphics can attract more players than a solid Artificial Intelligence that can match or even overpower the player in most instances, because it has a greater impact during the marketing process.
Modern video games also tend to focus on delivering complex and engaging multiplayer modes, which makes the AI less important in the long term than it was a few years ago.
It will be interesting to see whether an evolution-driven Artificial Intelligence can make matches and campaigns more interesting for modern gamers.
