Fleet AI: use OpenSteer

[BoerToon]

In order to achieve a more intelligent AI system, I suggest you use OpenSteer. It is open source and is rather easy in terms of complexity.

Example of OpenSteer:
Collision avoidance is also implemented but not demonstrated in the above video.
In order to increase the amount of concurrent AI supported, I suggest you implement AI squadrons so you can use the "follow the leader" principle with the other ships in that squad with or without queueing support.

 

[Valck]

Last Update: 2013-04-30

umm yeah.

Also remember that space is three-dimensional, so it's probably as much work to adapt that outdated project as it would be to write a 3D pathfinding function from scratch.

 

[BoerToon]

I have worked with this project, it is vector based hence no issues with a 3D space. It is really difficult to make a pathfinding algorithm from scratch. It was my first plan but I eventually switched to OpenSteer.

 

[jayman38]

Also remember that space is three-dimensional, so it's probably as much work to adapt that outdated project as it would be to write a 3D pathfinding function from scratch.

Actually, converting pathing from 2D to 3D is surprisingly easy (basically adding one more square and maybe a square root function to the existing two squares and one square root), once one knows how to reduce the equations. Besides, 3D math didn't change much after 2013.

When I looked at the pathing in the Quake source code, I was shocked at how code that obviously started life as 2D pathing was changed to relatively intelligent 3D pathing.

In fact, with Quake source being open source and several open source "bots" (auto-3D-navigating agents) available, implementing third-party pathfinding or at least using it as a guide is a pretty good idea.

In some cases, if you don't mind it, it may be efficient to reduce the agent "rays" which find an appropriate path, which would give a less-efficient path for less processing power. Agent ray-tracing might even be a client setting, like lighting currently has.

On the other hand, if pathfinding were implemented into LUA codes in the Starmade game folder, the community could come up with some seriously intelligent algorithms, and I bet a lot of them would be willing to donate their code to Schine at this early stage of the game.