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[IbizaPocholo]

Almost 20 years later, F.E.A.R. It is still considered one of the best examples of AI for video games. To celebrate 10 years of @AIandGames, we return to the topic of our first video. Tommy sits down with Dr. Jeff Orkin, the artificial intelligence programmer for F.E.A.R. to discuss how it all came about and the legacy it carries to this day in the video game industry.

[00:00] Introduction
[03:20] Orkin's path to gaming
[09:29] Nobody lives forever 2
[14:41] Origins of GOAP
[17:11] Action movie
[20:49] The AI of FEAR
[29:12] Designing meetings
[35:10] Squad Layers
[37:48] Liberation
[43:12] The Orkin Way
[45:14] Legacy
[53:07] Credits

 

[LordOfChaos]

I remember a lot of FEAR being held up as a high watermark for AI in video games, still is to this day like in this video, and it was one.

But I remember a somewhat hilarious moment playing it when I would kill an enemy, close a door, another enemy would open the door, I'd kill them, and I quickly had a mound of enemies piled up right at the door that the other soldiers kept running into and and instead of reacting in any sensible way they just kept coming though and dying lol. A moment of artificial dumbness.

Also made me paranoid of climbing game ladders from the jump scares

I'd still love to see a new modern FEAR game.

 

[Laptop1991]

Brilliant game, slow mo and the enemy ai was great, still one of the best FPS ever, the story was good too.

 

[CamHostage]

I remember a lot of FEAR being held up as a high watermark for AI in video games, still is to this day like in this video, and it was one.

But I remember a somewhat hilarious moment playing it when I would kill an enemy, close a door, another enemy would open the door, I'd kill them, and I quickly had a mound of enemies piled up right at the door that the other soldiers kept running into and and instead of reacting in any sensible way they just kept coming though and dying lol. A moment of artificial dumbness.

FEAR is a high watermark for AI in video games, but it's also a high watermark for marketing AI in video games.

They sold everything that the game characters could do in pitching the game to the audience, and they used techniques of audio and animation and lighting to ensure that players did not miss the AI doing its tricks. (It's also a high watermark for putting the extra work into programming unique pathing incident routines and level design specifically crafted to maximize enemy character choices in encounter spaces to give a great playspace for the ideas pioneered in the AI design.) "Combat Adaptable A.I." was a bulletpoint on the box, and was a key talking point in every preview. Games are rarely funded these days with such singular focus on one aspect like this.

As Orkin says in the interview, it's not that the techniques of FEAR were only used in FEAR, or were never surpassed over time. (In any case, the game use of GOAP is inherently hard to "surpass" since it's generally human design and academic research which powers the FEAR AI rather than generational leaps in hardware horsepower. It helped that they had the machines they did then just as they made this breakthrough, but more CPU power wouldn't completely mean more intelligence for characters, it would mean more work on the designers' parts to come up with additional intelligent things for them to do.) You see FEAR's progeny in gaming all the time. What you rarely if ever see, however, is game design and production focus placed so specifically on highlighting and exploring the capabilities of this (or more robust) artificial intelligence approach. It was a golden era for taking a good idea all the way to the end of the line, and FEAR had those kinds of good ideas and people with the time and experience to know how to use them. Games have technically gotten smarter since then, but gamers and game producers have not valued "smart" enough since then to make it a key reason to get hyped for new games.

History of AI in Games - Video Game - F.E.A.R

For those of you who don't know, F.E.A.R is an acronym for First Encounter Assault Recon and a great example of how AI can be used in video games.

modl.ai

 

[Wildebeest]

Games have technically gotten smarter since then, but gamers and game producers have not valued "smart" enough since then to make it a key reason to get hyped for new games.

I feel like you are right. With the recent Half-Life anniversary, it seems like after all this time, the main thing "smart" commentators seemed to care about as memorable was that sodding tram ride. Some people might have got round to mentioning the AI, but only after talking about using in game scripting instead of pre-rendered cutscenes (not that there were many of those in the 90s).

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Excellent and brilliant game, one of the last great games, before entering the disastrous seventh generation of consoles.

 

[HL3.exe]

Bit of a sad state of affairs that at the height of the golden age of game dev in the 90/00, actual academics, PHD and MIT doctors where invested in designing games with interesting technical breakthroughs and concepts.

Remember Looking Glass studios build up of MIT graduates. Remember the Bioware doctors? Remember Valve having scientists onboard helping to build it's facial animation and physics tech?

All driven out of the industry because the industry got to unwieldy and manager driven.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I'd still love to see a new modern FEAR game.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Slo mo effect is still unmatched. It looks so cool. Especially with explosions.

I do find it fascinating that it required like a small team to develop the game.

 

[Bloobs]

One of my favorite games of all time

 

[The Cockatrice]

RAGE also has some great AI




It's a shame developers stopped putting work in it but then again modern gamers are so mentally challenged, it wouldn't make sense to have highly adaptable AI's. Journalists would just complain.

 

[violence]

I love a Nightdive remaster of course. Several old monolith games require work to get working on modern PCs.

 

[R6Rider]

I need to replay this series again.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I need to replay this series again.

Slo mo in the first game still looks incredible.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I love a Nightdive remaster of course. Several old monolith games require work to get working on modern PCs.

Do they? I replayed FEAR + Extraction Point not long ago and don't remember having any trouble.

I need to replay this series again.

Still holds up, and the enemies still feel like IRL commands going after your ass. Tense, spectacular and very fun shootouts.

 

[mayham2199]

The AI was crazy in this game. I remember I was fighting a bunch of guys by some cargo containers that 18 wheelers carry. I killed all of them but one. I see him duck back around the corner so I think fuck it I'll go flank him. The AI was flanking me and we ran into each other it was crazy.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I need to replay this series again.

I recently purchased the games for 360 again with the plan to replay them. Now I just need to find the damn time!

 

[EverydayBeast]

I remember fear, ever since than AI has been measured up against it.

 

[NeverYouMind]

As Orkin says in the interview, it's not that the techniques of FEAR were only used in FEAR, or were never surpassed over time. (In any case, the game use of GOAP is inherently hard to "surpass" since it's generally human design and academic research which powers the FEAR AI rather than generational leaps in hardware horsepower. It helped that they had the machines they did then just as they made this breakthrough, but more CPU power wouldn't completely mean more intelligence for characters, it would mean more work on the designers' parts to come up with additional intelligent things for them to do.) You see FEAR's progeny in gaming all the time. What you rarely if ever see, however, is game design and production focus placed so specifically on highlighting and exploring the capabilities of this (or more robust) artificial intelligence approach. It was a golden era for taking a good idea all the way to the end of the line, and FEAR had those kinds of good ideas and people with the time and experience to know how to use them. Games have technically gotten smarter since then, but gamers and game producers have not valued "smart" enough since then to make it a key reason to get hyped for new games.

In practical terms, since the level design and AI were manually rigged to fully utilize the unique dynamic environment interactions it has not been surpassed. Maybe the overarching team dynamics have gotten more advanced but the context sensitive individual planning has become a lot more generic much like rigorously playtested levels turning into underdeveloped set pieces in open worlds.