Java is the first language I learned, and I have come back to it recently to build an AI for the Spring RTS platform.
Spring RTS AI
I grew up loving to play Total Annihilation and was always awed at how people created AIs for RTS games. When I noticed Spring, my first thought was: when will I extend this to create my own AI.
I finally took the plunge several months ago, reading a book on AI and relearning enough Java to put together a working AI. The AI will play a game, but it’s not particularly effective… yet (isn’t that the pitch for every side project AI?).
Current features of the AI include:
- Good plumping to allow for timed events and behind the scenes of updating internal models.
- Decent understanding of the tech ladder for Balanced Annihilation which ensures a progression to more advanced units
What’s left to be done:
- Everything else?
- Improve the task selection scheme so that different goals are given correct weights
- Improve the location related tasks, specifically where to group, attack, and build new structures
- Improve the context awareness of the AI, allowing it to rethink an action if attacked or help out a buddy if they are attacked
- Get beat by it… that’s the real goal: make an AI I actually want to play against