The DarkAI expansion pack provides a set of commands to create and control computer controlled characters in Dark Basic Professional. The system is almost completely automatic allowing you to drop in entities and obstacles and then letting them move about on their own. DarkAI includes several features that help you organise your world and give you a wide range of control over the AI system, including:

Path Finding
Flexible waypoint based path finding system that calculates a set of waypoints around all obstacles added to the AI system. Entities then use an A* algorithm to calculate a path between their position and destination. This means your entities should always use the shortest path between two points, no matter how complex the situation. You can also create a path between two specific points allowing you to use the path finding feature on its own.

Teams
Provides 3 teams (enemy, friendly and neutral teams) to organise entities in the AI world. Neutral entities run away from combat, friendlies attack the player's enemies whilst enemies attack the player and its allies.

Entity Commands
By default entities will automatically move about the world and react to events (e.g. Sounds) and other entities according to their team and aggressiveness. Set the entity aggressiveness and restrictions by using commands such as 'Defend Point' or 'Patrol Path', the entity will then act in accordance with these restrictions.

Manual Commands
Entities can also be moved around the world using a set of more specific commands such as setting the entity destination or look at point directly with 'Set Destination' and 'Look At' or 'Look At Target', the entity will create a path automatically to its destination and inform you when it's ready to fire. Entities will detect nearby enemies but not act against them during manual control.

Zones
Add one or more zones to an entity that will trigger a response when an opposing team member enters it. Entities can be set to ignore people if they leave a zone or chase them until they can no longer see them.

Direct Integration
If using DarkBasic Professional 3D objects you can set the AI system to automatically move and turn your objects for you.

Containers
Areas of your world can be separated from each other using containers, such as different floors in a building. The player can freely move between containers whereas Entities can be restricted to the bounds of its container.

You can check out examples of all these features in the provided demos, along with detailed descriptions of each in the demo section of the help file. The help file also includes the full command list explaining everything you need to know about how the commands work and how to use them.

Dark AI © 2006 The Game Creators Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
www.thegamecreators.com