A great set of podcasts this year. Really enjoyed the session on solo gaming and AI in games.
I sometimes struggle with figuring out if the AI in a computer game is "cheating" (ignoring the rules of physics) or if they are just modelling advanced awareness / intelligence / decision making.
To wit: enemy infantry in games like ARMA 3 seem to be able to "see through" concealment like bushes, grasses etc, as I sometimes (frequently?) got shot by soldiers I simply cannot see. So...is this "cheating" (ignoring the laws of physics) or are they just practicing what is sometimes called Drake shooting or Cover shooting (firing into an area where an enemy, me, was last seen). Certainly I do this to them and score lots of hits...so why should the AI not doing it to me? On the other hand...they do seem to score more hits than I do.
Another example comes from flight simulators, like the venerable DCS or IL-2 series. Set the enemy skill to rookie, and enemy planes don't adopt aggressive evasive maneuvers, it is easy to sneak up on them, and they aren't good shots. Turn the skill level up, and the enemy seems to be able tweak airplane performance to the most extreme limits, their shooting gets better, and they can spot you even when you "sneak up" behind and beneath them. So...shooting and pilot ACM skills seems like an AI thing (the computer can do a better job of optimizing adjusting flaps, trim, fuel-air mixture much faster than I can), but is the AI pushing the limits of aircraft performance (and gun accuracy) to a point beyond that which seems reasonable or allowable by physics?
Yours in gaming,
The mostly lurking Jack Nastyface.