What AI Do I Use?

[o0neza0o]

Hey Guys,

I am curious, I want to get Behavior Designer but a lot of people are saying it is a lot better than an FSM System. I want to make AI believable and I also need a wildlife system where if a creature/animal is hungry then it will scavenge for food, but if it's a carnivore i want it to search for other prey. Also, while some predators eat if the player walks up in a certain radius the carnivore will warn the player (as long as it can see/hear the player) while also having other beings being similar to humans but very hard to predict (tactically) and being able to have a companion on the road. What is the best solution for me?

[tharindu]

Sept 30, 2018 8:03:11 GMT o0neza0o said:

Hey Guys,

I am curious, I want to get Behavior Designer but a lot of people are saying it is a lot better than an FSM System. I want to make AI believable and I also need a wildlife system where if a creature/animal is hungry then it will scavenge for food, but if it's a carnivore i want it to search for other prey. Also, while some predators eat if the player walks up in a certain radius the carnivore will warn the player (as long as it can see/hear the player) while also having other beings being similar to humans but very hard to predict (tactically) and being able to have a companion on the road. What is the best solution for me?

You can do that with both systems. I'd suggest doing a bit of research to understand what behavior trees are what state machines are. Neither solution is a bad solution and your requirement isn't a very complex one that cannot be achieved with any AI. 

[o0neza0o]

Sept 30, 2018 11:14:47 GMT tharindu said:

Sept 30, 2018 8:03:11 GMT o0neza0o said:

Hey Guys,

I am curious, I want to get Behavior Designer but a lot of people are saying it is a lot better than an FSM System. I want to make AI believable and I also need a wildlife system where if a creature/animal is hungry then it will scavenge for food, but if it's a carnivore i want it to search for other prey. Also, while some predators eat if the player walks up in a certain radius the carnivore will warn the player (as long as it can see/hear the player) while also having other beings being similar to humans but very hard to predict (tactically) and being able to have a companion on the road. What is the best solution for me?

You can do that with both systems. I'd suggest doing a bit of research to understand what behavior trees are what state machines are. Neither solution is a bad solution and your requirement isn't a very complex one that cannot be achieved with any AI. 

Thank you, I will just do that . Is Behavior Designer compatible with Invector though? Don't get me wrong I don't mind paying out for this project as it is a learning curve but I think I may have to look into A* Navigation too wouldn't I? A lot of people recommend it but I will delve more into this. It's just very complex to me xD

[tharindu]

I am not pretty sure about that part to be honest. But path finding is always a case where you will have to buy an asset or implement your own if you don't like the default pathing from Unity that most assets use.

Personally, it's a matter of preference if you ask me . 

[gamifytheworld]

I have a lot of AI related assets that I've used. This includes Behavior Designer, Invector AI, NodeCanvas, and also writing custom scripted AI. When choosing what is better for you, is both a matter of preference and a matter of your skill level.

Here are my thoughts:

Invector AI
If you are wanting something easy to setup with Invector and easy to customize, this is a no-brainer to choose. It uses Finite State Machines (FSMs), and comes with a bunch of built in pre-built AI examples. Complex AI can get a little difficult when attempting to organize a lot of different behaviors. FMSs can be used to do all of this, but you you really need to spend some time with them to learn how to organize them properly, or you can end up with a big mess of AI that is hard to troubleshoot and debug. Invector has done a pretty decent job of helping out with their examples. In my personal opinion, there is no better TPC available for Unity than Invector's. I've used them all, and written my own simple TPC and understand the mechanics of a good controller. Invector's is smooth, realistic, relatively easy to customize, and my first preference.

Behavior Designer
I have purchased all of Opsive's assets (up until his latest asset releases, which are a bit over-priced, IMO). If you have a lot of skill, and have a full understanding of behavior trees (seem similar to FSMs on the surface, but are much, much different in use), you can accomplish some very unique, complex behavior. In regards to Behavior Designer, you are going to struggle a bit in getting it to work with Invector. Opsive has his own TPC product that he is really pushing, and has not made it easy to integrate simply because he has stated that "Invector isn't designed properly to integrate with" in some forum posts. In my personal opinion, this is nonsense. He simply doesn't want to support integrating with any competing assets. I bailed on behavior designer a while ago. The only example he has for AI with a TPC is his own, very complicated, and not documented at all. His Deathmatch Kit comes with no documentation on how to use it, his sample integrations are hardly documented, and I spent far to much too much time struggling to just "get something working" to make it worth the effort. The controllers are overly complicated and unrealistic in actual use (not sure about his latest TPC, I won't be buying it), and I feel let down that he pushed a newer version of his controller while ignoring any real discount for someone who has spent a great deal of money with him in the past. I've stopped using it.

NodeCanvas
If you really want to create behavior trees, this implementation is much, much cleaner. The biggest problem is lack of English tutorials and the documentation is quite slim. Having fully learned how to use behavior trees, however, this is my go-to resource for that type of AI. It also has full-source, including the editor code, which Opsive doesn't provide. The code is well organized, but not easy to understand unless you are a programmer.


No matter how you slice it, you are in for a learning experience that will take some time. If you are using Invector's TPC, and beginning skills in AI, I would choose Invector AI. It will get you most of the way there, and is customizable enough for most needs.


These are only my opinions, and I should point out that I am a long time programmer (25+ years), so your mileage will definitely vary.


Good luck.

[o0neza0o]

Sept 30, 2018 23:29:40 GMT gamifytheworld said:

I have a lot of AI related assets that I've used. This includes Behavior Designer, Invector AI, NodeCanvas, and also writing custom scripted AI. When choosing what is better for you, is both a matter of preference and a matter of your skill level.

Here are my thoughts:

Invector AI
If you are wanting something easy to setup with Invector and easy to customize, this is a no-brainer to choose. It uses Finite State Machines (FSMs), and comes with a bunch of built in pre-built AI examples. Complex AI can get a little difficult when attempting to organize a lot of different behaviors. FMSs can be used to do all of this, but you you really need to spend some time with them to learn how to organize them properly, or you can end up with a big mess of AI that is hard to troubleshoot and debug. Invector has done a pretty decent job of helping out with their examples. In my personal opinion, there is no better TPC available for Unity than Invector's. I've used them all, and written my own simple TPC and understand the mechanics of a good controller. Invector's is smooth, realistic, relatively easy to customize, and my first preference.

Behavior Designer
I have purchased all of Opsive's assets (up until his latest asset releases, which are a bit over-priced, IMO). If you have a lot of skill, and have a full understanding of behavior trees (seem similar to FSMs on the surface, but are much, much different in use), you can accomplish some very unique, complex behavior. In regards to Behavior Designer, you are going to struggle a bit in getting it to work with Invector. Opsive has his own TPC product that he is really pushing, and has not made it easy to integrate simply because he has stated that "Invector isn't designed properly to integrate with" in some forum posts. In my personal opinion, this is nonsense. He simply doesn't want to support integrating with any competing assets. I bailed on behavior designer a while ago. The only example he has for AI with a TPC is his own, very complicated, and not documented at all. His Deathmatch Kit comes with no documentation on how to use it, his sample integrations are hardly documented, and I spent far to much too much time struggling to just "get something working" to make it worth the effort. The controllers are overly complicated and unrealistic in actual use (not sure about his latest TPC, I won't be buying it), and I feel let down that he pushed a newer version of his controller while ignoring any real discount for someone who has spent a great deal of money with him in the past. I've stopped using it.

NodeCanvas
If you really want to create behavior trees, this implementation is much, much cleaner. The biggest problem is lack of English tutorials and the documentation is quite slim. Having fully learned how to use behavior trees, however, this is my go-to resource for that type of AI. It also has full-source, including the editor code, which Opsive doesn't provide. The code is well organized, but not easy to understand unless you are a programmer.


No matter how you slice it, you are in for a learning experience that will take some time. If you are using Invector's TPC, and beginning skills in AI, I would choose Invector AI. It will get you most of the way there, and is customizable enough for most needs.


These are only my opinions, and I should point out that I am a long time programmer (25+ years), so your mileage will definitely vary.


Good luck.

Thank you :D, I have been programming for 5 years so, understanding C# isn't too much of a problem. Somethings I struggle with but I am forever learning. I need to design very unique AI but because it's my first official game I am making and AI is a really big obstruction for me. But from how you have explained it, looks like i could be getting NodeCanvas. Just might have to understand it first before getting it. But my initial thought was BD because of the behavior trees, however if you like NodeCanvas I may have to look into it more.