Notes

• Individual Level
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• Limited capabilities

  The Player assumes the AI has capabilities that are similar to his own

  The AI should

  Sees things the Player can see

  Knows things the Player can know

  Do things the Player can do

  Elites shields recharge exactly like the Player's shields

  The Converse is even more important

  should not do things the Player _can't_ do

  should not see things the Player _can't_ see

  There are no Psychic AI in Halo

  There are no AI with perfect aim

  There are invisible AI, but we let the Player try out invisibility as well
  

  This is only a guide line

  There are some AI that can jump higher than the Player

  or run faster such as the Flood

  Rule of thumb should be that you can give an AI an ability the Player doesn't have as long as the ability is recognizable and the limits of that ability can be easily predicted

• Transparent thought process

  It should be obvious why the AI is doing what it is doing

  One of the ways we chose to make it obvious was to limit the AI to basic cause and effect decisions

  We also gave them custom animations and dialog for each decision

  These animations are best if they communicate what the decision was

  but even if it can't be communicated its important to alert the Player that a decision was made

• Another way to make the AI intelligible is to give individuals Racial personalities

  In Halo, Grunts are cowards and all their behaviors derive from that

  Hide when targeted

  Panic when Elite is killed

  Elites are aggressive

  They rarely hide unless the player hides

  Berserk charge on massive damage

  Establishing racial personalities is helpful in two ways, it makes the design process easier

  its easier to make a caricature than a complex portrait

  it saves you from muddying the waters and creating confusing behaviors

  Racial personalities also help the Player

  it makes behaviors the Player has seen easier to remember

  it makes new behaviors easier for them to identify and predict

  keep in mind the Player's first impressions are what establish these racial personalities

  The first time you see an Elite he is a terrifying bad ass

  The first time you see a grunt you easily kill him

  The first time you see a hunter he is sent in as the last line of defense (and they are accompanied by foreboding music)

• To make our AI intelligible on a Group Level

  Strategic goals

  Players are naively confident in your AI programmer

  They will assume your AI knows they are supposed to be protecting the tractor beam power switch until you prove that they are just standing around

  We wanted to work hard and let Players continue to believe the AI has a strategic objective

  We mostly faked this, but it gives the Player the feeling that his enemies are opponents, working against him, rather than just disinterested obstacles

  Clear racial roles

  Consistent racial roles allow you to give the Player feedback on how a group of enemies is going to react

  Grunts are the fodder so when the Player sees them he you can assume the Covenant aren't prepared

  Elites are the leaders so when the Player sees them he knows the Covenant are interested in the area and are going to put up a fight