AI and Path Finding Thread

I am looking for advice (or a good book) on AI for games. Particularly path finding for ground based enemies. While I am working in Unity atm, I'm after more of a general understanding rather than some copy paste prefabs I don't understand.

check out this book on artificial intelligence:
Amazon.ca

Using Unity, you will find that it mostly all comes down to the intelligence level of the thing you are giving it to and raycasting. Raycasting and a random number equation generator or predefined script will do most of the thinking for you.

There are many algorithms for pathfinding. One of the most commonly used is the A* (A-star) algorithm, which is pretty efficient on its own. You can also customise it a bit or use it in conjunction with other algorithms if you need to. It's a good starting point for someone interested in AI/pathfinding.

Amazon.co.uk I recommend this book, taught me alot about the concepts behind AI.

For pathfinding you're best bet is A*. It's pretty easy to implement it into unity and there are a number of scripts out there already to do it.

You may also like to run a google search for "AI Behavior Trees." Behavior trees are quite useful for enemy and friendly AIs as it gives your AI the ability to switch behaviors based on certain conditions, so you might have one behavior for patrolling and another for attacking or retreating. The AI basically switches from one 'brain' to another when the proper conditions are met. As far as straightforward path finding I think the aforementioned A* is probably your best bet.

If you're ever interested in something less rigid, as path finding requires pre-determined paths, I'd be happy to provide you with the AI script I wrote for my Unity game Sovereign. The script I wrote is for animals that meander around randomly so there are no paths, they just walk around and avoid obstacles.