Artificial intelligence is a fickle friend when it comes to gaming. Make the A.I too smart and players get frustrated, make the A.I too dumb and players criticise the ease in which they can progress through the game.
Rockstar’s recently released GTA V did quite well in the A.I department, even if the in-game cops were basically digital terminators. Enemies ducked for cover, civilians ran like hell when you started shooting up the fairground and even animals show a sense of awareness as you run after them brandishing a knife.
Even though GTA V has proven that Rockstar are capable of providing top-notch A.I the development studio isn’t happy to leave it there – they want more.
A recent career opportunity posted by Rockstar North earlier this month shows that the Scotland-based developer is actively looking for new ways to challenge players. Direct your peepers down below and have a read.
Rockstar North is searching for a Senior AI Programmer to join our team. As part of the team you will be responsible for designing and implementing believable inhabitants to create a virtual world.
Reporting to the Lead Programmer, you will be responsible for implementing tasks to specifications. Within the AI team, you will work on a wide range of areas in an established codebase, such as:
- Generating the navigation data that the characters use to traverse the landscape.
- Improving the paths that the characters follow, so they move and avoid obstacles more naturally.
- Creating realistic behaviours for characters in the world so they have objectives and purpose.
- Making characters react realistically to the player interacting with them.
- Work on strategies to produce fun and challenging combat encounters
Desired Skills and Experience
Qualifications
- Minimum of 3 years commercial games programming experience working on AI.
- A degree in computer science, mathematics, or equivalent.
Skills
- Demonstrable experience in developing AI navigation.
- Experience with HFSM’s and behaviour trees.
- Solid C/C++ programming skills.
- Strong math skills, knowledge of vectors, matrices and linear algebra.
- Experience working on current generation consoles.
- Excellent problem solving ability.
- Good team communication skills.
- Passion for playing and creating cutting edge video game experiences
It sounds like Rockstar wants to up the ante with their next game by giving NPC’s a purpose, rather than just be obstacles that occasionally get in your way. Not only that but character movement seems to be a big thing for Rockstar, maybe we’ll see more realistic interactions, not unlike the manner in which Nathan Drake responds to his environment in Uncharted 3.
We’re probably some way off from seeing anything new from Rockstar North at the moment as they’re still actively supporting GTA V, though that hasn’t stopped us fantasising over the inevitable GTA 6.
Looking forward to Rockstar North’s next big game? What do you reckon it could be? GTA 6 or a sequel to another Rockstar series? Let us know down in the comments section below.
Want to contact the author? Direct your tweets to @ChrisHardingTGC