A spatial awareness framework for enhancing game agent behaviour

We describe a framework for providing game agents with awareness of the intrinsic spatial qualities of the virtual worlds that they inhabit. We develop a novel data structure based on a modified medial axis, which establishes a mapping between the medial axis and world structures. This data structure can be used to perform queries about the width, curvature and connectivity of a space within a virtual world. Additional information, such as sampled visibility can also be integrated with this framework. An agent-based crowd simulation is adapted to make use of the sensory information provided by this data structure and the success of using this information within two game scenarios is evaluated.

[1]  Henry Fuchs,et al.  On visible surface generation by a priori tree structures , 1980, SIGGRAPH '80.

[2]  Deborah Silver,et al.  Curve-Skeleton Properties, Applications, and Algorithms , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[3]  Leonidas J. Guibas,et al.  A probabilistic roadmap planner for flexible objects with a workspace medial-axis-based sampling approach , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Human and Environment Friendly Robots with High Intelligence and Emotional Quotients (Cat. No.99CH36289).

[4]  Jon Louis Bentley,et al.  Multidimensional binary search trees used for associative searching , 1975, CACM.

[5]  Carlo H. Séquin,et al.  Visibility preprocessing for interactive walkthroughs , 1991, SIGGRAPH.

[6]  Georges Voronoi.  Nouvelles applications des paramètres continus à la théorie des formes quadratiques. Deuxième mémoire. Recherches sur les parallélloèdres primitifs. , 1908 .

[7]  Marina L. Gavrilova,et al.  Voronoi diagram in optimal path planning , 2007, 4th International Symposium on Voronoi Diagrams in Science and Engineering (ISVD 2007).

[8]  David P. Dobkin,et al.  The quickhull algorithm for convex hulls , 1996, TOMS.

[9]  Lars Lidén.  The Integration of Autonomous and Scripted Behavior through Task Management , 2000 .

[10]  Efficient Navigation Mesh Implementation , 2004, J. Game Dev..

[11]  George J. Klir,et al.  Fuzzy Sets, Fuzzy Logic, and Fuzzy Systems - Selected Papers by Lotfi A Zadeh , 1996, Advances in Fuzzy Systems - Applications and Theory.

[12]  Mel Slater,et al.  Shadow volume BSP trees for computation of shadows in dynamic scenes , 1995, I3D '95.

[13]  Robert L. Ogniewicz,et al.  Skeleton-space: a multiscale shape description combining region and boundary information , 1994, 1994 Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition.

[14]  Lydia E. Kavraki,et al.  A framework for using the workspace medial axis in PRM planners , 2000, Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065).

[15]  David J. Morgan.  Algorithmic Approaches to Finding Cover in Three-Dimensional, Virtual Environments , 2003 .

[16]  Marshall W. Bern,et al.  A new Voronoi-based surface reconstruction algorithm , 1998, SIGGRAPH.

[17]  Lotfi A. Zadeh,et al.  A rationale for fuzzy control , 1972 .