I’d like to discuss the design behind Synzza Star’s combat AI agents, which will be used for both friendly party members as well as enemies and other NPCs. The following discussion will be somewhat complex and technical. If you’re interested in the philosophy behind these designs, check out this post here . A Brief Clarification Before going into detail about what it is I’m going to do, I should clarify what I’m not going to do. Again, if you’re interested in a more philosophical discussion, check out the post linked above . In Synzza Star’s combat I seek to avoid a situation I call “AI slapfighting”, which is when two AI combatants within melee range of each other simply begin wailing away until one of them drops. To be sure, it’s an effective formula for games to employ, even if it is a bit simple. Many well-respected, tactical, strategic games use combat like this as a base to build more complex abilities and satisfying mechanics atop of. Players intuitively understan...