EverQuest II Technology Interview

RPGVault has conducted an interview with Sony’s Richard Baker and Jon Davis, asking the lead client programmer and lead server programmer several questions about the technology used in EverQuest II. An excerpt:

Q: Turning to a different part of your technology, the artificial intelligence, what primary goals did you define at the concept stage and during early development?

A: Our AI goals were designed around the ability to have entertaining AI that allows for a high degree of designer control in keeping with our overall goal of large quantities of engaging handcrafted content. This makes the average encounter a lot of fun while still allowing our designers to override the creatures’ default behaviors in many ways we hadn’t considered when the system was originally implemented.

We wanted creatures to work together in groups, so our combat mechanics and AI were designed around this concept as well. Creatures can assist each other and make decisions based on the overall status of the entire encounter, including the group makeup and specific actions taken by the player group currently opposing them.