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Dave Mark's Blog
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Dave Mark is the president and lead designer of Intrinsic Algorithm LLC, an independent game development studio and AI consulting company in Omaha, Nebraska. He has been programming since 1984 when he was in high school where, much to the dismay of his teacher, he wrote his first text adventure on the school’s DEC PDP-1144.
After a brief detour in the music business as a composer/arranger, keyboard player, and recording engineer during the early 1990s, Dave re-entered the technology arena in 1995. In 2002, he came to the startling realization that the corporate IT consulting and development world is a little short on creativity and fun. As a result, Dave left to start Intrinsic Algorithm LLC with his wife, Laurie.
He is the author of " Behavioral Mathematics for Game AI" and is a contributor to the AI Game Programming Wisdom series of books, a
semi-regular columnist at AIGameDev, a founding member of the AI Game Programmers Guild, and is a co-organizer and co-host of the AI Summit at GDC.
Dave continues to attend the University of Life. He does not plan to graduate anytime soon.
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Expert Blogs
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AI and MMOs - The Controversy |
| Posted by Dave Mark on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:52:00 EDT in
Game Design,
Programming
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| There have been numerous posts on Gamasutra lately discussing various aspects of MMOs and how better AI can help. Coincidentally, this is the topic of my lecture at GDC Austin next week. As a sort of "coming attraction" I weigh in on these issues. |
| Read More... | 25 Comments |
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And the Award for Best Artificial Intelligence goes to... |
| Posted by Dave Mark on Thu, 28 May 2009 11:34:00 EDT in
Game Design,
Programming
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| Why is it the arguably single most important element of many interactive games isn't prominently rated, judged, or given awards? |
| Read More... | 6 Comments |
Choices: Not Just For Players Any More!  |
| Posted by Dave Mark on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:36:00 EDT in
Game Design,
Programming
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| Providing non-linear, non-calculatable choices for players is all well and good. However, if we are going to achieve depth in gameplay we need to provide that same depth of choice to our AI NPCs as well. |
| Read More... | 7 Comments |
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Pre-GDC Ponderings on the AI Summit |
| Posted by Dave Mark on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:44:00 EDT in
Programming
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| Why the members of the AI Game Programmers Guild, presenters of the AI Summit at GDC, would be quite happy presenting to each other, even if no one else showed up to watch. |
| Read More... | 0 Comments |
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AI Lessons from Un-Balancing Scrabble |
| Posted by Dave Mark on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:05:00 EDT in
Game Design,
Programming
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| By gradually changing the number of words with odd letters that are in the Scrabble dictionary, the scoring system gradually became unbalanced. This sort of math juggling is something that game designers and AI Programmers deal with all the time. |
| Read More... | 2 Comments |
Dave Mark's Comments
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Comment In: AI and MMOs - The Controversy [Blog - 09/06/2009 - 04:52]
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re: positioning, spawning, etc. Fun ... re: positioning, spawning, etc. Fun with influence maps You will see what I mean at the lecture next week, Ted. Complete with nifty programmer art and Powerpoint animations |
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Comment In: An Alternative to Aggro [Blog - 09/02/2009 - 02:18]
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I will be giving a ... I will be giving a lecture next week at GDC Austin on how better AI in MMOs can encourage better community gameplay. Rather than respond to 20 different people here and on other similar posts on this subject, I posted a mass response to my own Expert Blog. AI and ... |
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Comment In: Bring Real Socialization Back Into MMOs Or Else! [Blog - 09/01/2009 - 11:23]
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I will be giving a ... I will be giving a lecture next week at GDC Austin on how better AI in MMOs can encourage better community gameplay. Rather than respond to 20 different people here and on other similar posts on this subject, I posted a mass response to my own Expert Blog. AI and ... |
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Comment In: Isn't Anyone Tired Of The Same Old MMO Classes Yet? [Blog - 08/25/2009 - 06:50]
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As I mentioned in the ... As I mentioned in the first comment, I will be giving a lecture next week at GDC Austin on how better AI in MMOs can encourage better community gameplay. Rather than respond to 20 different people here and on other similar posts on this subject, I posted a mass response ... |
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Comment In: Maxis' Hecker Departs With Layoffs, Plans Indie Projects [News - 08/28/2009 - 02:13]
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I think a better answer ... I think a better answer would have been, Who doesn't know Chris Hecker If you have been to GDC, you likely know - or know of - Chris and can usually hear him . If you have done any research into procedural animation, you know Chris and his papers on ... |
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Comment In: A Philosophical Riddle from a Game Designer [Blog - 06/27/2009 - 11:33]
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Follow-up: If no one plays ... Follow-up: If no one plays a game, is it because it is not worth experiencing - or is it because of the mindless pack mentality of the consumer public |
[More Dave Mark Comments]
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