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Blogs

Dave Mark's Blog   Expert Blogs

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.

Expert Blogs

Looking Inside the 2010 GDC AI Summit  Featured Blogs
Posted by Dave Mark on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:37:00 EST in Programming
The 2nd year of the AI Summit at GDC promises to be just as amazing as the first. If you are involved in game AI as a programmer, designer, or even as a student, the AI Summit is the most important event of the year. Take a look at all 12 sessions inside!
Read More... | 1 Comments

AI and MMOs - The Controversy
Posted by Dave Mark on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:52:00 EDT in Game Design, Programming
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

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
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!  Featured Blogs
Posted by Dave Mark on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:36:00 EDT in Game Design, Programming
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

Pre-GDC Ponderings on the AI Summit
Posted by Dave Mark on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:44:00 EDT in Programming
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

AI Lessons from Un-Balancing Scrabble
Posted by Dave Mark on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:05:00 EDT in Game Design, Programming
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

Comment In: GDC 2010 Reveals AI Summit Details [News - 01/27/2010 - 04:55]

Please note that all 12 ...

Please note that all 12 of the sessions have now been posted on the AI Summit page. If you are involved in game AI, this is the most important event of the year

Comment In: MMOs and the Suspension of Mortality [Blog - 11/25/2009 - 09:24]

Looking at it from the ...

Looking at it from the other side... if there is no loss to the act of dying, why try to stay alive Compare this to other online games such as TF2 or online CoD. If you are on a match where there is respawn, people are much more reckless about ...

Comment In: AI and MMOs - The Controversy [Blog - 09/06/2009 - 04:52]

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

Comment In: An Alternative to Aggro [Blog - 09/02/2009 - 02:18]

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 ...

Comment In: Bring Real Socialization Back Into MMOs Or Else! [Blog - 09/01/2009 - 11:23]

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 ...

Comment In: Isn't Anyone Tired Of The Same Old MMO Classes Yet? [Blog - 08/25/2009 - 06:50]

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 ...

[More Dave Mark Comments]