GDC: Autodesk unveils new AI tools

Autodesk is to release two new AI tools for developers as part of its Gameware range, it has announced.

Cognition and Population have been created through tech from recently acquired Grip Entertainment, and will release in Spring 2012.

Cognition will be a visual programming system and run-time engine used to create and manage “high-level artificial intelligence” with numerous debugging tools for developing complex AI.

Population is an AI software module for Unreal Engine 3 that has been designed to create large numbers of secondary characters. Autodesk claims this enables developers can populate game worlds with “hundreds of NPCs”.

Autodesk also announced it will be updating its current offerings such as Kynapse to offer more realistic navigation by NPCs through a new mode of pathfinding, whilst a new release of lighting solution Beast will enable live scene authoring.

The company has also added extra features to its Scaleform tool designed for mobile games development, with a new mobile-ready player added to the software.

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