Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Influence maps
Influence maps help alleviate the understanding of the environment from a high level. This
type of spatial data can come in many different forms, but all essentially break down the
environment into quantifiable regions where additional data can be stored and evaluated. In
particular, we'll be using a three-dimensional grid-based representation for our influence
maps. Each cell of the influence grid represents a three-dimensional cube of space. The
sandbox uses an internal three-dimensional array structure that stores influence map data,
and therefore, grows quickly in size based on the dimensions of each grid cell.
With influence maps, we can easily perform tasks such as spacing out agent positions or
moving agents toward friendly regions and away from dangerous regions within the sand-
box. Previously, we would use a utility-based approach that would become performance-in-
tensive as more agents were introduced into the sandbox. With a central data structure
shared by all agents, the performance cost is kept to a minimum.
