Explore the intricacies of AI implementation in grand strategy games through this ACCU 2018 conference talk by Duygu Cakmak and Guy Davidson. Delve into the complex execution environment of the Total War series, examining the challenges posed by time and memory restrictions on game AI. Learn about the decision-making processes dependent on the current world state and the techniques used to analyze a vast search space with limited resources. Discover how Monte Carlo Tree Search is applied with restricted tree building, branching, and pruning to enhance game AI performance. Gain insights into profiling techniques that contribute to AI optimization. Examine the campaign side of Total War, including game mechanics, turn sequences, and AI subsystems. Understand the evolution from old systems to data-driven approaches in diplomacy and goal generation. Explore resource allocation and coordination systems, and how they impact gameplay dynamics. This comprehensive talk provides a deep dive into the challenges and solutions of creating sophisticated AI for complex strategy games. Read more