14 Nov The Ambitious AI of Empire of the Ants: Up to 20,000 Units On The Battlefield!
Available now on PC and consoles, Empire of the Ants immerses you in massive insect battles. In this article, learn more about the numerous agents populating the game and the artificial intelligence that brings them to life.
An Impressive Number of Characters on Screen
As you develop your army in Empire of the Ants, you can accumulate up to 4,200 Units under your command. Adding to this are your various opponents and the neutral insects that populate the world, making the strategy game capable of accommodating up to 20,000 units in a single game!
“It was important to have a large number of characters,” says Quentin Daveau, Game Engineer at Tower Five. “Firstly, for authenticity’s sake, because insects are extremely numerous in real life. But also to offer players an impressive aspect, with swarming masses charging at each other. When a legion of gunners positions themselves on a mountain and it becomes entirely green, it’s really something.”
The Challenge of Limiting the Impact of Units on Performance
A major challenge for the Tower Five studio was displaying these thousands of insects without compromising performance. The developers found several tricks to achieve a result that is both spectacular and smooth.
“We decided not to use the usual method of skeletal animation, which involves creating a skeleton that dynamically moves the surface around it,” explains Quentin. “We opted for the older method of vertex animation, which is similar to frame-by-frame animation. It was more work, but the result is less demanding on the machine.”
The team also used other techniques to optimize the performance of Empire of the Ants, such as limiting the number of calculations for the agents. For example, an insect tasked with producing a resource will not think again until it has finished its task. Avoiding continuous updates to the AI reduces the load on the processor.
Tough but Fair: The Behavior of Artificial Intelligence
The second challenge for the designers of Empire of the Ants was making the artificial intelligence credible, especially in its movements. “What’s unique in our game is that you can walk vertically or upside down,” Quentin recalls. “The classic navigation mesh method wasn’t very suitable for this, so we had to innovate again. Nothing is pre-calculated: the units test the terrain around them on the fly, as if they were moving blindly.”
Of course, Tower Five also worked hard on the AI’s decision-making to achieve a satisfactory result. “It was quite difficult to balance; the AI must be convincing and provide resistance, without overwhelming us,” says Quentin. To achieve this, the studio gave the player the same tools as the computer: it doesn’t have more resources or stronger units. It doesn’t see the entire map but only around itself and has a reaction time quite close to that of a human.
This allows for games that are just complex enough without feeling arbitrarily outpaced by the AI. But for fans of tough situations, rest assured – as Quentin tells us, “You can set the AI to its highest difficulty level in private game mode and find some optional missions in the campaign that will challenge players.”
Ready to Take on the Challenge?
Empire of the Ants is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series. Buy it now and claim your first victory!
