AI System Overview

Comprehensive AI system for creating intelligent game agents with behavior trees, state machines, perception, navigation, and steering behaviors.

Web Engine provides a comprehensive AI system for creating intelligent game agents with behavior trees, state machines, perception, navigation, and steering behaviors.

AI Architecture#

The AI system is built on a modular ECS architecture with several interconnected subsystems:

Core Components#

AIAgent — Core component that links entities to AI decision-making systems
Perception — Vision and hearing detection for environmental awareness
Perceivable — Tag component marking entities as detectable by AI

Decision-Making Systems#

Behavior Trees

Hierarchical decision-making with composite nodes (Selector, Sequence, Parallel), decorator nodes (Inverter, Repeater, Timeout), and action/condition nodes.

State Machines

Simple FSM and Hierarchical FSM with nested states, transition guards, event-driven transitions, and history states (shallow and deep).

Utility AI

Score-based decision making with considerations (health, distance, enemy count) and response curves for dynamic action selection.

Quick Start#

Basic AI Setup#

setup-ai.ts

typescript

import {
  AIAgent,
  Perception,
  Perceivable,
  initAIAgent,
  initPerception,
  initPerceivable,
  AIControllerType,
  AIAffiliation,
} from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

// Create an AI agent with perception
addComponent(world, AIAgent, enemyEid);
addComponent(world, Perception, enemyEid);

// Initialize with behavior tree controller
initAIAgent(enemyEid, AIControllerType.BehaviorTree, AIAffiliation.Hostile);
initPerception(enemyEid);

// Make player perceivable
addComponent(world, Perceivable, playerEid);
initPerceivable(playerEid, AIAffiliation.Friendly);

Creating a Behavior Tree#

behavior-tree.ts

typescript

import {
  registerBehaviorTree,
  assignBehaviorTree,
  BTSelector,
  BTSequence,
  BTCondition,
  BTAction,
  BTStatus,
} from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

// Register a behavior tree
registerBehaviorTree('GuardAI', () => {
  return new BTSelector([
    // Combat behavior
    new BTSequence([
      new BTCondition('hasTarget', (ctx) =>
        ctx.blackboard.has('targetEid')
      ),
      new BTCondition('inRange', (ctx) => {
        const dist = ctx.blackboard.get('distanceToTarget') ?? Infinity;
        return dist < 10;
      }),
      new BTAction('attack', (ctx) => {
        // Attack logic
        return BTStatus.SUCCESS;
      }),
    ]),

    // Patrol behavior
    new BTSequence([
      new BTCondition('hasPatrol', (ctx) =>
        ctx.blackboard.has('patrolWaypoints')
      ),
      new BTAction('patrol', (ctx) => {
        // Patrol logic
        return BTStatus.RUNNING;
      }),
    ]),

    // Idle fallback
    new BTAction('idle', (ctx) => {
      return BTStatus.SUCCESS;
    }),
  ]);
});

// Assign to entity
assignBehaviorTree(enemyEid, 'GuardAI');

AI Agent States#

AI agents have high-level operational states that control behavior execution:

State	Description
Disabled	Agent is inactive/disabled
Idle	Agent is idle, not executing behavior
Active	Agent is actively executing behavior
Paused	Agent behavior is paused (can be resumed)
Alert	Agent is in alert state (detected something)
Combat	Agent is in combat/hostile state
Fleeing	Agent is fleeing/retreating
Dead	Agent is dead/incapacitated

Blackboard System#

The blackboard is a shared memory system for AI decision-making. Each agent has its own blackboard for storing and sharing data between behavior nodes:

blackboard.ts

typescript

import { getBlackboard, setBlackboardValue, getBlackboardValue } from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

// Get agent's blackboard ID
const blackboardId = AIAgent.blackboardId[eid];

// Set values
setBlackboardValue(blackboardId, 'targetEid', enemyEntity);
setBlackboardValue(blackboardId, 'health', 100);
setBlackboardValue(blackboardId, 'alertLevel', 0.5);

// Get values
const target = getBlackboardValue<number>(blackboardId, 'targetEid');
const health = getBlackboardValue<number>(blackboardId, 'health');

// In behavior tree nodes, access via context
const hasTarget = (ctx) => ctx.blackboard.has('targetEid');
const isHealthLow = (ctx) => (ctx.blackboard.get('health') ?? 100) < 20;

Perception System#

AI agents can perceive their environment through vision and hearing:

Vision Configuration#

Range — Maximum view distance (default: 30m)
FOV Angle — Field of view angle in degrees (default: 110°)
Peripheral Range — Peripheral vision distance (default: 15m)
Peripheral FOV — Peripheral field of view (default: 180°)
Eye Height — Height offset for vision rays (default: 1.6m)

Hearing Configuration#

Range — Maximum hearing distance (default: 20m)
Threshold — Minimum sound intensity to detect (default: 0.1)
Sensitivity — Hearing acuity multiplier (default: 1.0)
Occlusion — Whether sounds through walls are muffled

Emitting Sounds#

emit-sound.ts

typescript

import { emitSound, StimulusType } from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

// Emit a sound stimulus that AI agents can hear
emitSound(
  sourceEid,           // Entity making the sound
  position,            // World position [x, y, z]
  intensity: 0.8,      // Loudness (0-1)
  radius: 15.0,        // Hearing radius
  duration: 2.0        // How long it persists
);

AI Systems#

The AI module includes several ECS systems that should be added to your game loop:

PerceptionSystem — Handles vision and hearing detection, updates tracked entities
AIBehaviorTreeSystem — Executes behavior trees for agents with BehaviorTree controller
AIStateMachineSystem — Updates state machines for agents with StateMachine controller
UtilityAISystem — Evaluates utility AI for agents with UtilityAI controller
SteeringSystem — Applies steering behaviors for autonomous movement
FormationSystem — Manages group AI with formation patterns

Performance & Optimization#

Zero-GC Design#

The AI system is designed for zero garbage collection in hot paths:

Pre-allocated perception storage with circular buffers for stimuli
Object pooling for blackboards and behavior tree instances
Typed arrays for component data (bitECS integration)
Reused vectors in steering behaviors and pathfinding

LOD System#

Perception LOD (Level of Detail) reduces AI update frequency based on distance from focus point:

perception-lod.ts

typescript

import {
  setPerceptionLODEnabled,
  setLODFocusPosition,
  setPerceptionLODConfig,
} from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

// Enable perception LOD
setPerceptionLODEnabled(true);

// Set focus position (usually camera/player)
setLODFocusPosition(cameraPosition);

// Configure LOD distances
setPerceptionLODConfig({
  lodDistances: [20, 50, 100],     // Distance thresholds
  updateIntervals: [0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0], // Update rates per LOD
  maxTrackedPerLOD: [32, 16, 8, 4],      // Entity tracking limits
});

Spatial Indexing#

The AI system uses a spatial index for efficient neighbor queries:

spatial-index.ts

typescript

import { getAISpatialIndex } from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

const spatialIndex = getAISpatialIndex();

// Query nearby entities
const neighbors = spatialIndex.queryRadius(
  position,    // Query center
  radius,      // Search radius
  maxResults   // Maximum results
);

Debugging & Visualization#

The AI system includes debug rendering capabilities:

debug-renderer.ts

typescript

import { getAIDebugRenderer } from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

const debugRenderer = getAIDebugRenderer();

// Configure debug options
debugRenderer.setOptions({
  showVisionCones: true,
  showHearingRadii: true,
  showTrackedEntities: true,
  showPaths: true,
  showSteeringForces: true,
  showFormations: true,
  showBehaviorTreeStatus: true,
  showStateNames: true,
});

// Render debug visualization
debugRenderer.render(world, scene, camera);

Memory Management#

Properly clean up AI resources when entities are destroyed:

cleanup.ts

typescript

import {
  cleanupAIAgent,
  cleanupPerception,
  cleanupAIEntity,
  resetAllAISystems,
} from '@web-engine-dev/core/engine/ai';

// Clean up individual entity
cleanupAIAgent(eid);      // Releases blackboard
cleanupPerception(eid);    // Releases perception storage
cleanupAIEntity(eid);      // Comprehensive cleanup

// Reset all AI systems (scene unload)
resetAllAISystems();

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Last updated: 1/15/2026

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