Which would be the better Ai Package to purchase ?
Tornado Twins - Fantasy Ai
Walker Brother’s - Ai Behaviours made easy
Review might include
ease of use
interface layout
support docs
online support
updates
bang for buck (some of these packages are not cheap)
If anyone has experience with both of these please feel free to comment.
I’ll be going over each package over the next few weeks.
Being a non-programmer my evaluation will be limited as I’m more into design but perhaps there’s a few coders out there who can comment on these Ai packages.
note: I’m running Unity4 Pro iOs so most of the development is geared towards optimisation for iPhone iPad.
I bought the “Advanced Fantasy AI” (currently sold by the Tornado Twins) when it was first released, and have only been disappointed with it. It’s not particularly quick (massive update function), nor is it very flexible or extensible due to the way it is coded. The documentation can only be called severely lacking if you’re being generous (it should be called much worse) and the developer generally doesn’t do a very good job of supporting the product.
The same developer (Brilliant Game Studios), moved on to other products while he still hadn’t finalized features in this AI, and seems to have largely left it in his rear view mirror since then. It has had one update released, and the developer by his own statement does not plan to give this product any more updates or really even adequate support. Your mileage may vary, but I found the AI completely useless for my purposes. I didn’t go so far as to ask for a refund, as the cost was small (why waste the time?) but I would not spend money on it again knowing what I know now.
Also, the AFAI sold by the Tornado Twins uses it’s own path-finding system I found rather wonky and prone to problems in a number of cases in my own testing. Compounding that problem, you can’t opt to use another Pathfinding system in lieu of the built in one. My specific complaints are 1. Poor documentation, 2. Inadequate training materials to get users up to speed on how to use the product, 3. Lack of flexibility due to the way the the AI is coded, 4. No choice in Pathfinding systems, you’re stuck with the included one, warts and all, and 5. It’s a bit of a resource hog. All in all I would be surprised to see this AI used in a commercial product. It might happen, but given the issues, it would be a sub-optimal choice.
Though I haven’t yet tried it (I rolled my own AI instead), the Walker Brothers AI seems to be the far superior product from all indications. First off, they have literally hours of video training available to get new users up to speed and seem to be very quick and thorough when responding to questions from users both on their thread in the Asset Store Forum, as well as through their own site. Second, their AI is coded as state machines so it is much more flexible than the “Advanced Fantasy AI.” Lastly, their AI system is essentially Pathfinding system agnostic so you can use whatever pathfinding solution you prefer. They built it to work out of the box with the built in Unity pathfinding system and have a specific video tutorial for using their AI with Aaron Granberg’s A* pathfinding system (which most developers on these forums feel to be about the best out there at the moment).
My two cents based only on my own experience and observations, but if you read the reviews of the Advanced Fantasy AI in the asset store (the same one sold on the Tornado Twins site) you’ll see many people have much the same issues with it.
I’m in total agreement with blurdedge review of the two system’s but i would add the licensing for TornadoTwins should be approached cautionary when devs buy from there and brilliantGames seems not to give it much heed or worry despite my own concern’s.
Walker Boy’s Ai Behaviours does require a more hands on approach but is fairly easy to master the state machine where as the Fantasy AI. is not particularly useful outside what it does.
I must note that I also purchased ASTAR pathfinding system… but only hours after purchase I suddenly realised that Unity4 comes prepackaged with its own NavMesh system. So I’m hoping this ASTAR package is loaded with extra features since Unity4’s NavMesh is still in its infancy. I just hope using a NavMesh will not slow fps too much as I’m developing for iOS.
Regarding the Walker Brother’s Ai system… I’ve been setting up my test scene following the videos from the forum… a great ease into the system. Any asset with loads of tutorial videos gets my blessing every time. but I must admit I haven’t had a reply to my questions on the forum ? I’m hoping its just due to holiday season.
I like the way the most of the W.B Ai system is accessed via the inspector with drop down menus. It’s a very professional layout.
Theres a whole bunch of Assets I’m thinking of using in my game… but am worried about Low FPS ? I’m guessing the more plugins you start to load up the more FPS hits the game will take… low fps draw calls are my major concern.
Havn’t tried both, but I am somewhat interested. Thanks for sharing the insight to both.
BTW, am I the only one noticed that both of them are brothers? Is that the new requirement for AI developers?
From what I’ve seen of Tornado Twins, they seem to have their fingers in a lot of pies but don’t particularly seem massively experienced in anything they do. The pieces of work / tutorials etc I’ve seen of their’s have been very basic, the kind of thing that even a complete beginner could easily acheive for themselves without having to purchase it by just reading the manuals and applying themselves slightly. I haven’t seen any of their recent works though so perhaps they’ve improved and I’m out of order here, but since you asked for an opinion, well that’s mine.
They are differnt things EJ. A* is a system that allows patbfinding so your ai controlled agents can do things loke patrol a route, find the player, or go to a specific place. The AI dictates the computer controlled agent’s behavior in a given circumstance. The two work together but do different tbings. In tbe case of walker bros, the built in unity pathfinding or A* can be used with the ai. In the case of “advanced fantasy ai” it has a built in pathfinding solution I personally found to be a bit wonky, sadly you are stuck with it as the ai doesnt work with other pathfinding systems.
I would like to clear a few things up here. My products exist on Tornado Twins store. There is no reason to be concerned about their license agreements… Why might you ask? Because these are 100% my products. If you feel weird about their licensing. Purchase off the asset store…
Tornado Twins do not “own” Fantasy AI. They merely sell it on their store, and promote the product by making tutorials and promotional videos for me. This is something the asset store lacks. They don’t promote their products…
I have already talked to them about their license agreements. And they are considering changing them. So yes, heed and worry has been given.
