AIPaint: A Sketch-Based Behavior Tree Authoring Tool

Abstract

Current behavior authoring tools force game designers to split their attention between the game context and the tool context. We have addressed this problem by developing a behavior authoring tool that merges these two contexts. This paper outlines the design and implementation of a gameindependent behavior tree authoring tool, called AIPaint, that allows a designer to create and edit behavior trees via a natural sketching interface overlaid on the game world. We demonstrate the use of AIPaint to author computercontrolled characters in two simple games and report on an observational evaluation.