Richard Evans
Regius Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cambridge; Co-Editor, Journal of Contemporary History.
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Richard Evans
“@DalrympleWill I read Runciman's three-volume History of the Crusades as a teenager and it was the first book I read that opened up the possibility of writing great history; it had a huge influence on me, and I went on to take a specialized course on the Crusades when I was at Oxford..” (from X)
by Steven Runciman, Well-illustrated·You?
by Steven Runciman, Well-illustrated·You?
A complete history of the Crusades in 3 volumes: Volume I - the First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem; Volume II - the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East (1100-1187); and Volume III - the Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Each book contains illuminated illustrations and 5-6 maps. Volume III has a complete genealogical chart of the crusaders.
Recommended by Richard Evans
“This book is an excellent introduction to using AI in games. Dave has a knack for making complex subjects accessible. The text is very clear and admirably thorough. The author has chosen - wisely - to avoid the esoteric, and focus on topics which are directly useful for making real computer games.” (from Amazon)
by Dave Mark·You?
by Dave Mark·You?
Human behavior is never an exact science, making the design and programming of artificial intelligence that seeks to replicate human behavior difficult. Usually, the answers cannot be found in sterile algorithms that are often the focus of artificial intelligence programming. However, by analyzing why people behave the way we do, we can break down the process into increasingly smaller components. We can model many of those individual components in the language of logic and mathematics and then reassemble them into larger, more involved decision-making processes. Drawing from classical game theory, "Behavioral Mathematics for Game AI" covers both the psychological foundations of human decisions and the mathematical modeling techniques that AI designers and programmers can use to replicate them. With examples from both real life and game situations, you'll explore topics such as utility, the fallacy of rational behavior, and the inconsistencies and contradictions that human behavior often exhibits. You'll examine various ways of using statistics, formulas, and algorithms to create believable simulations and to model these dynamic, realistic, and interesting behaviors in video games. Finally, you'll be introduced to a number of tools you can use in conjunction with standard AI algorithms to make it easier to utilize the mathematical models.