Hi,

I'm strongly considering the purchase of the SDK to use some C++ in place of scripting for certain sections.

Mainly, I want to do this for the AI because just about everything on AI is demonstrated using C++. It would be great to not have to make the conversion to wdl. Though I have found wdl to be easier than expected, sometimes I have found some difficulty in converting C++ due to syntax and specific functions that wdl doesn't have. Also, I have found this killer "fuzzy logic editor" (called Spark) that cleared up - in one afternoon - most of the confusion I had with the topic. And best of all, it works with Visual C++ also.

Can I use the SDK "just" for AI?

I assume I can let C++ process my AI vars and then feed the output to wdl via the SDK?

I seem to recall JCL once saying the wdl was appx 50% as fast as C++. Will the SDK slow down my C++ to wdl speed or will I get the full speed advantage?

Thanks, Ron

I do know you can use c++ for just AI, I know Kevin Ross is doing it. I don't know about the speed though, just started classes in c++ so it will be some time before I use it for 3dgs.

You will probably not notice much of a speed difference either way. Much of the slow down in WDL comes from executing acknex commands (trace, move, scan, etc) and not from the code itself. Of course it all depends on what you are programming. Some AI algorithms depend on things like recursion that can bring your computer to a crawl.

What "specific functions" are you missing from WDL that you need C++ code for?

Spark! is a interesting little tool ( www.louderthanabomb.com ). Depending on the type of game you could probably combine it with A5 to make some quick AI.

Well, I'm not a C++ expert by any stretch of the imagination so take some of this with that in mind. When I first got into 3D graphics about 4 years ago I found that my compiler was just gathering dust but now I'm ready to dig back into it.

Of recent note, I came across the "disjunction" operation that is used in calculating a fuzzy logic output. It looks like just a glorified OR to me but it seems OR will not suffice.

As I noted, the SDK would make it nice to just plug in existing C++ code that is available in many programming manuals. I'm planning on using a fuzzy state machine as the basis of most of my simulation AI. I realize that's a pretty lofty goal but I've done some researching and I'm convinced its the best way to go for my app. I would also like the option of local variables.

In case other A4/5er's have an interest, LouderThanABomb has just released version 1.3b beta and they wanted the message passed on. If you've ever had even an inkling about using fuzzy logic for your game AI you're going to like this program. I've been sitting here in my free time amazed at how much simpler it is to design FLV's and FAM's with Spark. It's a graphical approach that's easy on the user.