A little over a month ago, we announced that Intrinsic Algorithm was expanding its consulting to include other industry veterans. At the time, we also had to play it a little close to the proverbial vest in that the people we were bringing on were still attached to their respective studios. One of those people has now left his full-time job, however, so we are able to make the formal announcement! Borut Pfeifer has gone out on his own – in part, to do his “own thing” and, in part, to work as an AI consultant under the Intrinsic Algorithm banner.
Borut (LinkedIn) has worked in the game industry since 2000, first on online casino games and then at his own startup White Knuckle Games. Eventually he went on to work as an AI and gameplay programmer at Radical Entertainment (Scarface: The World Is Yours), and then as lead gameplay programmer on a PS3 launch title at Sony Online (Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom). He’s published articles in the Game Programming Gems series, the AI Game Programming Wisdom series, on Gamasutra, and has taught technical game design at the Vancouver Film School. Most recently he was the lead AI programmer on a game collboration between Steven Spielberg and Doug Church at EALA.
Games he has worked on include:
- Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, Sony Online Entertainment (developer and publisher), Nov 2006, Platform: PS3. Credited as Lead Gameplay Programmer.
- Scarface: The World Is Yours, Radical Entertainment (developer), Viviendi Universal Games (publisher), Oct 2006, Platforms: PS2, XBox, PC. Responsible for collision, AI, and gameplay programming.
Technical Articles:
- “Creating Designer Tunable AI”, AI Game Programming Wisdom 4, editor Steve Rabin, Charles River Media, February 2008.
- “Peer-to-Peer Distributed Agent Processing”, AI Game Programming Wisdom 4, editor Steve Rabin, Charles River Media, February 2008.
- “Automatic Cover Finding Using Navigation Meshes”, Game Programming Gems 5, editor Kim Pallister, Charles River Media, March 2005.
- “Narrative Combat: Using AI to enhance tension in an Action Game”, Game Programming Gems 4, editor Andrew Kirmse, Charles River Media, March 2004.
- “Creating an Audio Scripting System”, Game Programming Gems 4, editor Andrew Kirmse, Charles River Media, March 2004.
Game Business/Industry Articles:
- “Soapbox: The Rise of the Auteur & the Return of Indie Game Development“,Gamasutra, July 2005.
- “Seven Misconceptions about Game Agents“, Gamasutra, June 2003.
- “The Whys and Wherefores of Game Agents”, Secrets of the Game Business, editor Francois D. Laramee, Charles River Media, February 2003.
Talks:
- “Performing Intent“, AIIDE, Stanford, October 2008.
- “Creating Emergent Gameplay with Autonomous Agents“, Game AI Workshop at AAAI-04, San Jose, July 2004.
- “AI to Control Pacing in Games“, Artificial Intelligence, Interactivity, and Immersive Environments: 2nd Annual Game Development Workshop, University of Texas at Austin, August 2003.
- “Characters Welcome: Next Steps Toward Human AI” – panelist, AI Summit, GDC 2009
- “The Photoshop of AI: Debating the Structure vs. Style Decomposition of Game AI” – panel moderator, AI Summit, GDC 2009
On behalf of Laurie, the rest of the (yet undiscolosed) consultants at Intrinsic Algorithm, and myself, I would like to express how pleased we are that Borut will be working with us to provide top-quality game AI for our clients.