--- title: The Forgotten AI of Video Games - Layla Porter - NDC... description: Classical AI techniques in video games are explored, covering finite state machines (FSMs), behavior trees, navigation meshes with A* pathfinding,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-forgotten-ai-of-video-games---layla-porter---ndc-oslo-2025-yaeq48obb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The Forgotten AI of Video Games - Layla Porter - NDC Oslo 2025 | daily.dev og:description: Classical AI techniques in video games are explored, covering finite state machines (FSMs), behavior trees, navigation meshes with A* pathfinding,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-forgotten-ai-of-video-games---layla-porter---ndc-oslo-2025-yaeq48obb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/yAeQ48oBb.png og:image:alt: The Forgotten AI of Video Games - Layla Porter - NDC Oslo 2025 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Forgotten AI of Video Games - Layla Porter - NDC Oslo 2025 **[NDC Conferences](https://daily.dev/sources/ndc)** · 65 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Classical AI techniques in video games are explored, covering finite state machines (FSMs), behavior trees, navigation meshes with A* pathfinding, Goal-Oriented Action Planning (GOAP), and Hierarchical Task Networks (HTN). The presentation traces AI history from 1950s symbolic AI through modern implementations in games like Half-Life, F.E.A.R., and Horizon Zero Dawn. Technical deep-dives explain how NPCs make decisions, navigate environments, and create emergent gameplay through backward planning graphs and depth-first search algorithms. Complementary systems like Director AI and Utility AI are covered for controlling game pacing and tension. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The Low-Tech AI Of Elden Ring](https://daily.dev/posts/the-low-tech-ai-of-elden-ring-godrk7cdt) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Revolutionary Impact of AI in Gaming](https://daily.dev/posts/the-revolutionary-impact-of-ai-in-gaming-ryz48pksd) · Game Designing · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Exploring new frontiers of AI and games research](https://daily.dev/posts/exploring-new-frontiers-of-ai-and-games-research-ks90xxvar) · DeepMind · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#algorithms](https://daily.dev/tags/algorithms), [#game-development](https://daily.dev/tags/game-development), [#unity](https://daily.dev/tags/unity) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-forgotten-ai-of-video-games---layla-porter---ndc-oslo-2025-yaeq48obb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The Forgotten AI of Video Games - Layla Porter - NDC Oslo 2025","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-forgotten-ai-of-video-games---layla-porter---ndc-oslo-2025-yaeq48obb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-forgotten-ai-of-video-games---layla-porter---ndc-oslo-2025-yaeq48obb"},"datePublished":"2026-02-04T14:12:12.497Z","dateModified":"2026-03-15T05:19:09.203Z","description":"Classical AI techniques in video games are explored, covering finite state machines (FSMs), behavior trees, navigation meshes with A* pathfinding,...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iufax8cV4kc/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iufax8cV4kc/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"NDC Conferences","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NDC Conferences","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--SiIyojEj--/f_auto/v1748760369/logos/ndc","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ndc"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-forgotten-ai-of-video-games---layla-porter---ndc-oslo-2025-yaeq48obb","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai,algorithms,game-development,unity","timeRequired":"PT65M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Forgotten AI of Video Games - Layla Porter - NDC Oslo 2025","description":"Classical AI techniques in video games are explored, covering finite state machines (FSMs), behavior trees, navigation meshes with A* pathfinding,...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iufax8cV4kc/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-02-04T14:12:12.497Z","duration":"PT65M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/yAeQ48oBb","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/iufax8cV4kc"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NDC Conferences","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ndc"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Forgotten AI of Video Games - Layla Porter - NDC Oslo 2025"}]} ```