Forums → Programming Forum → Creating bad Enemy A.I

Why not just have it go back and forth at the same speed? Then if it hits the ball it does, otherwise it misses.

Thanks rjbman for you answer.
It's so simple

It's okay...it's amazing how some things pop out at you if you have a more distant perspective.

Well, you could define a certain amount of randomness... sorta like accuracy. You want it to hit, but not all the time... this way you can build it with a predefinable amount of skill. The higher the skill, the less variation (over / undershoot) the enemy's bat will have

Good luck!

I made a pong game where the paddle moved back and forth and it was REALLY LAME. People would always ask me why it was so easy and why the cpu didn't try at all. I suggest that you just make the cpu paddle slower that the ball's speed and then make the paddle always target the ball. That way, if the paddle is on one side of the screen and you hit to the other side of the screen, the enemy will be too slow to reach it in time.

What I would do is make the paddle move towards the ball at a constant speed, like Diddy 645 says. In AS3:

var paddleSpeed:uint = 3;
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, loop);

function loop (e:Event):void
{
if (ball.y < paddle.y)
{
paddle.y -= paddleSpeed;
}

if (ball.y > paddle.y)
{
paddle.y += paddleSpeed;
}
}

Hopefully this code makes sense!

Set a low speed. The enemy can not go faster then that speed.

If you example hit one to the left and the cpu saves it, then you hit it to the right it will be too slow for it to get it on the other side.