This year’s GDC (Game Developers Conference) is set to take place in San Francisco from March 19th through the 23rd. Many developers will be there including parts of the team from SIE Bend Studio who are expected to discuss the Days Gone Zombie Horde AI. As one of the most anticipated exclusive PS4 titles of this year fans have been dying to hear more about the survival horror game.

The GDC plans on hosting a summit where AI lead Darren Chisum and Senior Staff Programmer Tobias Karrison will discuss wider details beyond simply Days Gone Zombie Horde AI. Their topics will include AI interaction, squad formation, spawning methods, and AI behavior. Here is a description of the GDC summit conference the developers have planned:

This talk looks at the AI and gameplay components used to create the dynamic and interactive open world of Days Gone. We will cover some of the different AI units, and how they interact with one another in the Freak-O-System. We will also describe some of the methods used to spawn units and content into the world in a way that improves the player’s experience. In addition, we will go into detail on how the human AI units form squads, and calculate a Front Line to help define the combat area, and choose tactical locations. Our squares are themselves a type of AI entity, and can identify situations, based on unit and squad Confidence, and assign Roles to each unit.”

Also speaking at the summit is Graham Aldridge, the Lead Graphics Programmer at Sony Interactives Bend. Instead of talking about the Days Gone Zombie Horde AI, Aldridge will be discussing how using screen space shadows gets the most out of shadow detail. This portion of the talk is expected to address the algorithm that generates the high-performance screen space shadows for Days Gone.

Ultimately the GDC summit will provide fans with some incredible insight into the Days Gone Zombie Horde AI and their many other topics. Given that the studio hasn’t developed a new IP since 1999’s Syphon Filter, there is a lot to be curious about for this title. With the conference set for about two months from now its safe to say we may get more information before the summit, but if not we do have this discussion to look forward to.

What about the GDC summit is the most interesting thing to look forward to? Join in on the conversation in the comment section below! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for live gaming and entertainment news 24/7!