Artificial Intelligence for Game Developers

	Level: Intermediate Instructor(s): Brian Hall Time Blocks: 10 weeks Credits: Undergraduate / College Credit : 3 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) : 3 Professional Developer Hours (PDHs) : 30 Tuition: $225.00 -

	You may also like to consider some of our related course and event offerings: C++ for Game Developers Module I Introduction to Robotics 3D Engine Programming Module II

Why should I take the course?

Although the field of artificial intelligence is vast, there are some fundamental techniques and data structures that are used time and again in almost every game application that incorporates AI. The purpose of this course is not to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the entire field of artificial intelligence, but rather to focus on the most important data structures and algorithms that you as a game developer will need to understand if you wish to include intelligent NPCs in your games. As you progress through the course, you will develop your own extendable AI class library. This library will serve as the foundation for incorporating sophisticated artificial intelligence programs into your current and future game development projects.

What will I learn if I take this course?

This Artificial Intelligence Programming for Video Game Developers course primarily explores two of the most significant areas of game AI: decision making and environment navigation. Decision making allows your artificial intelligence entities to appear to make intelligent choices about how they will interact with the world around them and how they will react to various events that take place in that world. This subject will be explored from the perspective of both individual entities as well as from the perspective of groups or "squads" of entities. You will also examine various ways that entities can intelligently navigate their environment. This allows the decisions they make to translate into realistic and coordinated movement through the game world.

The topics discussed include:

• Decision Making
• Grid Traversal and Search Algorithms
• Pathfinding with A*
• Flocking Behaviors
• Finite State Machines
• Scripting
• Squad Level Game AI
• Waypoint Networks
• AI Engine Integration
• ..more..

NB:	For more detailed information on the topics covered by this course offering, please download and review the AI1 Lesson Plan. (To view this PDF, you will need to ensure that you have installed the free Acrobat Reader 5.0 or above.)

Who should take the course?

AI is such a critical component of every game that every Game Institute student should takes this course. It makes an especially excellent companion course for 3D Engine Programming Module II (either during or just after you complete Module II) as that course is where you will integrate fully animated characters into your game environments and it would be nice to provide them with intelligent behaviors.

What are the prerequisites to understanding the course material?

The only pre-requisite for this course is proficiency with the C++ programming language. Students who have completed the C++ Programming for Game Developers course series will be well prepared for the workload.

However, it is recommended that you have either completed the 3D Engine Programming series Modules I and II or are currently enrolled in those courses, since many of our demos will assume familiarity with the 3D programming topics covered in those courses. You will also want to have access to the demo technology in that series since most of our demos use it directly and you may want to make your own modifications. Some background in game mathematics, especially vectors, would also be very helpful, but is not strictly required.

What software do I need in order to take this course?

• Microsoft Visual C++ 7.0 (2002 .NET) or higher
• Microsoft DirectX 9.0c SDK