We’ll be launching the new part of AiGameDev.com on October 1st, at exactly 18:00 European time (17:00 U.K. time, 12:00 Noon Eastern time, other timezones). That’s almost precisely 48h from the time this article was posted. Be sure to read right to the bottom to make sure you don’t miss out on the bonuses for signing up quickly!
Many of you have been waiting for the price announcement, so here it is. The charter offer for the online training in the membership site costs $20 / €14 per month — which you’ll benefit from as long as you’re subscribed. As I said, after the first week, we will shut the registration for at least a month to focus entirely on the members. When we re-open, we’ll increase the price significantly to better reflect the value of this content.
As long as you sign up the first week of October, you’ll get the first three months for $39 / €27 only, as part of the deal. The way I look at it is that you get the first month for free! The first month includes a money back guarantee, so there’s zero risk for you signing up. After that, you can of course cancel your subscription before the next quarter at any time.
With that in mind, here’s the schedule for the next three months. (For details about the Online Meetings, Special Reports, and the Prototyping environment see this article.)
October
- Live Sessions & Recordings
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Interview: Chris Jurney on RTS AI and Company of Heroes
Masterclass: William van der Sterren on Terrain Reasoning
Roundtable: MVC Architecture
Q&A: Open Topic with Alex J. Champandard
- Special Reports
-
Goal-Oriented Action Planning with STRIPS (Jeff Orkin, Bill Merrill and Borut Pfeifer)
Terrain Analysis & Reasoning (Kevin Dill, Sergio Garces, William van der Sterren and Paul Tozour)
- Code & Assets
-
Sample: Model / View / Controller
Sample: Automated Terrain Analysis
Motion: Running, dodges, slow / sudden turns, start & stop.
Motion: Adventure action, jumping over, rolling under, combat/action rolls.
November
- Live Sessions & Recordings
-
Masterclass: Responsive Motion-driven Animation with Lucas Kovar†
Interview: Dmitriy Iassenev on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky
Roundtable: Testing Tools & Practices
Q&A: Open Topic
- Special Reports
-
Production and Methodology (Javier Arevalo, Jurie Horneman, Paul Tozour)
Modern Path-Finding Techniques
- Code & Assets
-
Sample: Motion / Animation Graph
Sample: Test Framework
Motion: Walking forward / backward, turning left and right slowly, transitions to and from idle, idle turns.
Motion: Sideways strafing, backwards movement, single steps, aiming motions.
December
- Live Sessions & Recordings
-
Masterclass: Behavior Tree Design Patterns with Max Dyckhoff†
Interview: Paul Tozour on The Boss AI in Metroid Prime
Roundtable: Debugging, Visualization
Q&A: Open Topic
- Special Reports
-
Workflow and Data Pipelines
- Code & Assets
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Sample: Behavior Tree
Motion: Locomotion variations, e.g. sneaking.
Motion: Object interactions.
Sessions marked with this † symbol are still pending confirmation. Note that minor changes in the schedule are expected; these things are unavoidable. However, we also have a few unannounced features too! Also, the time of the interview is setup according to the availability of the experts, which depends on their timezone.
Bonus Items
Along with the first few features of October, these recordings will be available immediately when you sign up:
Interview: “Game AI Design Pitfalls for Action Shooters” with Mikko Mononen
Masterclass: “Behavior Tree Implementation Techniques” with Phil Carlisle and Alex Champandard
Interview: “Next-Gen Animation for Games & AI” with Mike Gleicher
Fast Mover Bonus
The first 25 people get a personal consulting or Q&A (30 min) with me.
The first 50 people will get an extra month free!
You’ll find out the details about how to sign up first tomorrow! (If you’re keen to help out also, to extend your membership, read this post.)
