This presentation will provide the most comprehensive overview of the implementation of behavior trees to date. Since their incremental evolution into the games industry ~8 years ago, a lot has changed and there are clear trends in their uses and applications in commercial games. You'll learn the key principles behind first- and second-generation behavior trees as they are currently used in games — and what challenges and opportunities this presents for your game's AI and scripting system.

Have you ever felt your team isn't performing at it's full potential? The reasons for this problem are rarely of a technical nature, and in this masterclass we will tackle some of the most common problems teams face in their daily routine. Examples include crunches, death marches, office drama, and designer-enforced vision. In this masterclass with Paul Reeves, you will learn to identify these challenges and how to overcome them.

In this masterclass with Will Wilson, Senior Programmer at Crytek, you'll learn about automatic distributed testing and how it can help AAA titles withstand large development teams working on them and not collapse under the weight of bugs! In particular, you'll hear about a system that was pioneered on CRYSIS 2 to help test the AI, gameplay and animation after every check in. You'll also hear Will share how this system is currently being used at Crytek on other projects, with 100s of consoles validating every move the team makes.

In this interview with Joan Parera, AI Programmer at Mercury Steam, you'll hear about the AI in the highly acclaimed combat adventure game CASTLEVANIA: LORD OF SHADOWS — a 3D reboot of the classic franchise. You'll hear about the AI decision-making for close combat, the animation and smart objects, as well as the underlying systems and special case AI algorithms used in the game.

What were some of the most important moments of 2011 for artificial intelligence in games? Which trends developed over the year, and how do they affect you? Join our editor-in-chief Alex Champandard for his summary of the year and predictions of what's to come!

This interview with Mike Robbins, Gameplay Engineer at Gas Powered Games, digs into the AGE OF EMPIRES codebase from an archaeological perspective! You'll find out how the AI works in the game, and the way the system is structured. Mike will also share the changes made to turn the game into a more online-friendly experience.

In this interview with Jesse Cluff, Senior AI Programmer at Relic Entertainment, you'll find out about the AI in the recent AAA-hit SPACE MARINE. In particular, you'll hear about the underlying behavior trees that power the enemies, and how they were coordinated into squads. Jesse will also share details about the tactical reasoning and cover pre-calculations.

In this interview with Andrew Woo, AI Programmer at Riot Games, you'll find out more about the behavior tree implementation in LEAGUE OF LEGENDS. You'll discover how a visual tool was used for the scripting and design of levels, and more!

As the end of this console generation approaches, it is becoming increasingly important to wring every last bit of performance out of available hardware. This masterclass with resident experts Philip Dunstan (formerly EA) and Matthew Jack (ex-Crytek) lifts the lid on the processing hardware of the Xbox 360 and PS3 and discusses the specific performance challenges faced when targeting these machines.

Cover selection sounds easy to implement, but in practice can be one of the most problematic features of modern AI. How can your AI find sensible hiding spots and make sure they remain good places to hide? In this tutorial, you'll find out about finding cover in general and how to make sure the code runs efficiently — including tactical pathfinding as a secret ingredient.

Chasing and evading are some of the most commonly used behaviors, with applications ranging from sports to combat games. In this masterclass, you'll learn different ways to build chase and evade behaviors, starting with a simple behavior and incrementally adding reasoning and decision-making features to the AI. At each step you'll see how simple changes can result in dramatic changes to the gameplay!

SECTION 8: PREJUDICE is an exciting and fast-pace FPS, with a strategic twist given the history of TimeGate Studios. The bots in the game are some of the most adaptive and challenging shipped in a game this year! In this interview with Denis Papp (CTO), you'll find out everything about the AI in the game, from their low-level utility-based behaviors to the high-level strategy.

In this live tutorial, you'll learn the basics of Game AI architecture thanks to in-game bugs caught on tape! Thanks to dozens of videos captured by players, you'll be able to understand the big picture behind the technology of modern game engines. After this, you'll finally be able to answer why the NPCs in your favorite game are behaving the way they do.

In this masterclass with Johan Hagelbäck, Ph.D. Researcher at lekinge Tekniska Högskola in Sweden, you'll hear about the AI Architecture developed at BTH specifically for the STARCRAFT: BROOD WAR competition. The bot is based on influence maps, and won one of the first preliminary S:BW contests at CIG 2010. Find out about the latest iterations in all its details, including its structure from the low-level squad behaviors to the high-level base building and upgrades planning.

Gone are the days of games with small level maps and a handful of NPCs. As games become more complex the requirements placed on the AI systems also grows significantly larger. Furthermore, AI techniques are increasingly being used in many other parts of the game engine, and the high levels of indirection that are common in AI code can be notoriously difficult to optimize.