We are excited to announce that this weeks broadcast will feature Tarn Adams of Bay 12 Games, one of the masterminds behind the roguelike city building simulation DWARF FORTRESS. Learn how the world behind the ASCII interface is created and populated with dwarfs, creatures and mythology and about the simulation process which brings the world of DWARF FORTRESS to life.

In this interview with David Rosen from Wolfire Games we will take a look at the awesome procedural and physics based animations in the upcoming game OVERGROWTH. Learn how humanoid rabbits, wolves and other animals battle it out Kung-Fu style.

This interview with John Gibson will focus on the challenges of bringing a multitude of AI soliders to life in RED ORCHESTRA 2, a WW2 shooter known for realistic combat. Discover how a behavior tree was used to coordinate the crew of a tank, and implement its tactical behavior. Learn how the AI sends wave after wave of soldiers at you and how your bot comrades help in stopping them.

This interview features Alexis Kennedy from Failbetter games and we will talk about ECHO BAZAAR, an award winning game featuring procedural story generation. Find out how the underlying engine manages large quantities of text (more than the bible!) and uses storylet patterns to create a dynamic choose-your-own-adventure story.
WARNING, this event has been moved forward by two hours!

In this broadcast you will learn about the ground-breaking features that won Resistance 3 our own editor's pick award of "2011 Best AI in AAA Game". Together with Insomniacs' Jason Franklin and Adam Noonchester, you will hear about enemy coordination in the high level AI director-style logic, iteration with the level designers, the variation in enemy behaviors, and the jobboard tool that helped combine this all together.

Following up on last week's #AltDevConf presentation about the programming side of behavior trees, join us this weekend for a basic overview of BT design. As well as covering all your questions from the previous masterclass in more depth, You'll also be able to ask any question on the topic!

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!