A. I. Gaming Projects

Games. Why are games so much fun? How is it that people can actually become addicted to games? Well, perhaps one answer is that they challenge our minds, to think, calculate, to be cleaver, sneaky and even a little deceitful. They don't need to be complicated, and even simple games such as Tic-Tac-Toe, Nim, or puzzles like the 8-Puzzle, 15-Puzzle, and N-Queens can be challenging at start. From there, games like sudoku, chess, backgammon, and go are difficult enough that it takes years to master. Nearly all games require some level of pattern-recognition, planning, compromising, judging of alternate moves, and of course, learning from experience.

Games are a playing field for development of A. I. ideas, and it is through games that many advances have been made.

One game that I think has much to offer for people interested in this area, but who also are in need of (but not interested in implementing) amazing graphics, is Unreal Tournament 3, Collector's edition.

If you're not a professional game company, but looking to get into game development, one way you can get experience is with the UT3 engine and tools. Just pick up a copy of the Windows version of Unreal Tournament 3 which includes the Unreal Engine 3 Tool Set. You could then build a mod for UT3, which can be freely distributed, to demonstrate your A. I. skills and ideas.

If you want to go professional you might be able to use that mod to attract a publisher to finance your engine license and distribute you game.

The Collector's Edition of Unreal Tournament 3 includes over 20 hours of video training modules to help get you started learning the engine. The non-collector's edition also includes the tools, but not the 20 hours of video instruction for them.

By the way - if you're going to make mods for UT3 you might want to consider entering them in the $1,000,000 Intel Make Something Unreal Contest which has recently been announced. See the  website for more information. The first phase of judging starts at the end of June but there are four phases over a two year period so there is plenty of time to learn the tools and get in on the fun!

You can also check out the Amazon exclusive UT3 developer interview with Jeff Morris on  Amazon.com.

Anybody interested in forming a group to work on this as a project, please register and express an interest by emailing me <nima at autonomy dot net dot au>.