Learn Advanced AI For Games With Behaviour Trees

Behavior Trees (BTs) are an A.I. architecture that provides game characters with the ability to select behaviors and carry them out, through a tree-like architecture that defines simple but powerful logic operations.  It can be used across a wide range of game genres from first-person shooters to real-time strategies and developing intelligent characters capable of making smart decisions.   The codebase is deceptively simple and yet logical, reusable, and extremely powerful.  However, the library is written in C# and implemented in Unity 2020, however will easily port to other applications.

In this course, Penny demystifies the advanced A.I. technique of BTs used for creating believable and intelligent game characters in games, using her internationally acclaimed teaching style and knowledge from almost 30 years working with games, graphics, and has written two award-winning books on games AI. Throughout, you will follow along with hands-on workshops designed to take you through every step of putting together your own BT API.  You will build the entire BT library from the ground up, while building an art gallery simulation scenario in parallel, to test the API as you go.

Learn how to program and work with:

• A Behaviour Tree Library and API that’s reusable across a wide range of game projects.
• Tree architectures, nodes, leaves, sequences, and selectors define the behavior of individual non-player characters (NPCs).
• Navigation Meshes and Agents that provide advanced path planning and navigation capabilities for characters.
• A Blackboard System acts as a global inventory for world states and allows characters to communicate.

Contents and Overview

Throughout the course, you will follow along while a BT library and API are constructed from the ground up, to allow you intimate knowledge of the codebase.  Alongside this, a simple art gallery simulation will be constructed to test out the functionality of the library as it is put together.  The simulation will also rely on Unity’s NavMesh System for navigation and path planning.

The course begins with an overview of Behaviour Trees and covers all the fundamental elements (including trees, nodes, leaves, sequences, selectors, and other logical constructs). Code will be developed to navigate the Behaviour Tree and used to drive non-player characters in the art gallery including a robber, cop, visitors, and workers. Throughout this, students will gain a solid knowledge of how Behaviour Trees are constructed and traversed to apply actions to game characters.