We welcome submissions for presentations about AI techniques used in commercial games, ranging from independent games to AAA titles. Post-mortems and technology specific tutorials about R&D are also more than welcome, as well as participation for discussions and panels. Historically, sessions at the Game/AI Conference have been balanced between design and technology, and both are of course welcome in 2012.

Possible formats for talks include:

• 45- to 60-minute talks or tutorials.
• Topic-specific microtalks.

As a speaker, you get the following complimentary benefits:

1. PREMIUM Membership to AiGameDev.com.
2. Speaker Pass for the Conference itself!

All submissions are given feedback, whether or not they are accepted — as well as a little surprise for taking the time to submit! If your submission is approved by the Advisory Board, you’ll be informed about the next steps by emails and the team will work with you to make sure you deliver a talk you can be proud of.

» The deadline for the Industry Category is April 18th, 2012. Send an email to <events at AiGameDev.com> to submit your proposal!

The venue this year will be the University of Vienna, and it’s prestigious facilities near the 1st District. It’s not only the ideal location for a conference, but you can easily drop into the town center for lunch or coffee if you want variety in your networking opportunities!

Full details about the venue and the initial program will be announced in 2012. Stay tuned to the mailing list for more details:

Description: Making realistic looking crowds involves more than just picking an algorithm. How can designers and artists craft the overall behavior of the crowd and what tools should they use to do that?

Take Away: Find out what techniques you learn from the latest VFX toolchains used in films, and how their user interfaces can help create better looking crowds in games. Find out about the techniques behind Golaem’s new crowd product!

• Presenter: Simon Ellis
• Type: Presentation
• Time & Date: 11:00, Thursday 23rd.
• Duration: 15m

Description: The upcoming game from EgoSoft in the X Universe will feature large numbers of space ships flying around, which presented many challenges on the locomotion system’s implementation.

Take Away: Learn about the performance tricks that were applied behind the scenes to allow large numbers of spaceships to navigate efficiently.

Building on the incredible success of last year’s record-setting event, AiGameDev.com is proud to announce the program of the fourth annual Game/AI Conference in Paris, co-organized with the CNAM where the event is held. This year’s conference takes place on June 23rd and 24th 2011, following a symposium about Action/Combat Shooters on June 22nd. The schedule blends invited sessions from top AI developers from industry as well as tutorials, reviews and R&D oriented sessions.

The organizing committee consists of Petra & Alex Champandard from AiGameDev.com, Stephane Natkin from the CEDRIC lab, and Axel Buendia of the Paris-based middleware company Spir.Ops. The advisory board includes Phil Carlisle, Matthew Jack, Mikko Mononen, and William van der Sterren. We’d also like to thank all our sponsors for the event: Autodesk, Havok, Namaste and Spir.Ops.

If you’re one of the few still looking for reasons to attend, here’s the full schedule for those three days! Until June 3rd, tickets will be available in the store for 96€ (for Silver) and 192€ (for Gold). If you’re a student and want one of the last few Bronze tickets (at 48€) then email us ASAP at <billing at AiGameDev.com>.

1. Keynotes & Invited Talks

2. Featured Game Presentations

3. Topic-Specific Tutorials

4. Posters & Demos

5. Combat/Shooter Symposium

6. Networking Opportunities

IMPORTANT: The ticket prices will increase to their full price (150€ for Silver and 250€ for Gold) after June 3rd, once the bonus Pens, T-Shirts and schedules are sent to the printers.

Keynotes & Invited Talks

TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2 by Ingimar Gudmundsson

TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2 is a strategy computer game developed by The Creative Assembly. This latest iteration in the series has focused heavily on its AI, and the game is receiving acclaim for its revamped battle AI.

DARKSPORE by Dan Kline

In the tradition of its developer Maxis, DARK SPORE is an innovative RPG game that features some radical AI design. In particular, the game uses an AI Director to help control the gameplay experience for the players of varying skill.

BACKBREAKER by Torsten Reil

BACKBREAKER is an American football game that features realistic physically simulated tackles that make you feel every hit and blow. It uses Natural Motion’s Euphoria, a game animation engine that generates motion on the fly based on physical simulation of a character’s muscles.

Features Game Presentations

KILLZONE 3 by Mikko Mononen

The fourth installment in this science fiction epic, KILLZONE 3 continues where its predecessor left off. Guerrilla Games has a history of investing in its AI technology for both single player and multiplayer, but this edition of the game takes it further by leveraging traditionally AI techniques to improve the player locomotion and controls.

NASCAR, THE GAME 2011 by Neil Henning

NASCAR races have forty-three cars racing in tight packs around the tracks, and Eutechnyx set out from the start to create a realistic experience where drivers have distinctive personalities and race just like their real life counterparts. Optimizing that game to run smoothly on modern consoles, particularly the PS3, was quite a challenge!

PROM WEEK by Mike Treanor

PROM WEEK is an innovative AI-based social game developed by Expressive Intelligence studio and Michael Mateas, creator of Facade. The game features groundbreaking gameplay with puzzles based on emotions and traits of characters preparing for a high-school prom.

CRYSIS 2 by Sven van Soom

The next iteration of Crytek’s sandbox shooter, set in New York, combines the incredible technology of CryEngine 3 along with the trademark gameplay that defines the series. In particular, you’ll hear about the animation technology under the hood and how it’s used by the AI.

GREED CORP by Giliam de Carpentier

Greed Corp is a turn-based strategy game which focuses on strategic battles on a map featuring a land collapsing mechanic. Players choose one of four factions (Freemen, Pirates, Cartel, Empire) in matches of around 20 minutes.

SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT by Axel Buendia

Developed by Ubisoft along with Spir.Ops’ drive-oriented behavior system, SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT features bots that you can play against competitively in multiplayer mode. Find out how these were implemented using a utility system in practice.

LOVE (MMO) by Eskil Steenberg

LOVE is an ambitious and stylish MMO game that features entirely procedurally generated planets. The world is inhabited by tribes of AI characters which can be hostile or friendly towards the player, and built up their own settlements autonomously.

Topic-Specific Tutorials

Spread over the two days, there’ll be topic-specific tutorials to inspire you and give you insights into different topics that you didn’t necessarily know about! These will be given by researchers, professional developers, and academics.

Applying Reactive Planning Idioms to Behavior Trees

Ben Weber will explain the best ideas from behavior languages such as ABL, for example applied to a Starcraft bot, to improve the design of your own BTs.

Data-Mining Techniques Applied to Games

Georgios Yannakakis will show you different examples of how data-mining can be successfully applied to extract patterns from game data.

Procedural Generation for Games

Julian Togelius will demonstrate some procedurally generated game levels and the underlying techniques you can apply to your own games.

The Next-Generation of Game Planners

Luke Dicken will dig into a wide variety of planning techniques used in research and other domains, and analyse their suitable.

Rapid AI Development with C++

Matthew Jack and Doug Binks will show a working prototype for dynamically reloading game code (and BTs) written in C++, as if it was a script!

The Future of Deliberative Decision Making

This panel will discuss the current state of GOAP (Goal-Oriented Action Planning) in the games industry, and where we can go from here.

You’ll also get the chance to attend technical talks about the pathfinding technology behind Autodesk Kynapse, and the animation systems in Havok Behavior.

Posters & Demos

On the 22nd in the evening, from 19:00 onwards, there’ll be a poster and demonstration session along side the early registration for the event. You’ll be able to see what Master’s students and Ph.D. candidates have been working on!

• Using Fuzzy Logic for Realistic Managerial Decisions in Football Games
  by David Asboth
• A Bayesian Approach to Micro-management in RTS Games
  by Gabriel Synnaeve
• Situational Awareness and Emotional State with FAtiMA
  by Paulo F. Gomes
• Procedural Generation of Side Quests via Responsive NPC Design
  by John Grey
• Emergent Behaviour Generation using Predictive Action Merging
  by Micah Rosenkind
• Adaptive Formations for Tactical Teams
  by Tomas Plch
• StarPlanner: Demonstrating a Goal-Oriented Action Planning for RTS
  by Panagiotis Peikidis

Shooter Symposium

On the 22nd, the Paris Shooter Symposium will bring together the leading action/combat/shooter developers from around the world — including People Can Fly, Ubisoft, IO Interactive, Splash Damage, Guerrilla Games, etc. The day is split into four parts, each containing intense micro-talks about lessons learned from recent AAA hits or upcoming games:

1. Mid-Morning — Animation, Locomotion

2. Late Morning — Behavior Logic

3. Early Afternoon — Combat Reasoning

4. Mid-Afternoon — Authoring & Scripting

Note that it’s a standalone event in a different amphitheatre, and you need a separate ticket for that; it costs 384€ and there are less than a dozen seats left!

BULLETSTORM

The most recently released game by People Can Fly will be covered during the Symposium too. The game has some great challenges and you’ll hear about the solutions that the developers used!

BRINK

You’ll also hear about the innovative multiplayer shooter from Splash Damage, and all the work that went into the bots for the game!

HITMAN 5

The latest game from IO Interactive has only just been announced, but you’ll hear all about the behavior tree implementation, tools and script integration.

GHOST RECON

The team from Ubisoft Paris will be present and explain some of the details about their upcoming shooter in the Tom Clancy series.

CRYSIS 2

The latest game from Crytek will be discussed in depth at the Symposium, including details about the AI and its integration with other systems.

Networking Opportunities

Last but not least, there’s the networking. With the majority of the leading studios in Europe attending and sending multiple developers, there’s no better place to look for opportunities! Over the course of the two days of the Game/AI Conference and the Shooter Symposium Day, there’ll be multiple coffee pauses and lunch breaks that will give you the chance to socialize.

There’ll be a set of organized events as well:

• June 21st, Shooter Symposium Mixer. 20:00-LATE.
• June 22nd, Welcome Reception. 19:00-22:00.
• June 23rd, Official Party. 19:00-LATE.
• June 24th, PREMIUM V.I.P. Dinner. 20:00-LATE.

Many of the leading developers from the games industry, programmers from related fields like serious games and simulation will attend the Paris Game/AI Conference (it’s the largest in the field, worldwide) so be sure to bring your business cards!

Now What?

If you haven’t got your ticket yet, best secure your seat now!

1. Silver Tickets at 96€ (full price 150€).

2. Gold Tickets at 192€ (full price 250€).

3. Shooter Symposium Tickets at 384€ (full price 450€).

4. Bronze Tickets at 48€ for students only, email us!

For group purchases, also contact us directly at at <billing at AiGameDev.com>.

IMPORTANT: Prices for the tickets will increase to their full amount after June 3rd. You’ll still be able to purchase them online until a week before, and on-site of course.

If you have your tickets already, then start networking with other attendees to prepare the event!

• LinkedIn Event
• Twitter Account
• Facebook Page

We’ll also be posting a reading list for those of you overly very keen to prepare; you know who you are. Even if you don’t read it, hopefully we’ll see you in Paris!

Curious about procedural generation, data-mining and AI directors? Want to know how AAA games automatically extract cover locations from worlds? Interested in physics-based animation in BACKBREAKER and Euphoria, or the battle AI in TOTAL WAR?

Here’s your chance to spend two days with some of the best Game/AI developers worldwide, including the studios behind KILLZONE 3, DARK SPORE, HITMAN 5, BRINK, SPLINTER CELL, CRYSIS 2 — and many more.

The Paris Game/AI Conference is the leading event dedicated to artificial intelligence, character animation and gameplay, organized by AiGameDev.com — the largest online hub of #gamedev and #AI.

The conference brings together a passionate community of developers (almost 300 people) from around the world every year, and in 2011 will take place on June 23rd and 24th.

In particular, you’ll hear:

• 7 (seven) AAA titles, including DARK SPORE, TOTAL WAR, KILLZONE 3, CRYSIS 2, BACKBREAKER…
• 4 (four) indie games, specifically GREED CORP, LOVE (the MMO), PROM WEEK and X-REBIRTH.
• 8 (eight) tutorials, covering topics such as procedural generation, goal-oriented planners and behavior trees.

Of course, there are also the poster sessions where you’ll find out about promising research being done in the field.

Q: I’m interested in AI & games. Why should I attend?

“It was by far the most inspiring work-related event I’ve ever been to.”
— Remco Straatman, Lead AI Programmer, Guerrilla Games.

As you can tell from the line-up, the conference is run by developers, for developers. You’ll hear from experts and veteran developers on stage, and among the attendees you’ll meet equally many experienced programmers from the trenches of the games industry.

Basically you’ll meet other passionate developers from the trenches — not publishers, journalists, or managers. Whether you’re looking for friendly conversations with your peers in the games industry, or for opportunities to get into the domain, you’re in the right place!

Q: The program looks amazing! How much does it cost?

“This event was the real deal: cutting edge talks & experienced speakers.”
— Mieszko Zielinski, AI Programmer, People Can Fly.

The conference Silver Tickets are currently available for 96 EUR which gives you complete access to both days of the conference (23rd and 24th). If you want the online recordings afterwards and a conference T-Shirt, then you can get a Gold Ticket for 192 EUR.

If you’re a student, we have limited tickets available for only 48 EUR. To secure yours, you can contact us by email <billing at AiGameDev.com> from your university email address.

Q: Sounds like a good deal… What’s the catch?

There are a limited number of places and you will have to get your own lunch! That aside, there’s no catch. The event is organized by people & speakers who are genuinely passionate about their topic. We “sold-out” for the last two years and found that this model works very well — even better than the most expensive conferences — to the benefit of everyone in the game AI community!

Description: Matthew Jack and Doug Binks will show a working prototype for dynamically reloading game code (and BTs) written in C++, as if it was a script!

Description: Procedural generation is a simple and effective way to add more variety to games and increase the quantity of levels available for players. It’s proved to be a particularly good option for independent and casual games, as well as some AAA games too!

Take Away: In this tutorial, you’ll find out about the most promising research techniques to generate worlds, levels and maps procedurally so they aren’t just random but fun to play! Julian will also show some examples from different games and levels generated.