Games Artificial Intelligence

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If you are have a computing background this games artificial intelligence (AI) masters course equips you with cutting-edge knowledge and skills to develop intelligent software for the computer games industry.
You explore advanced techniques for the next generation of computer games by drawing on the expertise of our internationally renowned research within games AI. As well as the taught modules, you undertake a practical project that may involve working with a client company or within a research team with a successful history of industrial collaboration projects.

Current active researchers in the field of games AI teach you a range of advanced techniques to tackle today's issues in computer games development, such as:

* automatically generating game levels
* compelling behaviours for non-player characters
* dynamic plot systems for controlling the evolution of interactive stories
* designing and evaluating intelligent and natural player-interaction mechanisms
* integrating AI techniques into industry-standard games engines.

What you study
You study a wide range of advanced AI topics which are crucial for developing cutting-edge computer games. Topics range across procedural content generation, believable characters, interactive storytelling or multimodal interfaces, and also how to integrate these AI techniques into the latest computer game engines. Traditional AI problems such as symbolic reasoning, knowledge representation and planning are tackled from a game development perspective relevant across the scope of current games from social and casual games to interactive narratives and fast action-paced game.

How you learn
You learn through lectures and tutorials. Lectures provide you with specific theoretical information related to the subject, while accompanying tutorials focus on developing practical skills and working on assessments. We also use tutorial sessions to provide feedback and advice.
Self-directed study and teamwork are important parts of the learning strategy and in developing your critical skills. Reflecting on your own work and the work of others is key to successful problem solving as you test and assess your solutions against criteria that you develop in the light of your research. Where necessary we offer further support through online extra learning material.

How you are assessed
You are assessed in a variety of ways from academic reports, including state-of-the-art surveys, to software you build individually or as a member of a team. Deliverables may be accompanied by critical commentaries reflecting on your work and the work of others. This can take the form of a final presentation, final report or an online diary where you regularly provide updates of your progress. We provide ongoing feedback on your coursework during class or online.

Career opportunities
The UK computer games sector is very dynamic in fact its one of the fastest growing sectors in the worldwide entertainment industry. The combination of cutting-edge research with current industry practice prepares you for a career as a games AI specialist or to undertake advanced research within this field.

Core modules
* AI Integration in Games Engines
* Contemporary AI Planning
* Intelligent Multimodal Interaction
* Masters Project: Games AI
* Planning Applications for Interactive Entertainment
* Probabilistic Reasoning for Games
* Symbolic AI for Games

Modules offered may vary.

Postgraduate funding support
From September 2013 benefit from a 10% fees discount towards your postgraduate taught course (part-time or full-time) if you:

* are a continuing Teesside University student progressing from an undergraduate to postgraduate course or
* have graduated from an undergraduate course at Teesside University within the last two years (2011-12) or
* graduated with first-class honours from an undergraduate course at any other university within the last two years (2011-12)