New Backer & Funding Goals Announced for Goal State

The more people backing Goal State, the more content we release on AI and Games!

Goal State went live on Kickstarter on November 15th, with the goal to raise over £25K to fund a new avenue of content and material from AI and Games. We’ve raised our initial funding target, and now we’re in the closing 2 weeks of funding. So let’s see just how many stretch goals we can unlock.

I previously announced the initial round of additional goals, the Funding Goals: the more money we raise, the more content that comes to the course. But today, we’re also announcing the Backer Goals. The more people that pledge to Goal State, the more content we unlock for everyone.

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Stretch Goals: Tutorials & Deep-Dives

Our stretch goals are broken down into different types of content, with different ways to unlock it.

• Stretch Goal Types:

  • Course Content: If unlocked, then anyone who has supported Goal State with a ‘course access’ reward will receive these as part of their pledge.

  • Public Content: If unlocked, this will be available for free either on the Goal State YouTube channel, or on the AI and Games YouTube channel.

• How We Unlock Stretch Goals:

  • Funding Goals: The more money we raise, the more course content we’ll make!

  • Backer Goals: The more people who back Goal State, will create more content released for free!

Tutorials [Course Backers]

Adding practical tasks for people who participate in the course. This involves implementing AI in commercial game engines and showing how we can use it in a variety of situations. Our tutorial stretch goals will be available to all Kickstarter backers who pledge with the ‘course access’ reward (‘Goal State’ tier or higher).

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Source Code Deep-Dives [Public]

Over the years I’ve made episodes of AI and Games by taking a look under the hood of classic games. Explaining the inner workings of games like DOOM, Half-Life, Command & Conquer, Super Mario 64, F.E.A.R. and many more. But for this stretch goal, we’re going to go deeper! Feature-length deep dives into the codebase that covers the same information we’ve covered in brief on AI and Games, but now in much more detail.

These will be integrated into the Game AI 101 course on Goal State, but will also be made available publicly on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.

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New Courses [Course Content]

A distant stretch goal for sure, but if we receive sufficient funding, we will add a second course for Goal State backers. Machine Learning for Games 101. This will be based on my most popular professional training course I run with games studios. More on this if we get a little closer to that goal!

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AI and Games Episodes [Public]

Of course for the long-time followers of AI and Games, what you’ve come to expect is video essays digging into the workings of many a popular game. Some of the topics we’ve proposed for the Source Code Deep Dives have never been covered on AI and Games before, so what better an opportunity to take the plunge and make them a reality!

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Announcing Funding & Backer Goals

Alrighty, enough pre-amble, let’s get into it!

Funding Goals: Tutorials & Courses

As we’ve mentioned previously, many of our stretch goals are about adding content to the Goal State course. If you pledge to access the course, you will get any content we add. Right now we have four main content additions:

• £31,000: Tutorials in the Unity Engine

• £37,000: Tutorials in the Unreal Engine

• £43,000: Tutorials in the Godot Engine

• £65,000: Machine Learning for Games 101

Plus there are two source code deep-dives that are in the funding goals. One for F.E.A.R. and the other for Diablo. These will be made publicly available on the Goal State YouTube channel if funded. Plus a dedicated episode of Diablo on AI and Games.

Backer Goals: Free YouTube Content

Our Backer Goals are designed so that the more people who back Goal State, be it for £1, £10, or £1000 (I know I’d prefer the latter), the more content we release publicly for everyone on YouTube. Let’s break it down:

£31,000: Tutorials in the Unity Engine

• 250 backers: DOOM

  • Feature-length deep dive on the Goal State YouTube channel.

• 275 backers: Quake III Arena

  • Video essay on the AI and Games YouTube channel.

  • Feature-length deep dive on the Goal State YouTube channel.

• 300 backers: Half-Life

  • Feature-length deep dive on the Goal State YouTube channel.

• 350 backers: Command and Conquer

  • Feature-length deep dive on the Goal State YouTube channel.

• 400 backers: Half-Life 2

  • Video essay on the AI and Games YouTube channel.

  • Feature-length deep dive on the Goal State YouTube channel.

• 500 backers: Alien Isolation - The Final Analysis

  • Video essay on the AI and Games YouTube channel.

  • Feature-length deep dive on the Goal State YouTube channel.

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Key Facts and Links

• Where’s the Kickstarter at?

  • Linked to here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aiandgames/goalstate

• When does it end?

  • We close funding on 15th December 2024.

Thanks once again to everyone who has supported Goal State, and I look forward to checking in with you when the dust settles.