Starting something new is always daunting. But also, exciting!
After nearly two decades of building AI systems for games, I’ve decided it’s time to establish my own little spot on the internet, where I can share what I’ve learned along the way.
I’m Daniel Brewer, and I’ve spent the last 18 years working as a Lead AI Programmer in the games industry. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to speak at GDC thirteen times and contribute articles to the Game AI Pro series, but I’ve always wanted a space to dig deeper into the topics that fascinate me.
Why Now?
Game AI is evolving faster than ever. The techniques we use, the problems we solve, and the expectations players have are all changing. I’ve learned so much from the game development community over the years—through conference talks, late-night debugging sessions with colleagues, and countless conversations at GDC. This blog is my way of giving back.
Plus, there are just too many interesting problems and solutions that never make it into a 30-minute conference talk or a book chapter. The messy bits. The failures that taught us something valuable. The weird tricks that shouldn’t work but somehow do.
What to Expect
This won’t be a highly polished, marketing-approved corporate blog. Instead, expect:
- Deep dives into game AI techniques – Navigation, behavior systems, procedural content, performance optimization, and the occasional rant about things that frustrate AI programmers
- War stories from the trenches – Real examples from shipped games, including what worked, what failed spectacularly, and what we’d do differently
- Practical advice – Code snippets, implementation details, and architectural patterns that you can actually use
- Honest takes – The game industry loves to showcase successes, but we learn more from failures. I’ll share both.
I’ll try to keep posts accessible whether you’re a veteran AI programmer or just getting started in game development. When things get technical, I’ll explain the fundamentals first.
Let’s Stay in Touch
If this sounds interesting, subscribe to the newsletter. I’m aiming to publish something new every few weeks—no spam, no fluff, just the stuff I wish someone had told me when I was starting out.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to reach out if there’s a topic you’d like me to cover.
– Daniel
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on this website are my own and do not reflect those of my employer or any affiliated organizations.