Lesson 1: Introduction to Seagull AI in Crazy Tractor

Course Overview

In Crazy Tractor, seagulls play a pivotal role in challenging the player. These pesky birds spawn over time and move between waypoints across various fields, creating obstacles that the player must dodge while attempting to collect veggies. As the game progresses, more and more seagulls fill the screen, gradually increasing the difficulty and making it harder to navigate the map. This course will walk you through how the standard seagull AI works in Crazy Tractor, from spawning and waypoint navigation to the mechanics that make them a constant threat to players.

How Seagulls Work in Crazy Tractor

In Crazy Tractor, the seagulls aren't just random obstacles; they follow a structured AI that makes them move in a predictable yet challenging way. Let's break down how the seagull AI functions:

1. Spawning Mechanism:

   • Seagulls spawn periodically, adding a layer of difficulty to the gameplay. The longer you play, the more seagulls appear, creating an ever-increasing challenge.

2. Waypoint Navigation:

   • Each seagull is programmed to move from waypoint to waypoint across the map. These waypoints act as points of interest in the environment, and the seagulls follow a set path to move between them.

   • The waypoints are spaced out strategically to keep the seagulls in constant motion, making them a persistent threat as they move unpredictably across the screen.

3. Dodging and Player Interaction:

   • While the player is collecting veggies, they must also dodge the seagulls, who will often be in their way. As the game progresses, the number of seagulls increases, making navigation more difficult and requiring faster reflexes.

4. Increasing Difficulty:

   • Over time, the number of seagulls on the screen steadily rises. This ensures that the game maintains a sense of progression, where the player faces a greater challenge the longer they play.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you'll have a clear understanding of how the seagull AI works and how to implement similar systems in your own games. You’ll learn how to:

• Spawn AI entities at regular intervals.

• Make these entities follow predefined paths using waypoints.

• Increase the number of obstacles (seagulls) over time to ramp up difficulty.

• Create a dynamic, evolving environment that challenges the player and keeps them on their toes.