Yes, you read that headline correctly. You can not only learn to code by building a bot that plays Rocket League, but you can also win $2000 if you enter the Skillquest tournament.
Disclaimer: The founder of SkillQuest is a personal friend of mine, and I'm so excited about what they are doing over there that I'm promoting this completely free.
Wait, What is Rocket League?
Rocket League is a "soccer" game played with vehicles, and it's complete mayhem. It's incredibly popular, and the only reason I'm even including this section is in case my grandmother is reading this, because I'm sure you already know about it. I've also embedded a video just in case she wants to learn more about it, but for the rest of you, skip down to the good stuff.
Okay, So What Is Skillquest?
Skillquest is a startup company that is trying to help teach people to code by building AI bots, apps, and plugins for video games that help develop their programming skills with the goal to help further a career in coding.
They have a number of offerings, but their most interesting course IMO is their Rocket League bot programming course, which is the focus of this competition. You'll learn how to program with a video course that teaches you every step of the way, all the way from Hello World to actually programming an AI bot that controls the cars in Rocket League, and eventually competes for the grand prize in the tournament.
I was a programmer for years before starting How-To Geek, and I reviewed this entire course personally---it's pretty great stuff. Corbin teaches you the fundamentals of programming by showing how each different operation can help your bot do different things. You don't have to learn a ton of boring things up front, you learn as you go along.
And I Can Win $2000?
That's right. Here's how it's going to work:
- You have from when you purchase the course until August 1st to program your bot.
- The tournament will happen on August 2nd.
- The tournament will be streamed on Twitch by some major broadcasters (names have not been announced yet).
- There will be weekly "scrims" so that competitors can practice and learn from each other.
- Competitors will have access to an online community of professional software engineers and bot builders to ask questions and gain mentorship.
It's also worth noting that Skillquest has what they call a "show your work guarantee" so that if people don't like the course after they complete it, they'll get their money back.
There are a limited number of spots, so you should definitely sign up and check it out.