A good writeup about the learning process of getting involved with AI. The author just got into AI A modern Approach, which is a book I highly recommend. When I find free time, I tend to work through that books exercises for a good challenge.
Author notes he has postponed showing the soccer game, in favor of developing the ai engine first.
I highly suggest getting the visual feedback component in place first. There's nothing as motivating as quickly seeing the effects of your latest changes.