In this paper we use the popular card game
Dominion as a complex test-bed for the generation of interesting
and balanced game rules. Dominion is a trading-card-like game
where each card type represents a different game mechanic.
Each playthrough only features ten different cards, the selection
of which can form a new game each time. We compare and
analyse three different agents that are capable of playing
Dominion on different skill levels and use three different
fitness functions to generate balanced card sets. Results reveal
that there are particular cards of the game that lead to
balanced games independently of player skill and behaviour.
The approach taken could be used to balance other games with
decomposable game mechanics
Paper
Spicing up map generation
We describe a search-based map generator for the classic
real-time strategy game Dune 2. The generator is capable of creating
playable maps in seconds, which can be used with a partial recreation of
Dune 2 that has been implemented using the Strategy Game Description
Language. Map genotypes are represented as low-resolution matrices,
which are then converted to higher-resolution maps through a stochastic
process involving cellular automata. Map phenotypes are evaluated using
a set of heuristics based on the gameplay requirements of Dune 2.
Paper: evo* 2011
Für Interessierte, das Paper, dass ich in Turin vorstellen durfte:
Towards Procedural Strategy Game Generation: Evolving Complementary Unit Types Tobias Mahlmann, Julian Togelius, Georgios N. Yannakakis
Paper: CIG 2010
Im Oktober findet die IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG) 2010 an der ITU statt. Dort werden u.a. zwei Paper, an denen ich beteiligt war, veröffentlicht. Wer sich dafür interessiert, kann sie über die Links unten herunterladen.
The IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG) 2010 will be held at ITU this August. In the proceedings of the conference are two papers I’m affiliated with. If you’re interested in reading them feel free to download them from the links below.