EDIT: News & infos ------------------------------------------------------------------ Hi! Have you ever wanted to build a good AI? a good AI that could challenge other AIs? This is the aim of this contest! Based on a java framework, a mini game simulation, you'll be able to program your own AI (in java) with a broad variety of techniques (novices as well as experts can find their interest in it). Once the AIs will be made, they will compete against each other and the one which performs the best wins! interested? Then continue reading... The subject is... Racing! Half way between classic car races and frictionless space ship motions, you'll have to program the best AI you can. What makes this race different from the others is the frictionless motion of ships: once a ship moves, it continues to drift away until it accelerates in the opposite direction, like in asteroids game. And the same applies also to angular velocity/acceleration. Managing good curves and overtaking others become really a tricky challenge. On the other hand, they are also a bit like usual car races because of the (angular) velocity limits. The track to follow is simply represented as a serie of of gates, where each gate is made of two "beacons", where ship must pass through as quick as possible. As you've guessed, the aim of this contest is to make the best pilot AI. In the end, all these AIs will compete against each other on various tracks and using various ship parameters. (Details will be set later depending on the number of entries.) Now you can: -watch the demo applet -download the framework -browse the javadoc -look at a race test and pilot AI example -read "first thoughts" about how to make the AI I tried to keep the framework and the way to use it as simple as possible. I hope you appreciate the way it is done. The framework will be updated soon to provide more test tracks, fix eventual minor bugs and, most important, two other mini AI examples. Simple rules, simple framework and a universe of complexity: enjoy! Vital informations ------------------ programming language: java start date: monday 15th november deadline: sunday 5th december recommended level: anyone rules: -Any freely available library / API / code can be used. -You can work alone or in groups -Sources must be submitted. -java version 1.5 will be used for testing Once ended, we encourage the winner to write a brief article explaining his work afterwards for everyone to read. To have more people competing, a variety of communities have been contacted: ai-depot.com ai-junkie.com flipcode.com gamedev.net generation5.org javagaming.org [Edited by - misterX on November 29, 2004 5:00:41 AM]

-= News and updates =-

Applet bug fixed, it should work fine for everyone now.
Link for the javadoc corrected. (http://ece.fsa.ucl.ac.be/adagneli/aicontest/docs/)

[Edited by - misterX on November 16, 2004 4:30:46 AM]

how r u going to stop ppl from cheating and just setting waypoints or step by step instructions to their vehicles?

Don't worry, the framework is secure. There is no way to modify the internal data of a race. Moreover, the sources must be submitted.
That's for security. Besides of this, i don't understand what you mean by cheating when setting waypoints and "step by step instructions" (?!)

i meanif the track is always the same one that was posted on that link, i person could just make waypoints at each corner, beause they would know they're positions

1. No matter if you're on the test track or an unknown track, you can create a set of waypoints. Either in the init() method or dynamically. And using waypoints is just common sense, that's not cheating, how would a ship navigate if it wouldn't know where to go?! In the AI example, the ship targets the center of the gates, these can be considered as waypoints.

2. Of course it's not the only track that will be used! I quote myself :P

Quote:
In the end, all these AIs will compete against each other on various tracks and using various ship parameters.

Moreover, i'll provide some additional tracks on Monday. But you can also build your own tracks very easely using 'new Track(*coordinates*)'!

What is the prize for winning? Who is sponsoring this contest and who do I turn submission into?

hi,
sorry for the bad news but there is no sponsorship nor prizes (the winner will be mentioned here, that's all). This is just a personnal initiative after all, just for fun if you want. :)
And i'll be responsible for testing the AIs, so submissions will be sent to me. (adagneli@student.info.ucl.ac.be)
cheers