Hi all While I'm reading in "AI Game Engine Programming" I faced an interesting point in Genetic Algorithms (GA) Chapter Page 499. Brain said that one of the extensions to GA is Co-evolution and also he said that "this extension is very useful in RTS Civilizations that wage war on each other in the most efficient means given the specific groups" My questions are: - What is RTS Civilizations and what's the difference between RTS Games and RTS Civilizations? - How co-evolution is used in RTS Civilizations? (I understand co-evolution but can't understand how it's used there) Thanks in advance :) Abdelrahman

Civilizations (in the RTS game's theme) built via co-evolution process ...


Sound like talking about measures/countermeasures that exist (developed as the storyline goes) to maintain a balance between sides involved. You dont have much of a war if the opposing weapons are too imbalanced (one side wipes the other out...)


The problem with GAs is that the programmer has to define the factors (the program has no imagination/ability to come up with flavors). In cases like that if a GA is to be used then something like incremental differences in effectiveness are shifted for the 'weapons' involved and the counters to those weapons.

Game mechanics balancing is usually a complicated process (enough tests for most possible game situations have to be evaluated) which would not be easily done in-game but would be preprocessed by the game maker who would then supply the balanced scenarios. GAs would be one method of searching thru the combinatorics and adjustments needed to find these balanced scenarios.

@wodinoneeye, Thanks for your reply. So
- Civilizations (in the RTS game's theme): is a situation where imbalance occurs in a game because one of the sides destroyed the other
* Consequences of that definition: the imbalance occurs ONLY by the other opponent

- GA role: get back balance to the game
- How GA do it work here: by adjusting factors in some attributes of the weak opponent (i.e. weapons damage, gathering resources rate) so balance get back to the game
* Consequences of that definition: GA alters ONLY the weak opponent attributes not the strong (i.e. it could alter strong by lessening its resource gathering rate)

Is that right?
Thanks wodinoneeye :)

Abdelrahman