Programming Contest

[Saber Cherry]

I'm thinking of having some sort of programming contest... but I'm not really sure what to do. So, a poll is in order!

[Saber Cherry]

If many people are interested, and the contest is Dominions II related, it would be neat if the devs could step in with a real problem, the solution of which is useful to the game...

Like, for example, a module that best determines AI troop choice, or something along those lines.

[Endoperez]

I WOULD like to be of help here, but my skills are very low... Java I can write won't do you any good, yet. I'm still studying, though, so I might be able to help later.

[Saber Cherry]

Hmmm...

That's a bigger response than I anticipated, though the gap between "wanting to do" and "doing" is always substantial.

So - are there any suggestions? Some examples:

A system of assuring leader names are not duplicated until all names are used?

A small algorithm that quantifies the power of a single unit? (In other words, it uses the unit's stats, and deterministically generates a number that represents the "threat rating" of the unit. My combat sim is slow and nondeterministic, as it uses pseudorandom simulation. Such a function would be crucial in AI prioritizing and targetting.)

A search-path module that produces an optimal site-finding path for a mage in friendly territory, accounting for movement speed, search status, provincial site richness (e.g., mountain vs farmland) in different terrain types?

A scripting language for the Dominions II strategic AI? If the devs could somehow enable AI modding, a competition for the best strat AI for a given nation would be awesome=) The quantification would be in running multiple all-AI games and counting wins.

Ideally, a winner would have to be correct (or else, the most correct, for hard problems), and some sort of quantification would be needed to select the best of the correct solutions. For example, runtime and code size can be useful. Thus, a problem whose solution's quality can be quantified is always good.

-Cherry

[Pocus]

you restrict the contest to C, C++ and Java ???

[PhilD]

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:

A scripting language for the Dominions II strategic AI? If the devs could somehow enable AI modding, a competition for the best strat AI for a given nation would be awesome=) The quantification would be in running multiple all-AI games and counting wins.

-Cherry

Can you make pure-AI games now? I admit I never even tried... (since you cannot even look at an AI's screen, it's not that useful, but...)

[Saber Cherry]

Originally posted by Pocus:
you restrict the contest to C, C++ and Java ???

No! There was an option 4, "Other: Explain." And there's also the possibility of scripting in a non-language, in which case, scripting commands and an interpreter would be needed. Some possible problems could have an answer in the form of an equation or non-specific algorithm, though in order to be scored, raw algorithms would need to be implimented.

I don't want to list every language known... if you have another preference, speak up! =)

[Saber Cherry]

Originally posted by PhilD:
Can you make pure-AI games now? I admit I never even tried... (since you cannot even look at an AI's screen, it's not that useful, but...)

You can make a map with 16 AIs and script a human onto a disconnected island with 150 province defense... then run to completion.

[Saber Cherry]

This is just a preliminary idea. Please post any criticism or suggestions! If you don't understand, ask; I promise it's not very confusing or difficult, once you grasp the concept. So, also, please don't be overwhelmed!

OTOH, if you think it's so complex that you won't participate, but you WOULD participate if it was simpler, please say so! You can PM me if you want=)

OK, well, so far nobody has suggested a problem, so I'll propose one. To make it language-independant, all I/O will be handled with text files.

Problem: Determine the best path for a mage to search friendly provinces. Yes, this is harder than it sounds to make optimal. But it is not very difficult to make a working solution, even though the description below may seem difficult.

Input:

1) a .txt file that is a simplified map file. The format will be something like this:

#provinces 3

#terrain 0 3 1
#searched 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0
#found 0 1
#friendly 0

#terrain 1 1 2
#friendly 1

#terrain 2 0
#friendly 2

#neighbor 0 1
#neighbor 1 2

It's identical to a map file, except you ignore every command except #terrain and #neighbor. Also, 4 new commands are added, #searched, #found, and #friendly, and #provinces.

The syntax:

#terrain x a1 a2 a3...
means "Province X has terrain type a1, a2, and a3". Terrain types are listed later.
#found x y
means y sites have already been found in province x
#searched x fire air earth water astral death nature blood holy unholy
means the province was already searched in those paths to the specified level. If a province was already searched in any path, all 10 paths will be specified (so there are always 11 numbers after #searched)
#friendly x
means province x is friendly (your mage can only go to friendly provinces)
#provinces x
is always the first line and tells you how many provinces there are in the map.
#neighbor is just like in a .map file; it means those provinces are connected, both ways.

2) a .txt file that holds a mage. It will be something like,
#name Bobby
#magic 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0
#moves 3
#forest
#mountain
#swamp
#start 0

This means that a mage named Bobby, with 1 Air, 1 Astral, and 3 Nature, starts in province 0. He has 3 map movement, and forest/mountain/swamp survival (meaning none of those impede his movement).

Things to consider:

To make the problem more simple, you can ignore #forest, #mountain, #swamp, #searched, and #found, and the site probability based on terrain. You will still get a correct answer that is just not ideal.

On the other hand, to make the problem more challenging, you can consider that each province has a maximum of 4 magic sites, and support the commands #aquatic, #flying, #stealthy (move through enemy provinces, if it is faster), and #amphibious.

Suggestion: Keep it simple first, and ignore all the commands except #provinces, #neighbor, and #moves, and #start. Those are the only commands you need to process to make a working program (though it will not give correct answers). Then gradually add the capability to process additional data.

Important Data:
Unless Illwinter states otherwise, terrain types will be considered like this:

0: Water, 60% richness, costs 3 strat move
1: Plains, 50% richness
2: Farmland, 40% richness
3: Forest, 80% richness, costs 3 strat move unless #forest skill
4: Waste, 70% richness, costs 3 strat move
5: Swamp, 30% richness, costs 3 strat move unless #swamp skill
6: Mountain, 100% richness, costs 3 strat move unless #mountain skill

Meaning it is more valuable to search mountains first and swamps Last. These numbers are not the same as the map file numbers, but those are too confusing.

Input Command: The program must have a command line that accepts 2 filenames, and spits out a new file. The input command is:
(your executable name) mapfile.txt magefile.txt

For example,

java Solve aran.txt joe_the_druid.txt

Output:

Output will be a text file that looks like this:

start 0
search
move 1
search
move 2
move 4
search
done

Each command other than "start 0", which indicates your start province, is the equivalent of a turn. This start province must be the same as specified in the mage file. "Move 1" means move to province 1. If you move to a non-adjacent province that is in range, only give 1 move command. All move commands must be to a province in range.

The output file should be named (mapname)_(magename)_output.txt.

For example,
run.exe aran.txt joe_the_druid.txt

should produce an output file,

aran_joe_the_druid_output.txt

-Cherry

[ February 29, 2004, 23:02: Message edited by: Saber Cherry ]

[Pocus]

I develop in Delphi. If dominions would allow us to encode our own 2h (for an AI), then it would be neat. Alas, it would poses the problem of reveling how they protect the turn file.