Automatic generation of 2-AntWars players with genetic programming

Abstract

In this work, we show how Genetic Programming can be used to create game playing strategies for 2-AntWars, a deterministic turn-based two player game with local information. We evaluate the created strategies against fixed, human created strategies as well as in a coevolutionary setting, where both players evolve simultaneously. We show that genetic programming is able to create competent players which can beat the static playing strategies, sometimes even in a creative way. Both mutation and crossover are shown to be essential for creating superior game playing strategies. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.