[CF-Devel] [Fwd: New (maybe) ideas for artificial life in roguelikes]
crossfire-devel at archives.real-time.com
crossfire-devel at archives.real-time.com
Sun Mar 21 12:15:59 CST 2004
This post seems to be highly interesting, I thought I would forward it
to you since it pertains to a possible method of monster generation and
is a cool idea.
John Q. Smith wrote the following post on rec.games.roguelike.development:
>
Hi everybody, I have a possibly new idea that may help create a
>
radically unique roguelike. Then again, it may be a horrible idea,
>
which is why I'm testing it out here first.
>
>
I, like, everybody else here, am working on my own roguelike, and,
>
like everybody else here, I'm not content to make
>
yet-another-roguelike. I want to make mine bigger, better, and more
>
innovative then the rest of them. I probably won't, but you all
>
understand the desire to keep pushing the envelope. After all, if
>
we're not making something different, then what's the point? Anyway,
>
along with my idea. Along with my interest in roguelikes, I have a
>
deep interest in programming AI, neural nets, genetic algorithms,
>
agents, and the like. After a recent project, I began to think that
>
maybe some of these ideas could be incorporated into a roguelike. To
>
get an idea of what I'm hinting at, let me describe my project that
>
gave me the idea.
>
>
My project was called Wonderland, and it was a simplistic ASCII world
>
with a 1000 x 1000 grid, each space containing either dirt, rock,
>
grass, water, bushes, or trees. Then wonderland was populated with a
>
variety of different creatures, each with varying attributes, and a
>
unique brain. As time wore on in Wonderland, the creatures all bred
>
to be stronger and smarter, or they died out. Because all of the
>
creature's data (attributes, brain, etc.) were encoded in their genes,
>
the offspring of two creatures would share its parents genes. Through
>
very simple and subtle changes in the brains of creatures, a variety
>
of radically different behaviors were produced. Following is a
>
descriptions of creatures during there first generation, and then a
>
description of how they were when Wonderland was finally shut down.
>
>
Goblins - At the start, goblins were fast, relatively strong
>
omnivores, with relatively poor sight, but excellent noses for
>
tracking. Their brains were initially made to allow them to be
>
relatively independant, but they eventually evolved into group
>
dwelling creatures, with a strong central leadership. The strongest
>
of the herd would lead, and delegate tasks to weaker creatures, and
>
through this the various goblin tribes managed to flourish. Note that
>
they eventually migrated from a riverside society to cave dwelling.
>
Also note that none of these behaviors were programmed in, they
>
evolved that way on their own, into a species/society that best suited
>
them.
>
>
Ants - Ants were initially programmed to be fast, moderately strong
>
herbivores, with practically no sight, but terrific senses of smell.
>
Initially they were programmed with a sort of hive mind, but they
>
gradually grew away from central leadership to more of a swarming
>
structure. No individual made any decisions, and the ants were
>
individually very stupid, but by following very simple behavior
>
patterns the ants as a whole were very successful, but they were
>
unfortunately driven to near extinction by the balrogs.
>
>
Balrogs - Balrogs were immensely strong, moderately fast, with a
>
moderate sense of sight and smell. They had a very slow gestation
>
period, with small litters, and since they had a very small initial
>
population, they grew and evolved rather slow. Because of this, they
>
grouped into to a tribe-like society, where no individual made any
>
more decisions than the rest, but they all looked out for each other,
>
to ensure genetic survival. They all cross bred and were extremely
>
good parents, protecting their children avidly. They found the ants
>
to be the best source of food, and the least challenging to defeat, so
>
they eventually trapped the ants at their nesting sight, took up
>
residence their, and lived off a steady supply of newly hatched ants,
>
thus preventing the ants from breaking free. Basically, the ants were
>
farmed by the balrogs. Of all the emergent behavior to occur, this
>
was the least expected and most bizarre. The balrogs biggest threat
>
were the raptors, and Alice.
>
>
Raptors - Raptors were fast, lethal, and with excellent senses of
>
smell and a unique sense of sight; they could only see movement
>
(unfortunately, no other species caught on to this inherent weakness
>
in their vision. They changed little, although their hunting skills
>
did become more coordinated and efficient. They were initially a hive
>
mind, but gradually grew to be more individualistic, but with
>
excellent communication skills, causing them to be the fiercest
>
hunters in all of Wonderland. They seemed to be able to quickly take
>
up appropriate positions during the hunt. For example, the most
>
splendid hunt I viewed occured with a pack of 5 raptors, against a
>
balrog who had strayed from the pack to try and find a fresh food
>
source (the ants were slowly dying out). When the balrog was about 50
>
paces from the rest of his fellow's group, and well out of his allies
>
sight and smell range, 2 raptors cut him off. The balrog turned to
>
fight, but a 3rd raptor showed up and the balrog changed his mind, and
>
ran. To the north 2 more raptors appeared, and sensing trouble, he
>
ran to the west (since the north and southeast were blocked). The
>
raptors continually shifted their flanking pattern, forcing the balrog
>
into a dead end cave, where he was ganged up on and slaughtered
>
simultaneously by all 5 raptors. Not a single raptor died, despite
>
the fact that one balrog can kill two raptors and survive, and
>
sometimes a third, but the raptors teamwork saved them all.
>
>
Alice - Alice was the final type of creature in Wonderland, and also
>
the most unique. Alice was one of a kind, which means no breeding.
>
She was given an infinite lifespan, however, so she would never die
>
from old age. She was the fastest creature in all of wonderland, and
>
also the weakest, but she possessed the most highly developed brain,
>
with as much memory as she could fill alloted to her, and superior
>
learning capabilities. She also possessed the unique ability to move
>
any object in the environment; in effect, tool using. She could move
>
rocks, trees, bushes, and other creatures (although they didn't go
>
quietly). There were several points early on where she almost died,
>
but she eventually grew to be the most fearsome creature in all of
>
Wonderland. If any group of creatures caught her scent or spotted
>
her, they would all flee. Not because she was ferociously strong, but
>
because she always had a clever plan of attack which was devestatingly
>
effective. For example, she once flanked the opening of a long and
>
narrow cave of goblins. The goblins, not daring to leave the
>
'protection' of their cave, huddled deeper and deeper inside. Alice,
>
meanwhile, casually dragged a number of rocks from nearby, and blocked
>
off the cave entrance. Because she was the only one capable of moving
>
rocks, the goblins were trapped without a food source except each
>
other. Alice waited a few days, when the goblins were weaker from
>
hunger and halved in numbers, then casually hurled the rocks that were
>
blocking the entrance into the cave, crushing and killing the
>
survivors, and giving Alice a few weeks worth of food. There were
>
several other brilliant kills she achieved, but this post has run on
>
long enough.
>
>
While watching my experiment run its course, it was hard not to
>
imagine it as being a roguelike. ASCII graphics, along with Alice's
>
'@', and I began thinking that the genetic algorithms, AI, and neural
>
net techniques could potentially provide a fresh gameplay experience
>
in a roguelike. Traditionally, as the player grows in power, so do
>
the enemies, to compensate. In this, you could just let the enemies
>
evolve, and they would naturally grow in power, plus they would get
>
smarter, forcing the player to think up new strategies to defeat
>
enemies. For example, if the player always tried a certain technique
>
against goblins, eventually the goblins would anticipate it and make
>
plans to circumvent such a plan of attack. This, I think, could have
>
a lot of potential and freshen the playing experience. Well, this has
>
run on long enough, so, tell me what you think.
_______________________________________________
crossfire-devel mailing list
crossfire-devel at lists.real-time.com
https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/crossfire-devel
More information about the crossfire
mailing list