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From: enigma@indirect.com (Andy Sherwood)
Subject: GA For Starfleet Battles? or How To Kill Each Other (Efficiently)
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Date: Wed, 2 Nov 1994 05:25:06 GMT
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I'm starting work on a GA type problem.  I've created two hideously large 
spacefleets, replete with fighters, crusiers, dreadnoughts and carriers.  And 
I want them to duke it out to the bitter end.  My theory is that if I give all 
of the ships the basics of two dimensional navigation, a set of rules of 
engagement (if it moves, shoot it :) and then use a GA to make the little 
devils go.  Essentially I would use the GA to have the ships figure out how to 
react to situations.  For example, a fighter runs around looking for ships to 
blow up, and when it finds one it starts killing it.  However, at certain 
percentage of damage inflicted upon it, the fighter should turn tail and run 
back to the carrier for repairs.  Also, it would be nice if the GA would not 
only finetune this percantage, but also teach the fighter how to fight.  i.e., 
The thing starts out moving pretty much randomly, but would soon learn tactics 
like slow/roll/roll back/pursue..  However, I'm afraid that might be a bit too 
much to manage.. TONS of variables..  So I figured I would remove most of the 
intelligence from the fighters themselves and place it with the ships that 
command them.  Cruisers and Carriers can both send orders to other ships and 
notify all ships whevener they have detected an enemy ships.  It would then be 
up to the Crusiser or Carrier to either send a battalion of fighters, notify a 
dreadnought to move in, or handle the threat by itself.  The GA would keep 
track of success rates of actions against a particular foe.  For example, send 
two fighters out against one carrier is ludicrous.  Sending out 4 dreadnoughts 
and 1000 fighters is way overkill.  I'd like it to figure out the best thing 
to do over time.  

SO!  Essentially I want to know if my problem is really suited for a GA, or 
should I stick to a standard AI (which could get boring :).  I'd really like 
to discuss this at length, so please let me know what you think.  Its my 
opinion that with dumb fighters(fast, wimpy) / dreadnoughts(slow, 
deathbringers) and intelligent carriers(REAL slow, lots of fighters, repair 
facilities, lots o weapons) / cruisers(pretty fast, low weaponry) the system 
should be able to learn how best to fend off its foe.  I can make a table of 
MUCH nicer stats on the ships for those interested.

What do you think?



