Creating an intelligent agent for StarCraft: Brood War University - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Creating an intelligent agent for StarCraft: Brood War University - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jan 22, 2024 170 likes •401 views

Creating an intelligent agent for StarCraft: Brood War University of Lige Faculty of Applied Sciences 2009 2010 Firas Safadi Master in Computer Science Professional Focus Introduction Computers Why artificial intelligence (AI)? Video

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Creating an intelligent agent for StarCraft: Brood War

University of Liège Faculty of Applied Sciences 2009 – 2010 Firas Safadi Master in Computer Science Professional Focus

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Computers

Why artificial intelligence (AI)?

Video games

Why real-time strategy (RTS) games?

Introduction

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StarCraft: Brood War

Chapter I

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Developed by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and released in 1998 Proved successful as it continues to drive popular video game leagues even 10 years after its release, especially in South Korea

History

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3 races (Terran, Zerg and Protoss) different (but balanced!) with unique abilities and characterized by a distinct play style

Rich resource mechanics

minerals, gas, supplies (reclaimable)

Lots of units with many attributes

Features

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Resource panel (overlay) [1] Command panel [2] Portrait [3] Unit information [4] Mini-map [5]

Interface

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Agent Design

Chapter II

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Orders travel from the strategy manager down to individual

  • units. They start as abstract
  • rders and are processed by the

intermediate managers, eventually translating into concrete unit commands.

Design Overview

Operational Tactical Strategic

Strategy Manager Production Manager Work Squads Combat Manager Military Squads

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  • Simplified game state
  • Trigger-based decisions

Strategy Manager

Operational Tactical Strategic

Strategy Manager Production Manager Work Squads Combat Manager Military Squads

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  • Build order management
  • Worker assignment

Production Manager

Operational Tactical Strategic

Strategy Manager Production Manager Work Squads Combat Manager Military Squads

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  • Combat flags
  • Military unit assignment
  • Squad deployment

Combat Manager

Operational Tactical Strategic

Strategy Manager Production Manager Work Squads Combat Manager Military Squads

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  • Target selection
  • Formation and behavior

Military Squads

Operational Tactical Strategic

Strategy Manager Production Manager Work Squads Combat Manager Military Squads

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  • Resource gathering
  • Building construction

Work Squads

Operational Tactical Strategic

Strategy Manager Production Manager Work Squads Combat Manager Military Squads

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Order Processing

Production Order

Train 8 marines Build barracks Acquire resources Gather minerals

Combat Order

Attack Create 2 squads Destroy outpost Kill a patrol unit

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Implementation

Chapter III

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StarCraft is not open source!

The Brood War Application Programming Interface (BWAPI) is an open source C++ “hacker” framework and provides hooks to access the game state and issue commands. BWAPI add-ons: BWSAL, BWTA, etc. BWAPI is not perfect!

Framework

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How does it work?

Normal flow

Take user commands Compute next frame Draw screen

Altered flow

Agent processing Take agent commands Compute next frame Draw screen

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Results

Chapter IV

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20 40 60 80 100 120 Units produced Units killed Units lost

Game Statistics

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The project was successful!

Primary objective met Very useful for the years to come

Final Words

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The End

Thanks for listening!