New Contest - game like Risk

[mtobiass]

I really like this idea. Some ideas to add to simple "risk" are:

Line of supply.
For example, every player has a home base. Units that can not trace a line to the home base through own regions are out of supply. Units out of supply are more likely to loose in battle.

Simple diplomacy.
Maybe just "non agression pacts". Makes it more likely that smaller player will cooperate to defeat larger players.

Region improvements.
For example, instead of placing all armies, some armies might be changed to a "factory" that is placed in a region. The factory will then produce armies, making that region more valuable.

[GreenTea]

[RebelXT]

Excellent idea! I've just played a few games on warlight.net, and it's a fun game.

[Corniel]

[fizzer]

Hey guys,

I'm the creator of WarLight.net, and I love the idea of doing a Risk-like competition for the next AI challenge.

If you do decide to use WarLight-like rules, I can provide the code behind the game engine for use. I've already made a fully-functional demo of this you can see here: http://blog.warlight.net/index.php/2011 ... challenge/

In WarLight rules, each army can move to one adjacent node each turn. This is different from Risk, where armies can cross the entire map in a single turn. I think moving one node at a time provides a much better platform for an AI challenge as it emphasizes location. That is, which regions of the map you have access to is often more important than the number of armies you have.

I'm also a big fan of the 1v1 format. Having more than two players increases the complexity of the AI significantly, as these games are more decided by who attacks who than army-moving strategy.

If I can do anything to help out, I can be reached at fizzer@warlight.net. Thanks!

[GreenTea]

It be very interesting to see how best bots in risk play with top warlight.net players whether it is possible to make bot stronger than human, or not..

[Corniel]

[lama3oid]

I think, this game could fit only if we remove random element from it, so it definetly should work without dices.
Whichever game would be chosen, the played, that's doing better moves should always win in duel games. Otherwise, the strongest bots will fight with the same skill and the luckiest player will win.
Also, I think, in the chosen game (whatever it will be) players should move simultaneously.

Btw, I don't like the idea. I played this game against AI few years ago and against real people in board game. It's interesting game, but not enough hard for such competition. Much easier than ants. Additionally, comparing to ants, it would be much easier to understand/copy someone's tactics just viewing replays.

[GreenTea]

[lama3oid]