Effects of Communication on the Evolution of Squad Behaviours

Abstract

As the non-playable characters (NPCs) of squad-based shooter computer games share a common goal, they should work together in teams and display cooperative behaviours that are tactically sound. Our research examines genetic programming (GP) as a technique to automatically develop effective team behaviours for shooter games. GP has been used to evolve teams capable of defeating a single powerful enemy agent in a number of environments without the use of any explicit team communication. The aim of this paper is to explore the effects of communication on the evolution of effective squad behaviours. Thus, NPCs are given the ability to communicate their perceived information during evolution. The results show that communication between team members enables an improvement in average team effectiveness.