Russian AI Cup 2017 - to all fans of StarCraft and C & C is dedicated

For several years in a row we have been holding the Russian AI Cup - such a competition for all those who are not indifferent to programming in general, to building AI, just writing bots for games or automating whatever. Naturally, this year will not be an exception. So, Mail.Ru Group in collaboration with Saratov State University officially announce the launch date of the Russian AI Cup 2017 and are happy to offer this year’s challenge. Hard fights, macbooks for first places and minus a month and a half from the life of a developer - everything is in place, everything as you like. Welcome under the cat for details!

Championship essence

Very simple. We create for you a game world acting according to certain rules and give you an API. You write in your favorite language the strategy of the behavior of your units in this game world. As a result, two strategies of different participants run into one world and fight with each other. Who won - well done, who does not - improves the strategy and is waiting for revenge.

Championship schedule

1. Sandbox: November 7 - December 25
2. Round One: November 25–26
3. Second round: December 9-10
4. Final: December 16-17

Championship opens test week. At this time, serious changes in the balance are possible, and the team promptly works with the wishes of the participants and the errors found. As part of the fourth week of the championship (before the final), changes to the rules may also appear.

Before each new round, the complexity of the game increases, and the game itself becomes more interesting: new conditions and restrictions are added.

All the time of the championship (from November 7 to December 25) there is a sandbox from which strategies for the first round are selected.

Participating in the sandbox is very simple: you write code that implements a certain strategy of the game, and download. All is ready. Sooner or later, the system will pick you up an opponent and confront you. In case of victory, the rating grows; in case of loss, on the contrary, it decreases.

In the first round, the best rated strategies go to the second round, and from the second to the final. In addition, the best strategies from the sandbox get to the second round and to the final, which means there is always a chance! According to the results of the final, we find out who is the best, and give them prizes.

Prizes

All winners of the final will receive:

• 1st place - MacBook Pro
• 2nd place - MacBook Air
• 3rd place - Apple iPad
• 4th place - Samsung Gear S3
• 5th place - WD My Cloud 6 TB
• 6th place - WD My Passport Ultra 4TB

In addition, for the top 6 winners of the sandbox, we have WD My Passport Ultra 2TB for everyone. By tradition, all the participants of the second round get T-shirts as a souvenir, and the final participants get sweatshirts.

Task

This year we decided to implement RTS. The real big RTS is a lot of units, a lot of tactical decisions in the outline of the overall combat strategy. The task turned out pretty tasty. By the way, pay attention: everything below is not the complete rules, but simply a description of the game world, so to speak, for the seed. Full rules, as always, will be posted on the day of the start of the competition - November 7, 2017.

This competition sets the task of managing a large number of units - equipment (from 500 and more) to the participants. Management is greatly simplified compared to games of the past; it is also possible to give the order immediately to a group of units. The action takes place on a rectangular map. The coordinates of the units are real numbers. The entire map is divided into square areas, in each of which there can be one of three types of terrain ( plain , forest , marsh ) and one of three types of weather ( clear , cloudy , rain ). All equipment is divided into five types ( tank , infantry fighting vehicle , attack helicopter , fighter and BREM ) and two groups: ground and air. The type of terrain affects the speed of movement, the range of sight and the inconspicuous ground equipment; The type of weather affects the same parameters of the air vehicle.

Without citing exact characteristics, we note that the first three types of equipment relate to each other according to the principle of “stone> scissors> paper> stone”, namely “tank> BMP> attack helicopter> tank”. The fighter's goal is to gain air superiority, but he cannot attack ground units. BREM slowly restores the strength of a nearby friendly vehicle. The speed of movement of air technology is much higher than ground, but only ground equipment can capture structures, as described in more detail below.

The units in the game are circles. Units have no direction (from the point of view of the game simulator; in the renderer, of course, the models look at where they are moving / shooting), they can instantly change the direction of the speed of movement, as well as shoot in any direction. Units automatically attack the enemy within range if enough time has passed since the previous attack (cooldown). The game simulator does not allow the intersection of ground units with each other and the intersection of air units of one player, the air units of different players can fly through each other.

The management capabilities of the game strategy are as close as possible to the management of conventional computer games with a large number of units, for example, the Total War series and others. For one action, you can select a rectangular area (with the existing selection cleared or added to it), remove the selection from the rectangular area, assign units to a group with a sequence number (for quick selection), send the group to move along a straight line, or rotate the formation relative to a point specified angle; some other auxiliary actions and action settings are also available.

Time in the game is discrete and consists of ticks . From the point of view of the game simulator, there is no relationship between ticks and real time, however, for convenience and visualization, we believe that the second consists of 60 ticks. A participant's strategy will receive information about the world every tick, but its ability to control technology is limited to several actions per second (which in some way serves as an analogue of human actions).

In round 1 of the tournament conditions are as simple as possible. Each player is given the same amount of equipment. You need to use your units as efficiently as possible to destroy enemy units.

In round 2 of the tournament facilities are introduced into the game. Structures are rectangular areas. A player can capture structures by simply moving his ground equipment to them. Capture does not happen instantly. The capture speed is proportional to the number of units in the construction area. There are two types of structures: a plant for the production of technology (it can produce any type of technology chosen by the player) and a control center (slightly increases the limit on the number of strategy actions per second).

In the final , the fog of war is introduced into the game. The range of units is large enough. Thus, a change in the rules should not greatly affect the local tactical control. However, in order to obtain information on remote parts of the strategy map, it will be necessary to send a part of the equipment for reconnaissance. The fog of war extends only to the enemy equipment. Thus, the strategy is always available information about all facilities and a complete map of the area / weather.

All games take place in the format of duels. The main goal of the game is to score as many points as possible. For the destruction of each unit of equipment of the enemy earned a few points. Much more can be obtained for the seizure of buildings. For the complete destruction of the enemy given a significant number of points. The theoretical possibility remains to destroy the enemy, but at the same time to lose by points, but in practice it is almost impossible (unless both strategies act as interrelated: one gives in to the other).

It is worth noting that the initial location of units and structures, maps of the area and weather are symmetrical for both players. Thus, the result of the game does not depend on random factors, in the first place it is influenced by the effectiveness of opposing strategies.

Like?

As part of the HighLoad Cup, the Russian AI Cup and the ML Boot Camp, we promised that it would be interesting and not let down. Do not cheat this time - it will be really great! Now is the time to go and subscribe . We will remind you about the start of the championship, so you don’t miss it.
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Good luck on the battlefield!