No abstract

Agent modelling involves considering how other agents will behave, in order to influence your own actions. In this paper, we explore the use of agent modelling in the hiddeninformation, collaborative card game Hanabi. We implement a number of rule-based agents, both from the literature and of our own devising, in addition to an Information Set-Monte Carlo Tree Search (IS-MCTS) agent. We observe poor results from IS-MCTS, so construct a new, predictor version that uses a model of the agents with which it is paired. We observe a significant improvement in game-playing strength from this agent in comparison to IS-MCTS, resulting from its consideration of what the other agents in a game would do. In addition, we create a flawed rule-based agent to highlight the predictor's capabilities with such an agent.

This paper outlines the Hanabi competition, first run at CIG 2018, and returning for COG 2019. Hanabi presents a useful domain for game agents which must function in a cooperative environment. The paper presents the results of the two tracks which formed the 2018 competition and introduces the learning track, a new track for 2019 which allows the agents to collect statistics across multiple games.

Virtual worlds (also known as MMORPGs, MMOGs and assorted other acronyms [1]) raise awkward questions concerning how they are governed, central to which is the status of the developers of such worlds. The currently solidifying view of the legal establishment is that developers themselves are the de facto government of their respective creations, while being in turn subject to the laws of whatever real–world government asserts jurisdiction. The players of virtual worlds, however, while agreeing that real–world governments take precedence, have traditionally not considered developers to be acting as governments; rather they regard them as deities for their (virtual) reality. This paper argues that the players’ view is the better metaphor, insofar as it leads to better virtual worlds (experientially and artistically) than does the developers–as–government model.

Diversification in sexual signals is often taken as evidence for the importance of sexual selection in speciation. However, in order for sexual selection to generate reproductive isolation between populations, both signals and mate preferences must diverge together. Furthermore, assortative mating may result from multiple behavioral mechanisms, including female mate preferences, male mate preferences, and male–male competition; yet their relative contributions are rarely evaluated. Here, we explored the role of mate preferences and male competitive ability as potential barriers to gene flow between 2 divergent lineages of the tawny dragon lizard, Ctenophorus decresii, which differ in male throat coloration. We found stronger behavioral barriers to pairings between southern lineage males and northern lineage females than between northern males and southern females, indicating incomplete and asymmetric behavioral isolating barriers. These results were driven by both male and female mate preferences rather than lineage differences in male competitive ability. Intrasexual selection is therefore unlikely to drive the outcome of secondary contact in C. decresii, despite its widely acknowledged importance in lizards. Our results are consistent with the emerging view that although both male and female mate preferences can diverge alongside sexual signals, speciation is rarely driven by divergent sexual selection alone.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract