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AntMe! - The Ant Simulation
Learn to program the other way: AntMe! is a simple game that is played by programming an artificial intelligence. A great way to learn the C# or Visual Basic programming languages, understand basic principles of AI in computer games and have a lot of fun while doing it.
What is it about?
Each player is in control of an ant colony that is collecting food and fighting enemies. The clou: the behaviour of ones ants is controlled by a little piece of source code that the player writes before starting the game. Through code the player reacts to certain events in the live of an ant. Such an event could be that the ant is attacked by a bug (an ant eating one, not a source code bug) or does see a sugar hive. Should the ant call out for help? Should she attack? Through clever programming and intelligent strategies each player can give his colony an advantage over the others.
The ants in action
The actual game then can be watched live on screen. Your compiled source code is being loaded by the simulation and when the games starts you can watch your ants fan out of their colony. Each written line of code is directly visible in the behaviour of your ants: how they walk, how they collect food, how they start fights or how they stand around doing nothing.
// This method is being called if the ant sees a sugar hive.
public override void Sees(Sugar sugar) {
int distance = Coordinate.CalculateDistance(this, sugar);
int direction = Coordinate.CalculateDirection(this, sugar);
SprayMarker(direction, distance);
if (Target == null && CurrentLoad < MaximumLoad)
GoToTarget(sugar);
}
Source code controls the behaviour of your ants
By the way: the idea of programms fighting each other isn't new (think of the classic Core Wars) but still very cool. If you like this kind of gaming, you might want to take a look at Project Hoshimi. In the contect of the Microsoft Imagine Cup. AI fans from all over the world fight about valuable prices. So: limber up with the ants and win big on the Imagine Cup.
Where can I get it?
Now here comes the catch. At this time AntMe! is available in German language only. This means the documentation is German and, since AntMe! acts as a sample application and programming tutorial to beginners, all source code that we have written is German as well (except the example above). We are currently working on localized versions in English and French language and we hope to be able to present them here very soon. Until that please feel free to visit the German web site.
If you have any questions about AntMe! please contact Wolfgang Gallo (wolfgang AT antme DOT net) or Uwe Baumann (uwe DOT baumann AT microsoft DOT com). We do speak English ;-)