Microsoft Cloudball Challenge - Football AI Competition
I remember a lively discussion on the Google AI Challenge hub, but I did not find any notes on such a competition from Microsoft. And since I was lucky enough to win this contest, I must tell you about it.
As in the case of the Google AI Challenge, Microsoft itself did not directly participate in the organization, and the Swedish company Giraff was engaged in the development.
Cloudball is a simplified version of football. Two teams of 6 players play each. Players can “drive” the ball, beat it in any direction and make tackles. The ball elastically bounces off the sides. Each player has his own role (goalkeeper, left back, right back, etc.), but sticking to them is not necessary.
Here is an example match:
It is possible to develop commands only in C # (however, I see no obstacles for other .NET languages, compiled dll are poured onto the server, but the organizers announced only C #). Technically, your library should contain a class with an ITeam interface that implements the Action method. This method will be called every turn of the game. Each player needs to be given one of the tasks:
The game presents ample opportunities for imagination in the field of tactics. And if I tried to stick to the combination game, with a lot of passes and putting forward forwards on the strike position, many people came up with very exotic options: from the “bus” in their gates to the so-called “blob”, when everything was attacked players are gathered around the ball and go to the opponent’s goal with a “pig”. Several participants, including the Canadian, who took third place, did a good job of dribbling, teaching their players how to draw lace around the field and, due to the inertia of their opponents, get away from their tackle. A runner-up American clearly professes total football - he has everything from the goalkeeper to the center forward attacking and defending.
The competition lasted from April 18 to June 16 and probably a post about it would have been more logical two months ago, but there is good news: after fixing the results and announcing the winners, the server is restarted, and upload teams is allowed. Perhaps some changes to the rules will follow.
I described the history of creating my team in sufficient detail from version to version: rus eng (PDF).
News from the organizers and the main discussion on the page on Facebook .
The official website of the competition with the standings. Wiki
rules details . A few videos of my matches.
As in the case of the Google AI Challenge, Microsoft itself did not directly participate in the organization, and the Swedish company Giraff was engaged in the development.
Cloudball is a simplified version of football. Two teams of 6 players play each. Players can “drive” the ball, beat it in any direction and make tackles. The ball elastically bounces off the sides. Each player has his own role (goalkeeper, left back, right back, etc.), but sticking to them is not necessary.
Here is an example match:
It is possible to develop commands only in C # (however, I see no obstacles for other .NET languages, compiled dll are poured onto the server, but the organizers announced only C #). Technically, your library should contain a class with an ITeam interface that implements the Action method. This method will be called every turn of the game. Each player needs to be given one of the tasks:
- ActionGo (IPosition) - direct the player to a specific point in the field
- ActionShoot (IPosition, float) - hit in the selected direction with the selected strength
- ActionPickUpBall - take the ball if it is a draw
- ActionDropBall - “drop” the ball
- ActionTackle (Player) - make a tackle
- ActionWait - do nothing this turn
The game presents ample opportunities for imagination in the field of tactics. And if I tried to stick to the combination game, with a lot of passes and putting forward forwards on the strike position, many people came up with very exotic options: from the “bus” in their gates to the so-called “blob”, when everything was attacked players are gathered around the ball and go to the opponent’s goal with a “pig”. Several participants, including the Canadian, who took third place, did a good job of dribbling, teaching their players how to draw lace around the field and, due to the inertia of their opponents, get away from their tackle. A runner-up American clearly professes total football - he has everything from the goalkeeper to the center forward attacking and defending.
The competition lasted from April 18 to June 16 and probably a post about it would have been more logical two months ago, but there is good news: after fixing the results and announcing the winners, the server is restarted, and upload teams is allowed. Perhaps some changes to the rules will follow.
I described the history of creating my team in sufficient detail from version to version: rus eng (PDF).
News from the organizers and the main discussion on the page on Facebook .
The official website of the competition with the standings. Wiki
rules details . A few videos of my matches.