Algorithms and networking for computer games

Abstract

List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Algorithms. Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. 1.1 Anatomy of Computer Games. 1.2 Synthetic Players. 1.3 Multi-playing. 1.4 Games and Storytelling. 1.5 Other Game Design Considerations. 1.6 Outline of the Book. 1.7 Summary. Exercises. I: Algorithms. 2. Random Numbers. 2.1 Linear Congruential Method. 2.2 Discrete Finite Distributions. 2.3 Random Shuffling. 2.4 Creating GameWorlds. 2.5 Summary. Exercises. 3. Tournaments. 3.1 Rank Adjustment Tournaments. 3.2 Elimination Tournaments. 3.3 Scoring Tournaments. 3.4 Summary. Exercises. 4. Game Trees. 4.1 Minimax. 4.2 Alpha-Beta Pruning. 4.3 Games of Chance. 4.4 Summary. Exercises. 5. Path Finding. 5.1 Discretization of the GameWorld. 5.2 Finding theMinimum Path. 5.3 Realizing theMovement. 5.4 Summary. Exercises. 6. Decision-making. 6.1 Background. 6.2 Finite StateMachines. 6.3 Flocking. 6.4 InfluenceMaps. 6.5 Summary. Exercises. 7. Modelling Uncertainty. 7.1 Statistical Reasoning. 7.2 Fuzzy Sets. 7.3 Fuzzy Constraint Satisfaction Problem. 7.4 Summary. Exercises. II: Networking. 8. Communication Layers. 8.1 Physical Platform. 8.2 Logical Platform. 8.3 Networked Application. 8.4 Summary. Exercises. 9. Compensating Resource Limitations. 9.1 Aspects of Compensation. 9.2 Protocol Optimization. 9.3 Dead Reckoning. 9.4 Local Perception Filters. 9.5 Synchronized Simulation. 9.6 Area-of-interest Filtering. 9.7 Summary. Exercises. 10. Cheating Prevention. 10.1 Technical Exploitations. 10.2 Rule Violations. 10.3 Summary. Exercises. A. Pseudo-code Conventions. A.1 Changing the Flow of Control. A.2 Data Structures. A.3 Format of Algorithms. A.4 Conversion to Existing Programming Languages. Bibliography. Ludography. Index.