Michael Cook
Research Associate
About me
Hello! I’m Michael Cook, a Research Associate in Goldsmiths’ Department of Computing. I’m also finishing the tail end of a PhD with the Department of Computing at Imperial College. Here’s some info about things I get up to:
- I research ways in which software can design meaningful, intelligent and enjoyable games completely autonomously. Most of my research in this area is focused on a system I’ve designed called ANGELINA. In particular, I’m interested in how software can conceive of, apply and evaluate meaning in games, and how it can invent new systems and mechanics for games.
- I’m also learning to design games myself. I started around the same time that ANGELINA did – if you want to compare our progress, you can see some of my work over at Cut Garnet Games.
- I’m very interested in connecting the game development community and academia, in ways that go beyond ‘more and faster, please’. Every fortnight I write The Saturday Paper, a summary of an academic games paper for a developer audience. You can catch up with the archive here.
- I am currently working on the EPSRC grant “Creative Code Generation”. You can find out more on the EPSRC website here.
You can contact me at [at]. or find me on twitter @mtrc.
Publications
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon; Gow, Jeremy The ANGELINA Videogame Design System, Part II Journal Article In: IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games, (99), 2016. @article{Cook2016TCIAGa, title = {The ANGELINA Videogame Design System, Part II}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton and Jeremy Gow}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/COM-Cook2016b.pdf}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-11-01}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games}, number = {99}, abstract = {Procedural content generation is generally viewed as a means to an end – a tool employed by designers to overcome technical problems or achieve a particular design goal. When we move from generating single parts of games to automating the entirety of their design, however, we find ourselves facing a far wider and more interesting set of problems than mere generation. When the designer of a game is a piece of software, we face questions about what it means to be a designer, about Computational Creativity, and about how to assess the growth of these automated game designers and the value of their output. Answering these questions can lead to new ideas in how to generate content procedurally, and produce systems that can further the cutting edge of game design. This paper describes work done to take an automated game designer and advance it towards being a member of a creative community. We outline extensions made to the system to give it more autonomy and creative independence, in order to strengthen claims that the software is acting creatively. We describe and reflect upon the software’s participation in the games community, including entering two game development contests, and show the opportunities and difficulties of such engagement. We consider methods for evaluating automated game designers as creative entities, and underline the need for automated game design to be a major frontier in future games research.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Procedural content generation is generally viewed as a means to an end – a tool employed by designers to overcome technical problems or achieve a particular design goal. When we move from generating single parts of games to automating the entirety of their design, however, we find ourselves facing a far wider and more interesting set of problems than mere generation. When the designer of a game is a piece of software, we face questions about what it means to be a designer, about Computational Creativity, and about how to assess the growth of these automated game designers and the value of their output. Answering these questions can lead to new ideas in how to generate content procedurally, and produce systems that can further the cutting edge of game design. This paper describes work done to take an automated game designer and advance it towards being a member of a creative community. We outline extensions made to the system to give it more autonomy and creative independence, in order to strengthen claims that the software is acting creatively. We describe and reflect upon the software’s participation in the games community, including entering two game development contests, and show the opportunities and difficulties of such engagement. We consider methods for evaluating automated game designers as creative entities, and underline the need for automated game design to be a major frontier in future games research. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon; Gow, Jeremy The ANGELINA Videogame Design System, Part I Journal Article In: IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games, 9 (2), pp. 192-203, 2016, ISSN: 1943-0698. @article{Cook2016TCIAIGb, title = {The ANGELINA Videogame Design System, Part I}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton and Jeremy Gow}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/COM-Cook2016a.pdf}, doi = {10.1109/TCIAIG.2016.2520256}, issn = {1943-0698}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-11-01}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games}, volume = {9}, number = {2}, pages = {192-203}, abstract = {Automatically generating content for videogames has long been a staple of game development and the focus of much successful research. Such forays into content generation usually concern themselves with producing a specific game component, such as a level design. This has proven a rich and challenging area of research, but in focusing on creating separate parts of a larger game, we miss out on the most challenging and interesting aspects of game development. By expanding our scope to the automated design of entire games, we can investigate the relationship between the different creative tasks undertaken in game development, tackle the higher-level creative challenges of game design, and ultimately build systems capable of much greater novelty, surprise and quality in their output. This paper, the first in a series of two, describes two case studies in automating game design, proposing cooperative coevo- lution as a useful technique to use within systems that automate this process. We show how this technique allows essentially separate content generators to produce content that complements each other. We also describe systems that have used this to design games with subtle emergent effects. After introducing the technique and its technical basis in this paper, in the second paper in the series we discuss higher level issues in automated game design, such as potential overlap with computational creativity and the issue of evaluation.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Automatically generating content for videogames has long been a staple of game development and the focus of much successful research. Such forays into content generation usually concern themselves with producing a specific game component, such as a level design. This has proven a rich and challenging area of research, but in focusing on creating separate parts of a larger game, we miss out on the most challenging and interesting aspects of game development. By expanding our scope to the automated design of entire games, we can investigate the relationship between the different creative tasks undertaken in game development, tackle the higher-level creative challenges of game design, and ultimately build systems capable of much greater novelty, surprise and quality in their output. This paper, the first in a series of two, describes two case studies in automating game design, proposing cooperative coevo- lution as a useful technique to use within systems that automate this process. We show how this technique allows essentially separate content generators to produce content that complements each other. We also describe systems that have used this to design games with subtle emergent effects. After introducing the technique and its technical basis in this paper, in the second paper in the series we discuss higher level issues in automated game design, such as potential overlap with computational creativity and the issue of evaluation. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon To That Sect and Other Short Games Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the AISB 2015 Symposium on AI and Games, 2015. @inproceedings{Cook2015AISB, title = {To That Sect and Other Short Games}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_aisb14b.pdf}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-10-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the AISB 2015 Symposium on AI and Games}, abstract = {To That Sect is a simple but atmospheric exploration game created by a piece of software called ANGELINA. The cre- ation process relies heavily on computational evolution, as well as employing the use of web resources and linguistic tools to try and interpret a theme and express it in the resulting game. This functionality allowed ANGELINA to enter a game design contest, for which it designed To That Sect. This is the first time a piece of software has entered such a contest.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } To That Sect is a simple but atmospheric exploration game created by a piece of software called ANGELINA. The cre- ation process relies heavily on computational evolution, as well as employing the use of web resources and linguistic tools to try and interpret a theme and express it in the resulting game. This functionality allowed ANGELINA to enter a game design contest, for which it designed To That Sect. This is the first time a piece of software has entered such a contest. |
Colton, Simon; Halskov, Jakob; Ventura, Dan; Gouldstone, Ian; Cook, Michael; Ferrer, Blanca P'erez The Painting Fool Sees! New Projects with the Automated Painter Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computational Creativity, 2015. @inproceedings{Colton2015ICCC, title = {The Painting Fool Sees! New Projects with the Automated Painter}, author = {Simon Colton and Jakob Halskov and Dan Ventura and Ian Gouldstone and Michael Cook and Blanca P'erez Ferrer}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/colton_iccc2015.pdf}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-10-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computational Creativity}, abstract = {We report the most recent advances in The Painting Fool project, where we have integrated machine vision capabilities from the DARCI system into the automated painter, to enhance its abilities before, during and after the painting process. This has enabled new art projects, including a commission from an Artificial Intelligence company, and we report on this collaboration, which is one of the first instances in Computational Creativity research where creative software has been commissioned directly. The new projects have advanced The Painting Fool as an independent artist able to produce more diverse styles which break away from simulating natural media. The projects have also raised a philosophical question about whether software artists need to see in the same way as people, which we discuss briefly.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We report the most recent advances in The Painting Fool project, where we have integrated machine vision capabilities from the DARCI system into the automated painter, to enhance its abilities before, during and after the painting process. This has enabled new art projects, including a commission from an Artificial Intelligence company, and we report on this collaboration, which is one of the first instances in Computational Creativity research where creative software has been commissioned directly. The new projects have advanced The Painting Fool as an independent artist able to produce more diverse styles which break away from simulating natural media. The projects have also raised a philosophical question about whether software artists need to see in the same way as people, which we discuss briefly. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon Hybrid Procedural Content Generation: A Proposal Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the AISB 2015 Symposium on AI and Games, 2015. @inproceedings{Cook2015AISBb, title = {Hybrid Procedural Content Generation: A Proposal}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_aisb15.pdf}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-10-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the AISB 2015 Symposium on AI and Games}, abstract = {Procedural content generation in games tends to target content that is abstract, dry and devoid of connection with the game’s meaning. This paper proposes merging user-driven content genera- tion approaches with procedural content generation to create a new paradigm which we call Hybrid Procedural Content Generation. By replacing aspects of existing procedural generation techniques with humans, we can give rise to new kinds of game experiences.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Procedural content generation in games tends to target content that is abstract, dry and devoid of connection with the game’s meaning. This paper proposes merging user-driven content genera- tion approaches with procedural content generation to create a new paradigm which we call Hybrid Procedural Content Generation. By replacing aspects of existing procedural generation techniques with humans, we can give rise to new kinds of game experiences. |
Colton, Simon; Pease, Alison; Corneli, Joseph; Cook, Michael; Hepworth, Rose; Ventura, Dan Stakeholder Groups in Computational Creativity Research and Practice Incollection In: Computational Creativity Research: Towards Creative Machines, pp. 3–36, Springer, 2015. @incollection{colton2015stakeholder, title = {Stakeholder Groups in Computational Creativity Research and Practice}, author = { Simon Colton and Alison Pease and Joseph Corneli and Michael Cook and Rose Hepworth and Dan Ventura}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/colton_ccchapter15.pdf}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-01}, booktitle = {Computational Creativity Research: Towards Creative Machines}, pages = {3--36}, publisher = {Springer}, abstract = {The notion that software could be independently and usefully creative is becoming more commonplace in scientific, cultural, business and public circles. It is not fanciful to imagine creative software embedded in society in the short to medium term, acting as collaborators and autonomous creative agents for much societal benefit. Technologically, there is still some way to go to enable Artificial Intelligence methods to create artefacts and ideas of value, and to get software to do so in interesting and engaging ways. There are also a number of sociological hurdles to overcome in getting society to accept software as being truly creative, and we concentrate on those here. We discuss the various communities that can be considered stakeholders in the perception of computers being creative or not. In particular, we look in detail at three sets of stakeholders, namely the general public, Computational Creativity researchers and fellow creatives.We put forward various philosophical points which we argue will shape the way in which society accepts creative software. We make various claims along the way about how people perceive software as being creative or not, which we believe should be addressed with scientific experimentation, and we call on the Computational Creativity research community to do just that.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } The notion that software could be independently and usefully creative is becoming more commonplace in scientific, cultural, business and public circles. It is not fanciful to imagine creative software embedded in society in the short to medium term, acting as collaborators and autonomous creative agents for much societal benefit. Technologically, there is still some way to go to enable Artificial Intelligence methods to create artefacts and ideas of value, and to get software to do so in interesting and engaging ways. There are also a number of sociological hurdles to overcome in getting society to accept software as being truly creative, and we concentrate on those here. We discuss the various communities that can be considered stakeholders in the perception of computers being creative or not. In particular, we look in detail at three sets of stakeholders, namely the general public, Computational Creativity researchers and fellow creatives.We put forward various philosophical points which we argue will shape the way in which society accepts creative software. We make various claims along the way about how people perceive software as being creative or not, which we believe should be addressed with scientific experimentation, and we call on the Computational Creativity research community to do just that. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon Generating Code For Expressing Simple Preferences: Moving On From Hardcoding And Randomness Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Computational Creativity, pp. 8, 2015. @inproceedings{cook2015generating, title = {Generating Code For Expressing Simple Preferences: Moving On From Hardcoding And Randomness}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_iccc2015.pdf}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Computational Creativity}, pages = {8}, abstract = {Software expressing intent and justifying creative decisions are important considerations when building systems in the context of Computational Creativity. However, getting software to express subjective opinions like simple preferences is difficult without mimicking existing people’s opinions or using random choice. In this paper, we propose an alternative way of enabling software to make meaningful decisions in smallscale subjective scenarios, such as choosing a favourite colour. Our system uses a combination of metrics as a fitness function for evolving short pieces of code that choose between artefacts. These ‘preference functions’ can make choices between simple items that are neither random nor based on an already existing opinion, and additionally have a sense of consistency. We describe the system, offer some example results from the work and suggest how this might lead to further developments in generative subjectivity in the future.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Software expressing intent and justifying creative decisions are important considerations when building systems in the context of Computational Creativity. However, getting software to express subjective opinions like simple preferences is difficult without mimicking existing people’s opinions or using random choice. In this paper, we propose an alternative way of enabling software to make meaningful decisions in smallscale subjective scenarios, such as choosing a favourite colour. Our system uses a combination of metrics as a fitness function for evolving short pieces of code that choose between artefacts. These ‘preference functions’ can make choices between simple items that are neither random nor based on an already existing opinion, and additionally have a sense of consistency. We describe the system, offer some example results from the work and suggest how this might lead to further developments in generative subjectivity in the future. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon; Gow, Jeremy Automating Game Design in Three Dimensions Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the AISB symposium on AI and Games, 2014. @inproceedings{Cook2014AISB, title = {Automating Game Design in Three Dimensions}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton and Jeremy Gow}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cook_aisb14a.pdf}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-11-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the AISB symposium on AI and Games}, abstract = {We describe ANGELINA-5, a new iteration of the AN- GELINA framework for investigating and building software which automates the process of videogame design. ANGELINA-5 is the first automated game design tool that produces 3D games. We outline here the system’s structure, the challenges inherent in building an auto- mated game designer in a modern game engine, and we discuss the future research directions for the project.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We describe ANGELINA-5, a new iteration of the AN- GELINA framework for investigating and building software which automates the process of videogame design. ANGELINA-5 is the first automated game design tool that produces 3D games. We outline here the system’s structure, the challenges inherent in building an auto- mated game designer in a modern game engine, and we discuss the future research directions for the project. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon A Rogue Dream: Automatically Generating Meaningful Content for Games Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the AIIDE Workshop on Experimental AI and Games, 2014. @inproceedings{cook2014rogue, title = {A Rogue Dream: Automatically Generating Meaningful Content for Games}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cook_exag14.pdf}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the AIIDE Workshop on Experimental AI and Games}, abstract = {Procedural content generation is often seen simply as a means to generate ‘stuff ’, elaborating on or rearrang- ing abstract data types that describe levels or modular pieces of gameplay. Generating content which is situated in an understanding of the real-world is a much harder task; it requires access to large amounts of knowledge, and a good technique for parsing and using that knowledge. In this paper we describe A Rogue Dream, a game prototype which can generate new visual content and change its design based on an input word from the player at the start of the game. We describe the game and the tools it makes use of to do this, and use the game to discuss ways in which such techniques might enable unique kinds of gameplay or new directions for intelligent design tools.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Procedural content generation is often seen simply as a means to generate ‘stuff ’, elaborating on or rearrang- ing abstract data types that describe levels or modular pieces of gameplay. Generating content which is situated in an understanding of the real-world is a much harder task; it requires access to large amounts of knowledge, and a good technique for parsing and using that knowledge. In this paper we describe A Rogue Dream, a game prototype which can generate new visual content and change its design based on an input word from the player at the start of the game. We describe the game and the tools it makes use of to do this, and use the game to discuss ways in which such techniques might enable unique kinds of gameplay or new directions for intelligent design tools. |
Llano, Maria Teresa; Cook, Michael; Guckelsberger, Christian; Colton, Simon; Hepworth, Rose Towards the Automatic Generation of Fictional Ideas for Games Inproceedings In: Experimental AI in Games (EXAG’14), a workshop collocated with the tenth annual AAAI conference on artificial intelligence and interactive digital entertainment (AIIDE’14). AAAI Publications, 2014. @inproceedings{llano2014towards, title = {Towards the Automatic Generation of Fictional Ideas for Games}, author = { Maria Teresa Llano and Michael Cook and Christian Guckelsberger and Simon Colton and Rose Hepworth}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/llano_exag14.pdf}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, booktitle = {Experimental AI in Games (EXAG’14), a workshop collocated with the tenth annual AAAI conference on artificial intelligence and interactive digital entertainment (AIIDE’14). AAAI Publications}, abstract = {The invention of fictional ideas is often a central pro- cess in the creative production of artefacts such as po- ems, music, paintings and games. Currently, fictional ideation is being studied by the Computational Creativ- ity community within the WHIM European project. The aim of WHIM is to develop the What-If Machine, a soft- ware system capable of inventing, evaluating and pre- senting fictional ideas with cultural value. In this pa- per we explore the potential applications of the What-If Machine in the context of games. Specifically, we pro- pose ways in which the What-If Machine can be used as an assistant for the design of games, by providing ideas about characters, the environment, etc., as well as a creative system during gameplay, through interesting interactions with the player.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The invention of fictional ideas is often a central pro- cess in the creative production of artefacts such as po- ems, music, paintings and games. Currently, fictional ideation is being studied by the Computational Creativ- ity community within the WHIM European project. The aim of WHIM is to develop the What-If Machine, a soft- ware system capable of inventing, evaluating and pre- senting fictional ideas with cultural value. In this pa- per we explore the potential applications of the What-If Machine in the context of games. Specifically, we pro- pose ways in which the What-If Machine can be used as an assistant for the design of games, by providing ideas about characters, the environment, etc., as well as a creative system during gameplay, through interesting interactions with the player. |
Colton, Simon; Cook, Michael; Hepworth, Rose; Pease, Alison On Acid Drops and Teardrops: Observer Issues in Computational Creativity Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the 7th AISB Symposium on Computing and Philosophy, 2014. @inproceedings{colton2014acid, title = {On Acid Drops and Teardrops: Observer Issues in Computational Creativity}, author = { Simon Colton and Michael Cook and Rose Hepworth and Alison Pease}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/colton_aisb14c.pdf}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 7th AISB Symposium on Computing and Philosophy}, abstract = {We argue that the notion of creativity in a person or software is a secondary and essentially contested concept. Hence, in Computational Creativity research – where we aim to build software taken seriously as independently creative – understanding the roles people take as process observer and product consumer is paramount. Depending on the domain, there can be a natural bias against software created artefacts, and Computational Creativity researchers have exacerbated this situation through Turing-style comparison tests. Framing this as a modified Chinese Room experiment, we propose two remedies to the situation. These involve software accounting for its decisions, actions and products, and taking the radical step of thinking of computer generated artefacts as fundamentally different to their human-produced counterparts. We use two case studies, where people interact with an automated painter and with computer-generated videogames, to highlight the observer issues we raise, and to demonstrate partial implementations of our remedies.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We argue that the notion of creativity in a person or software is a secondary and essentially contested concept. Hence, in Computational Creativity research – where we aim to build software taken seriously as independently creative – understanding the roles people take as process observer and product consumer is paramount. Depending on the domain, there can be a natural bias against software created artefacts, and Computational Creativity researchers have exacerbated this situation through Turing-style comparison tests. Framing this as a modified Chinese Room experiment, we propose two remedies to the situation. These involve software accounting for its decisions, actions and products, and taking the radical step of thinking of computer generated artefacts as fundamentally different to their human-produced counterparts. We use two case studies, where people interact with an automated painter and with computer-generated videogames, to highlight the observer issues we raise, and to demonstrate partial implementations of our remedies. |
Colton, Simon; Pease, Alison; Corneli, Joseph; Cook, Michael; Llano, Maria Teresa Assessing Progress in Building Autonomously Creative Systems Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Computational Creativity, pp. 137–145, 2014. @inproceedings{colton2014assessing, title = {Assessing Progress in Building Autonomously Creative Systems}, author = { Simon Colton and Alison Pease and Joseph Corneli and Michael Cook and Maria Teresa Llano}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/colton_iccc2014.pdf}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Computational Creativity}, pages = {137--145}, abstract = {Determining conclusively whether a new version of software creatively exceeds a previous version or a third party system is dicult, yet very important for scientific approaches in Computational Creativity research. We argue that software product and process need to be assessed simultaneously in assessing progress, and we introduce a diagrammatic formalism which exposes various timelines of creative acts in the construction and execution of successive versions of artefactgenerating software. The formalism enables estimations of progress or regress from system to system by comparing their diagrams and assessing changes in quality, quantity and variety of creative acts undertaken; audience perception of behaviours; and the quality of artefacts produced. We present a case study in the building of evolutionary art systems, and we use the formalism to highlight various issues in measuring progress in the building of creative systems.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Determining conclusively whether a new version of software creatively exceeds a previous version or a third party system is dicult, yet very important for scientific approaches in Computational Creativity research. We argue that software product and process need to be assessed simultaneously in assessing progress, and we introduce a diagrammatic formalism which exposes various timelines of creative acts in the construction and execution of successive versions of artefactgenerating software. The formalism enables estimations of progress or regress from system to system by comparing their diagrams and assessing changes in quality, quantity and variety of creative acts undertaken; audience perception of behaviours; and the quality of artefacts produced. We present a case study in the building of evolutionary art systems, and we use the formalism to highlight various issues in measuring progress in the building of creative systems. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon Ludus Ex Machina: Building a 3D Game Designer that Competes Alongside Humans Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the 5th international conference on computational creativity, 2014. @inproceedings{cook2014ludus, title = {Ludus Ex Machina: Building a 3D Game Designer that Competes Alongside Humans}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_iccc2014.pdf}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th international conference on computational creativity}, volume = {380}, abstract = {We describe ANGELINA-5, software capable of creat- ing simple three-dimensional games autonomously. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first system which creates complete games in 3D. We summarise the his- tory of the ANGELINA project so far, describe the ar- chitecture of the latest version, and give details of its participation in Ludum Dare, a game design competi- tion. This is the first time that a piece of software has en- tered a videogame design contest for human designers, and represents a step forward for automated videogame design and computational creativity.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We describe ANGELINA-5, software capable of creat- ing simple three-dimensional games autonomously. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first system which creates complete games in 3D. We summarise the his- tory of the ANGELINA project so far, describe the ar- chitecture of the latest version, and give details of its participation in Ludum Dare, a game design competi- tion. This is the first time that a piece of software has en- tered a videogame design contest for human designers, and represents a step forward for automated videogame design and computational creativity. |
Browne, Cameron; Colton, Simon; Cook, Michael; Gow, Jeremy; Baumgarten, Robin Toward the Adaptive Generation of Bespoke Game Content Book Chapter In: IEEE Handbook of Digital Games , pp. 15–61, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2014. @inbook{browne2014toward, title = {Toward the Adaptive Generation of Bespoke Game Content}, author = { Cameron Browne and Simon Colton and Michael Cook and Jeremy Gow and Robin Baumgarten}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/browne_ieeechapter14-2.pdf}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {Handbook of Digital Games}, volume = {IEEE Handbook of Digital Games}, pages = {15--61}, publisher = {John Wiley & Sons, Inc.}, abstract = {In this chapter, we explore methods for automatically generating game content — and games themselves — adapted to individual players, in order to improve their playing experience or achieve a desired effect. This goes beyond notions of mere replayability, and involves modelling player needs to maximise their enjoyment, in- volvement and interest in the game being played. We identify three main aspects of this process: Generation of new content and rule sets; Measurement of this content and the player; Adaptation of the game to change player experience. This process forms a feedback loop of constant refinement, as games are continually improved while being played. Framed within this methodology, we present an overview of our recent and ongoing research in this area. This is illustrated by a number of case studies that demonstrate these ideas in action over a variety of game types, includ- ing: 3D action games, arcade games, platformers, board games, puzzles and open world games. We draw together some of the lessons learned from these projects to comment on the difficulties, the benefits and the potential for personalised gaming via adaptive game design.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inbook} } In this chapter, we explore methods for automatically generating game content — and games themselves — adapted to individual players, in order to improve their playing experience or achieve a desired effect. This goes beyond notions of mere replayability, and involves modelling player needs to maximise their enjoyment, in- volvement and interest in the game being played. We identify three main aspects of this process: Generation of new content and rule sets; Measurement of this content and the player; Adaptation of the game to change player experience. This process forms a feedback loop of constant refinement, as games are continually improved while being played. Framed within this methodology, we present an overview of our recent and ongoing research in this area. This is illustrated by a number of case studies that demonstrate these ideas in action over a variety of game types, includ- ing: 3D action games, arcade games, platformers, board games, puzzles and open world games. We draw together some of the lessons learned from these projects to comment on the difficulties, the benefits and the potential for personalised gaming via adaptive game design. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon A Puzzling Present: Code Modification for Game Mechanic Design Inproceedings In: Demo session Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computational Creativity, 2013. @inproceedings{Cook2013ICCC, title = {A Puzzling Present: Code Modification for Game Mechanic Design}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cook_icccdemo13.pdf}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-11-01}, booktitle = {Demo session Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computational Creativity}, abstract = {A Puzzling Present is an Android and Desktop game re- leased in December 2012. The game mechanics (that is, the player’s abilities) as well as the level designs were generated using Mechanic Miner, a procedural content generator that is capable of exploring, modifying and executing codebases to create game content. It is the first game developed using direct code modification as a means of procedural mechanic generation.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } A Puzzling Present is an Android and Desktop game re- leased in December 2012. The game mechanics (that is, the player’s abilities) as well as the level designs were generated using Mechanic Miner, a procedural content generator that is capable of exploring, modifying and executing codebases to create game content. It is the first game developed using direct code modification as a means of procedural mechanic generation. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon From Mechanics to Meaning and Back Again: Exploring Techniques for the Contextualisation of Code Inproceedings In: Procs. of the AIIDE Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Game Aesthetics, 2013. @inproceedings{cook2013mechanics, title = {From Mechanics to Meaning and Back Again: Exploring Techniques for the Contextualisation of Code}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_aiga13.pdf}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-01-01}, booktitle = {Procs. of the AIIDE Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Game Aesthetics}, abstract = {Code generation is a promising new area for the automatic production of mechanics and systems in games. Generated code alone is not sufficient for inclusion in a rich, fully-designed game, however - it lacks context to bind the functionality of code to the metaphorical setting of the game. In this paper we explore potential solutions to this problem, both in terms of creative systems which co-operate with human content, and the possibility for contextual meaning in autonomous, human-free creative systems as well. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Code generation is a promising new area for the automatic production of mechanics and systems in games. Generated code alone is not sufficient for inclusion in a rich, fully-designed game, however - it lacks context to bind the functionality of code to the metaphorical setting of the game. In this paper we explore potential solutions to this problem, both in terms of creative systems which co-operate with human content, and the possibility for contextual meaning in autonomous, human-free creative systems as well. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon; Gow, Jeremy Nobody’s a Critic: On the Evaluation of Creative Code Generators--A Case Study in Video Game Design Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computational Creativity, pp. 123–130, 2013. @inproceedings{cook2013nobody, title = {Nobody’s a Critic: On the Evaluation of Creative Code Generators--A Case Study in Video Game Design}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton and Jeremy Gow}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_iccc13.pdf}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computational Creativity}, pages = {123--130}, abstract = {Application domains for Computational Creativity projects range from musical composition to recipe design, but despite all of these systems having computational methods in common, we are aware of no projects to date that focus on program code as the created artefact. We present the Mechanic Miner tool for inventing new concepts for videogame interaction which works by inspecting, modifying and executing code. We describe the system in detail and report on an evaluation based on a large survey of people playing games using content it produced. We use this to raise issues regarding the assessment of code as a created artefact and to discuss future directions for Computational Creativity research. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Application domains for Computational Creativity projects range from musical composition to recipe design, but despite all of these systems having computational methods in common, we are aware of no projects to date that focus on program code as the created artefact. We present the Mechanic Miner tool for inventing new concepts for videogame interaction which works by inspecting, modifying and executing code. We describe the system in detail and report on an evaluation based on a large survey of people playing games using content it produced. We use this to raise issues regarding the assessment of code as a created artefact and to discuss future directions for Computational Creativity research. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon; Raad, Azalea; Gow, Jeremy Mechanic Miner: Reflection-Driven Game Mechanic Discovery and Level Design Inproceedings In: European Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation, pp. 284–293, Springer 2013. @inproceedings{cook2013mechanic, title = {Mechanic Miner: Reflection-Driven Game Mechanic Discovery and Level Design}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton and Azalea Raad and Jeremy Gow}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_evogames13.pdf}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-01-01}, booktitle = {European Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation}, pages = {284--293}, organization = {Springer}, abstract = {We introduce Mechanic Miner, an evolutionary system for discovering simple two-state game mechanics for puzzle platform games. We demonstrate how a reflection-driven generation technique can use a simulation of gameplay to select good mechanics, and how the simulationdriven process can be inverted to produce challenging levels specific to a generated mechanic. We give examples of levels and mechanics generated by the system, summarise a small pilot study conducted with example levels and mechanics, and point to further applications of the technique, including applications to automated game design. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We introduce Mechanic Miner, an evolutionary system for discovering simple two-state game mechanics for puzzle platform games. We demonstrate how a reflection-driven generation technique can use a simulation of gameplay to select good mechanics, and how the simulationdriven process can be inverted to produce challenging levels specific to a generated mechanic. We give examples of levels and mechanics generated by the system, summarise a small pilot study conducted with example levels and mechanics, and point to further applications of the technique, including applications to automated game design. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon; Pease, Alison Aesthetic Considerations for Automated Platformer Design Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the 8th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment, 2012. @inproceedings{Cook2012AIIDE, title = {Aesthetic Considerations for Automated Platformer Design}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton and Alison Pease}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cook_aiide12.pdf}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-11-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 8th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment}, abstract = {We describe ANGELINA3, a system that can automati- cally develop games along a defined theme, by select- ing appropriate multimedia content from a variety of sources and incorporating it into a game’s design. We discuss these capabilities in the context of the FACE model for assessing progress in the building of cre- ative systems, and discuss how ANGELINA3 can be improved through further work.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We describe ANGELINA3, a system that can automati- cally develop games along a defined theme, by select- ing appropriate multimedia content from a variety of sources and incorporating it into a game’s design. We discuss these capabilities in the context of the FACE model for assessing progress in the building of cre- ative systems, and discuss how ANGELINA3 can be improved through further work. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon; Gow, Jeremy Initial Results From Co-Operative Co-Evolution for Automated Platformer Design Inproceedings In: European Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation, pp. 194–203, Springer 2012. @inproceedings{cook2012initial, title = {Initial Results From Co-Operative Co-Evolution for Automated Platformer Design}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton and Jeremy Gow}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_evogames12.pdf}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, booktitle = {European Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation}, pages = {194--203}, organization = {Springer}, abstract = {We present initial results from ACCME,A Co-operative Co-evolutionary Metroidvania Engine, which uses co-operative co-evolution to automatically evolve simple platform games. We describe the system in detail and justify the use of co-operative co-evolution. We then address two fundamental questions about the use of this method in automated game design, both in terms of its ability to maximise fitness functions, and whether our choice of fitness function produces scores which correlate with player preference in the resulting games.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We present initial results from ACCME,A Co-operative Co-evolutionary Metroidvania Engine, which uses co-operative co-evolution to automatically evolve simple platform games. We describe the system in detail and justify the use of co-operative co-evolution. We then address two fundamental questions about the use of this method in automated game design, both in terms of its ability to maximise fitness functions, and whether our choice of fitness function produces scores which correlate with player preference in the resulting games. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon ANGELINA-Coevolution in Automated Game Design Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Computational Creativity, pp. 228, 2012. @inproceedings{cook2012angelina, title = {ANGELINA-Coevolution in Automated Game Design}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_iccc12.pdf}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Computational Creativity}, pages = {228}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon Automated Collage Generation – With More Intent Inproceedings In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Computational Creativity, 2011. @inproceedings{Cook2011ICCC, title = {Automated Collage Generation – With More Intent}, author = {Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_iccc11.pdf}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-10-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Computational Creativity}, abstract = {The majority of software has no meta-level perception of what it is doing, or what it intends to achieve. With- out such higher cognitive functions, we might be dis- inclined to bestow creativity onto such software. We generalise previous work on collage generation, which attempted to blur the line between the intentionality of the programmer and that of the software in the visual arts. Firstly, we embed the collage generation process into a computational creativity collective, which con- tains processes and mashups of processes, designed so that the output of one generative system becomes the input of another. Secondly, we analyse the previous approach to collage generation to determine where in- tentionality arose, leading to experimentation where we test whether augmented keyword searches can enable the software to exert more intentional control.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The majority of software has no meta-level perception of what it is doing, or what it intends to achieve. With- out such higher cognitive functions, we might be dis- inclined to bestow creativity onto such software. We generalise previous work on collage generation, which attempted to blur the line between the intentionality of the programmer and that of the software in the visual arts. Firstly, we embed the collage generation process into a computational creativity collective, which con- tains processes and mashups of processes, designed so that the output of one generative system becomes the input of another. Secondly, we analyse the previous approach to collage generation to determine where in- tentionality arose, leading to experimentation where we test whether augmented keyword searches can enable the software to exert more intentional control. |
Colton, Simon; Cook, Michael; Raad, Azalea Ludic Considerations of Tablet-Based Evo-Art Inproceedings In: European Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation, pp. 223–233, Springer 2011. @inproceedings{colton2011ludic, title = {Ludic Considerations of Tablet-Based Evo-Art}, author = { Simon Colton and Michael Cook and Azalea Raad}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/colton2011ludic.pdf}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, booktitle = {European Conference on the Applications of Evolutionary Computation}, pages = {223--233}, organization = {Springer}, abstract = {With the introduction of the iPad and similar devices, there is a unique opportunity to build tablet-based evolutionary art software for general consumption, and we describe here the i-ELVIRA iPad ap- plication for such purposes. To increase the ludic enjoyment users have with i-ELVIRA, we designed a GUI which gives the user a higher level of control and more efficient feedback than usual for desktop evo-art software. This relies on the efficient delivery of crossover and mutation images which bear an appropriate amount of resemblance to their par- ent(s). This requirement in turn led to technical difficulties which we resolved via the implementation and experimentation described here.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } With the introduction of the iPad and similar devices, there is a unique opportunity to build tablet-based evolutionary art software for general consumption, and we describe here the i-ELVIRA iPad ap- plication for such purposes. To increase the ludic enjoyment users have with i-ELVIRA, we designed a GUI which gives the user a higher level of control and more efficient feedback than usual for desktop evo-art software. This relies on the efficient delivery of crossover and mutation images which bear an appropriate amount of resemblance to their par- ent(s). This requirement in turn led to technical difficulties which we resolved via the implementation and experimentation described here. |
Cook, Michael; Colton, Simon Multi-Faceted Evolution of Simple Arcade Games Inproceedings In: Proceedings IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games, pp. 289–296, 2011. @inproceedings{cook2011multi, title = {Multi-Faceted Evolution of Simple Arcade Games}, author = { Michael Cook and Simon Colton}, url = {http://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cook_cig11-2.pdf}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games}, pages = {289--296}, abstract = {We present a system for generating complete game designs by evolving rulesets, character layouts and terrain maps in an orchestrated way. In contrast to existing approaches to generate such game components in isolation, our ANGELINA system develops game components in unison with an appreciation for their interrelatedness. We describe this multi-faceted evolutionary approach, and give some results from a first round of experimentation. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } We present a system for generating complete game designs by evolving rulesets, character layouts and terrain maps in an orchestrated way. In contrast to existing approaches to generate such game components in isolation, our ANGELINA system develops game components in unison with an appreciation for their interrelatedness. We describe this multi-faceted evolutionary approach, and give some results from a first round of experimentation. |