Retrograde Analysis of Patterns versus Metaprogramming
Tristan Cazenave · Studies in fuzziness and soft computing · 2001
The main objective of this chapter is to present a comparative study of two techniques that automatically generate useful knowledge in games. Retrograde analysis of patterns generates pattern databases, starting with a simple definition of a sub-goal in a game and progressively finding all the pattern of given sizes that fulfill this sub-goal. Metaprogramming is based on similar concepts, but instead of generating fixed size patterns, it generates programs. Programs enable to represent knowledge in a more flexible way. However, they may take more time to use than pattern knowledge. We will describe the application of these two methods to the game of Hex, and compare their behaviors on this game.