Evolving Simulated Mutually Perceptive Creatures for Combat

A fundamental obstacle in evolutionary simulations is the necessity of designing more complex simulations to elicit more complex behaviors. We use a combat-based fitness measure to attempt to circumvent this problem. We have designed a simulation that simultaneously evolves the brains and bodies of creatures for one-on-one combat in a threedimensional environment with realistic physics. By giving the creatures a rich sensorium, we allow them to react sensibly to each others' actions. We discuss the effective, elegant and diverse simulated fighters that emerge, and examine whether qualitatively greater evolutionary complexity arises.