Modified Chinese Checkers Sabrina Wang, Ben Perlmutter, Melinda Lim

Why Trees are Bad Trees are static. BFS – too many nodes/branches, not enough processing power DFS – The depth isn’t always known. Backtracking – Intermediate steps depend on opposition moves, too many nodes/branches to explore Iterative Deepening – depends on the oppositions moves which are variable and can’t be predicted

Generic Best First Search A* is a great option. Challenge: finding an accurate g(n)/h(n) heuristic. g(n) = combination of: y distance to reach node n and number of pieces in path h(n) = combination of: y distance to reach the end from node n and number of pieces in path (based on expected value)

Improvements to A* IDA* will help us reduce the number of h(n) values to be calculated. What is the cut off? Should it be different at different points of the game? SMA* - do we need to consider memory issues?

Other Considerations Grey Marble Is it just another piece? Or does it have other implications? Do we treat it as a “special” case in the algorithm? Other heuristic improvements to g(n) h(n) h(n) – determine where the grey ball may be placed “Blocking” How to act at different stages in the game.