TABLE OF CONTENTS Computer based models provide a half-way house between theory and experiment. Computer based models are not experiments in the usual sense because they do not directly manipulate the world being modeled. Nevertheless, as the model is executed, patterns and symmetries will typically show up in the ongoing action Such emergent characteristics can suggest experimental designs for real situations. John Holland, Emergence [Holl99]
First and foremost, EINSTein is a tool that allows the researcher to explore a wide range of self-organized emergent patterns of macroscopic behavior that result from the collective interactions of individual agents, fireteams, squads and entire forces; and to explore the feedback that these patterns might have on the rules governing an individual agent s behavior. A typical workflow always begins by defining a scenario, which consists of a specific disposition of red and blue agents (with squads assigned to boxes that themselves can be arranged anywhere on the battlefield) and sets of nominal values for all pertinent parameters (such as personality weights, sensor and fire ranges, ?-rule thresholds, weapon selections, terrain and/or waypath data).
While the process of setting the values of EINSTein s built-in parameters within the program is straightforward (at least once the researcher has thoroughly familiarized herself with the meaning of each parameter) and may be further streamlined by simply modifying, at most, a few lines in one of the sample data files that are included in EINSTein s install program (by using a basic text editor) because so many of...
