Cooperative Multi-agent Approach for Automated Computer Game Testing

TL;DR

This paper proposes a cooperative multi-agent approach for automated testing of multiplayer computer games, demonstrating its effectiveness through a case study on a 3D game called Lab Recruits.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cooperative multi-agent testing framework specifically designed for multiplayer games, enhancing testing efficiency and coverage.

Findings

Cooperative agents improve testing speed and coverage.

The approach is validated on a complex 3D game, showing promising results.

Abstract

Automated testing of computer games is a challenging problem, especially when lengthy scenarios have to be tested. Automating such a scenario boils down to finding the right sequence of interactions given an abstract description of the scenario. Recent works have shown that an agent-based approach works well for the purpose, e.g. due to agents' reactivity, hence enabling a test agent to immediately react to game events and changing state. Many games nowadays are multi-player. This opens up an interesting possibility to deploy multiple cooperative test agents to test such a game, for example to speed up the execution of multiple testing tasks. This paper offers a cooperative multi-agent testing approach and a study of its performance based on a case study on a 3D game called Lab Recruits.