First of all, go to the Download page, and download the FREE software for the Co-Evolutionary Robot Soccer Show.

Then, unzip the file and run cerss.exe on your Win98 or WinNT computer.

Now you see the show. You can set population and fitness formula parameters on the left side of the television screen (you can get help on the different parameters by clicking on their name). When you press the start button, the evolution will start running in the background. If you run for e.g. 30 generation, then it might take 30-60 minutes. The quality of the soccer players that you develop depends on how you set the population and fitness formula parameters. So you have to try different parameters and runs in order to develop the best soccer player.

On the right side, you can press on the small field, and you will be able to see matches on your television screen. By clicking on the blue and the red player, you can choose different players for the game on the screen (e.g. the ones that you are currently evolving in the background). When you press the start button, the game will start on your screen.

When you have developed good player(s) by using different settings of the population and fitness formula parameters, you can send your player to the server by clicking on the envelope. Then you will fill in a form and send the player. During the night, your player will play a lot of matches against the other players submitted to the server. In the morning, a new Highscore List based on all matches will be produced. So you can go to the web-site and see how your player is doing every day. At the end of the competition, the best players on the Highscore List will win the sponsored prices.

Essentially, the game is about choosing the right parameters for the evolution (e.g. cross-over rate, mutation rate, number of rounds, points for scoring goals, etc.). You will probably have to try over and over again to evolve the best possible robot soccer player.

Good luck!