A firm is an example of an adaptive agent acting in a complex adaptive system. In addition, a firm's profitability is at least partially dependent upon the actions of its competitors. This interactivity among agents is a feature of any complex system. Artificial adaptive agents are usually programmed using artificial intelligence algorithms that allow them to act in rational, or human, ways in their environment. With two or more players, the payoff can depend on the joint actions of each player, and it is possible to create a payoff matrix which details the payoff to a player given the various actions of every other player.
Fitness landscapes have higher and lower areas of fitness that are referred to as peaks and valleys.
Unlike a payoff matrix, the shape of these peaks and valleys changes over time as the actions of the agents in the system deform the fitness landscape. Agents are therefore likely to face a new fitness landscape in each time period. A 'rugged' fitness landscape is one with many peaks and valleys while a 'smooth' fitness landscape has few peaks and valleys. A strategic landscape is a fitness landscape where the height of the landscape represents the level of profit available to a firm given the joint strategies of all the other firms in the model. The height of the landscape will depend not only on the actions of competitors but also on the level of wealth, or munificence, in the general environment.