// find neighbor with lowest cost based on costMap
        for(Aim direction : directions) {
            Tile neighbor = ai.getTile(a, direction);
            Ilk ilk = ai.getIlk(neighbor);
            int cost = costMap[neighbor.getRow()][neighbor.getCol()];

            // 0 means unexplored, so skip.
            if(cost == 0) continue;

            // ignore directions that are not passable.
            if(!ilk.isUnoccupied() || !ilk.isPassable()) continue;

            // ignore direction if it goes to the square
            // that this ant came from last turn. This
            // helps avoid ants dancing back and forth between
            // two squares because of a conflict in objectives.
            if(antMoveHistory.get(a) == direction) {
                historySkipped = true;
                continue;
            }


            // if lowestCost is undefined,
            // use current direction and cost as baseline
            if(lowestCost == -1) {
                selectedDir = direction;
                lowestCost = cost;
                continue;
            }

            // if current cost is lower than previous
            // lowestCost, use it as the new lowestCost
            if(cost < lowestCost) {
                lowestCost = cost;
                selectedDir = direction;
            }
        }