[game_preservation] Computers playing videogames

[Andrew Armstrong]

Games can already play themselves :) You used to be able to set the Left 
4 Dead bots to "play without humans" and just move themselves. The AI 
director there already plays the zombie side if it isn't versus :)

Oh, going back further, bots in anything from quake-times onwards also 
count :D

I like the AI research areas though - things are a bit more abstract and 
puzzle-like in Mario etc. - and involve more complex timing (rather then 
just letting a pathfinding algorithm tell the AI where it needs to jump 
etc.).

As for where it puts games - squarely in the academic arena for these 
purposes. Self-playing won't be fun, however cooperative and competitive 
play will be - I'd love non-rubberband AI opponents in racing games 
(rarely done, but is possible), better informed and competent AI allies 
and opponents in anything that involves any kind of cooperation too 
(especially strategy and management games which don't usually feature 
highly adept AI). Personally, I'd also like AI's to be able to play as a 
human would - as much of the kind of research progression intends (ie; 
AI's playing singleplayer levels), but that is more my interest in AI 
then any real world application besides "yay, we can do it!".

Andrew

Devin Monnens wrote:

> First there was the team of researchers who created an algorithm to 

> play Pitfall.

>

> http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3174930

> http://paul.rutgers.edu/~cdiuk/papers/OORL.pdf 

> <http://paul.rutgers.edu/%7Ecdiuk/papers/OORL.pdf> - paper documenting it

>

> Now, someone has created a Flash program that builds its own Mario 

> levels. Someone ELSE created a program that plays those levels by itself:

>

> http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1918634

>

> With Nintendo's announcement of games that will play themselves, this 

> is an interesting trend. What might this hold for the future of games 

> as well as preservation? And what might it tell us about learning?

>

> -- 

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com <http://www.deserthat.com>

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

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