Machine Learning Could Create the Perfect Game Bosses
Machine Learning Could Create the Perfect Game Bosses
Machine Learning Could Create the Perfect Game Bosses
By Matthew Smith
December 29, 2022
Summary
Trachel and Peyrot say their goal is "Not to create superhuman bots-that would not be fun and engaging for a novice player-but instead to find ways to incorporate machine learning into game AI tools already used in production."
Modl.ai's testing bots use machine learning to adapt to each game tested, though its current implementation limits those adaptations to each specific title.
Togelius says the company is prototyping the addition of deep learning that will train bot behavior across multiple games.
Crafting a fair, fun challenge isn't the only hurdle facing developers who want to use machine learning in games.
Machine learning requires lots of training data for worthwhile results, and that data can only be acquired by playing a game thousands or tens of thousands of times.
Machine learning, he says, "Will by necessity be slow because game engines are not built for this. One of the many reasons we don't see more interesting modern AI in games is because Unreal and Unity and all their ilk are basically terrible-anti-AI in so many ways."
This works well when animators know with certainty how game characters will behave, but an AI controlled by machine learning might behave in ways the animators didn't expect.
Reference
Smith, M. (2022, December 29). Machine learning could create the perfect game bosses. Wired. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://www.wired.com/story/machine-learning-ai-game-development-bosses-enemies/