AI vs AI Games Thread

Back when I was a kid, there were things me and my friends did that, at the time, I assumed no one else did. One of those things was AI vs AI fights. Usually this was done with custom characters in wrestling games, but sometimes I'd do it with other games. Whereas most people used Gmod to make cool physics stuff, I mainly used it to have the AI fight each other and see who wins. Those who read the webcomic "Concerned" might remember an occational segment called "To The Death!" that was more or less the same concept.

I recently fell down a weird hole of watching YouTube videos of virtual football matches. The so called 4chan cup. This is strange as I'm not a fan of 4chan or football, but watching the AI play itself (the players take on the role of managers) in this weird modded version of a football game is strangely addictive.

I could go on listing examples, but I want to ask if you ever did this? If so, what games, and what kind of matches did you set up?

And while I'm on the topic, I might as well ask, would you play a game built around this concept? If so, what kind of contest would it be? Ball sports, fighting, racing, maybe shooting? And when it comes to character creators, who do you like to make? Friends, film stars, game characters, or something else?

PS. Is there any way to check a pole results without voting in it yourself?

but I want to ask if you ever did this? If so, what games, and what kind of matches did you set up?

I've made some AI vs AI before but it was as side work instead of main quest of the game e.g using cheat to make enemy fight against other enemy

Other AI vs AI I've made is for this :

I don't have video for AI vs AI but with this video, I can show you that there's a mode in Hippodrome in which player watches AI vs AI

would you play a game built around this concept?

The answer is no. Provided AI isn't always smart and I prefer doing it myself than letting AI do it

From a developer's point of view I think AI versus AI is an interesting challenge. It's something I'd like to try but mainly as a way to experiment with having AI controlled allies.

From a player's point of view I think it would depend on the level of interaction they have. For instance, if the player had to set up the basic tactics that the AI had to use - attacking or defending, the types of troops in the army and their initial placement and so on depending on the game - then it might be interesting to watch the action unfold.

In my opinion, games are supposed to be interactive. They're about the player making choices and or testing their skills. Take too much of that away and you'll probably just end up with a screen saver.

My friends and I used to watch AI fights in Smash and hand to hand fights. We would bet penny candy on the matches as well as study moves, combos and how the AI played the game that we could learn from when we played the game ourselves. We also discovered balance issue and other weird things the AI would try to do and how it interacted with the world.

I grew up doing this a lot in Smash Bros. by having four level 9 CPUs battling each other. It's a good way to pick out a character.

29_games wrote:

From a player's point of view I think it would depend on the level of interaction they have. For instance, if the player had to set up the basic tactics that the AI had to use - attacking or defending, the types of troops in the army and their initial placement and so on depending on the game - then it might be interesting to watch the action unfold.

Now that you put it that way, games like Gratuitous Space Battles, or the Half Life 2 co-op map Card War are basically that. In Gratuitous Space Battles, you equip ships with different weapons to fight over ships. In Card War, you have to play 4 cards, each representing a different unit (some are strong, but few in number, others are weak but there's lots. Some are have guns, others have melee, etc). You have to pick who to play against an opponents team, but you don't know what they picked so there is an element of guessing/luck involved.

Me and a few friends used to do this with one of the Fight Night games. There was a character creator which allowed you to make some truly odd looking people, adjust their stats, and then pit them against each other. Our favorite match up was a super strong giant of a man named Cock Knocker vs. the completely inept but courageous Squeaky "Bam Bam" Pissant. CK had max stats but no heart. SP had all heart but nothing else. The battles were epic. We'd take turns providing color commentary for the matches. I'm not sure how you would make a game of just that commercially viable but I'd buy it.

DarkSpaceGames wrote:

Me and a few friends used to do this with one of the Fight Night games. There was a character creator which allowed you to make some truly odd looking people, adjust their stats, and then pit them against each other. Our favorite match up was a super strong giant of a man named Cock Knocker vs. the completely inept but courageous Squeaky "Bam Bam" Pissant. CK had max stats but no heart. SP had all heart but nothing else. The battles were epic. We'd take turns providing color commentary for the matches. I'm not sure how you would make a game of just that commercially viable but I'd buy it.

So SP was basically Ma-Ti from Captain Planet? Who won the matches?

DarkBloodbane, what is different about making AI vs AI instead of regular vs player AI? I assume you'd just spawn them in, and tell them to treat each other as an enemy? And why would it be a cheat?

Edited by: SabreXT

So SP was basically Ma-Ti from Captain Planet? Who won the matches?

CK invariably. Squeaky was effectively Rocky. He could take a punch but had few other tools to bring to the ring. He got very close though. He almost managed a TKO but Cock Knocker was saved by the bell in the last round.

Many games incorporate a version of AI v AI. Dragon Age, Kingdom Hearts, and several other RPGs allow you to set skills and roles for AI companions so that they can attack enemies (computer controlled AIs) autonomously. If I'm not mistaken FF13 gives you the option of having the computer do most of the combat portions based on player controlled directives and attack patterns. It's an interesting field of design. No one's really put it front and center in a popular title yet but I'm very curious to see what could be done. I think there are also some auto battle browser games which use a rudimentary AI v AI system?

DarkSpaceGames wrote:

I think there are also some auto battle browser games which use a rudimentary AI v AI system?

There have been some older games that do this in a very rudimentary fashion, both to save on graphics and to speed up game play. I've only seen it where actual combat takes place, not strategies in real time...strategy games. There was a Street Fighter for the DS (if I remember correctly) and one of its side features was that you would choose 3 fighters that you had unlocked through game play (randomly rolled stats but the same move sets as the playable characters) and any person you walked close to, the auto connect would kick in and each team would fight, best 2 of 3 rounds. It would tell you who your team beat and who it lost to the next time the game was launched. Although I don't think it was actually possible to see the two sets of AI's fighting both during or after.

It would be interesting to see an entire game based on it. Training and arming gladiators with different instructions to fight the opponents. The frustration would be amazingly high (if you continuously didn't win) as all the game play would have been completed prior to the actual combat, but at the same time I can't image a more nail biting gaming experience.

I assume you'd just spawn them in, and tell them to treat each other as an enemy? And why would it be a cheat?

You misunderstood, it was old game called Heretic 2. By default, enemies, despite their different races, won't attack each other (even if you spawn them close). Only after setting certain cheat they will start attacking each other. Of course, there's no cheat way to make them fight each other but it's tough and not effective with most enemies

what is different about making AI vs AI instead of regular vs player AI?

There are some clever and tricky AI which can't be dealt by NPC AI. For instance, bosses which spawn clones of themselves, set traps, performs hide n attack and prepare a counter pose which deals big damage if attacked. I haven't seen any NPCs which are smart enough to deal with those

In example I mentioned above i.e spectate mode of Hippodrome, I had to choose certain fighters to fight against NPC to ensure the battle would be fair and balanced. BTW I have hard and tough fighters which can decimate NPCs with their attacks in Hippodrome. Obviously I don't pit these against NPCs

Many games incorporate a version of AI v AI

Add Tales of series, Star Ocean series and Secret of Mana series to the list. These games have NPCs fighting along side main character which player controls. If player acts as pacifist, those games would practically be AI vs AI

From my experience playing some of those series, NPCs aren't too smart but reliable enough to be your partner. That's why enemies (from my observation) aren't too smart either. Bosses are another story, you can't rely on NPCs to defeat them IOW you have to fight them with your own strategy + support from NPCs

I think there are also some auto battle browser games which use a rudimentary AI v AI system?

I think I've seen some of those but can't remember the names...

I Personally Recommend mugen if you want to see an Ai Vs Ai Fight,It's basically Street fighter but you can get Tons of different characters Like Sonic And make them fight each other,Or fight them yourself,And getting Characters isn't that hard,You just get them online,I know this thread may already be dead,Just sharing my opinion on the matter.