MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Okay Debbi Downer...

Take it for what it is, not for what it could be. The idea is novel, yes, but fascinating none the less.

I agree he's a douche...

> >
> http://www.geek.com/games/computer-program-learns-to-play-classic-nes-games-1552024/
>
> It's not as cool as it sounds. To boil it down to the most basic features, the author
> has created a program that:
>
> a) Evaluates the entire 2048 byte chunk of memory of an NES system without any actual
> understanding of what any of it means, only that some values can be seen to go "up",
> and "up is good".
>
> b) Runs through an emulator, trying random inputs and finding the sequence of inputs
> that increases the memory locations for which it was already determined that "up is
> good" the most
>
> c) Uses some modicom of smart heuristics to reduce the search space (instead of
> trying all 256 possible input combinations every frame, have a better algorithm for
> only evaluating those inputs that are most likely to be good)
>
> d) Uses some other mechanisms that I didn't read all of the details about to try to
> find workarounds to the inevitable shortcomings of this simplistic approach
>
> e) After chewing for a long time comes up with an input sequence that was able to
> raise the important memory location values the most
>
> It's not a sophisticated A.I. by any stretch of the imagination. It's a simple search
> function with some tricks to try to make it more effective, combined with a novel
> (although fairly simplistic) mechanism for evaluating the search function (i.e.
> trying to find values in memory that can consistently be made to increase).
>
> It takes an hour of CPU computation just to output the inputs for 16 seconds of
> gameplay. It cannot play the game real time. Furthermore, the program doesn't
> actually "exploit bugs in the game", in the sense of knowing about them and
> anticipating and using them. If a random input sequence at a specific moment of the
> game happened to result in Mario surviving due to a game bug, then so be it. The A.I.
> will not use that information to help it plan a future move.
>
> Additionally, the author somewhat self-aggrandizes the program with the long "white
> paper" title and his video. And the white paper itself is more like an informal email
> describing what he did and then put into the shape of a white paper, than an actual
> white paper meant to be taken seriously. I've never seen a white paper use the term
> "horse shit" before (nor the dozens of other informalities it also uses), for
> example.