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Games with Adaptive AI?

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Luke_Wal

Member
Hey Gaf,

For one of my classes (the topic is cybernetics), I have to write an essay about a system that attempts to maintain homeostasis - in other words, it adapts to feedback and attempts to regulate itself. My professor and I talked about the example of a game that learns from the way you're playing it and adapts to your playstyle and provides you with new challenges. I know there are examples of this, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Some cursory Googling led me to Left 4 Dead's AI Director, which is a good example, but I've never played the game (console guy), so I'm a little hesitant of writing about something I have no real knowledge of. Anybody have any good examples?
 
There was just a thread about this last week. Crash Bandicoot was the big surprise.

Edit: I'm stupid, misremembered the thread title. No OP, you're thread is actually quite novel. Carry on!
 
This is the fundamental Conceit of God Hand.

Quite a few of Platinum's titles have AI become more passive when off screen.

FEAR's AI and level design also naturally lend to creating these sorts of interplay between player strategies.
 
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The enemies adapt to your type of gameplay. For example: if you're using too much a sniper rifle, they'll start wearing helmets.
 
Might be rudimentary or not exactly AI, but if I remember right a few fighting games like Virtua Fighter 4, had a mode where you would fight and the game would record data so to speak to become more difficult against your habits.

Always been pretty skeptical against these AI claims though. Adaptive difficulty always seemed like it was just checkpoints noting your deaths or lack there of. Dunno though!
 
A lot of fighting games will learn a bit of your patterns. So if you always low sweep on the rise from the ground in Dead or Alive the AI will begin to do low counters to punish you. If you repeat an unsafe combo too many times they will catch it. If you spam a combo too often they will start to counter the start up strikes of it.

A lot of harder fighting game AIs such as SNK final bosses you almost need to find loop holes in the ai to exploit. Sometimes they are bad at punishing a particular attack or two and it lets you setup some safe combos for damage.
 
CocaMantis said:
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The enemies adapt to your type of gameplay. For example: if you're using too much a sniper rifle, they'll start wearing helmets.
Click to expand...

This is a good one.

Too many headshots and you'll start seeing more helmets on enemies. Claymores placed around outer perimeters if you don't go directly in the base, more and more guards wear night vision goggles if you infiltrate mostly at night.
 
Kindekuma said:
This is a good one.

Too many headshots and you'll start seeing more helmets on enemies. Claymores placed around outer perimeters if you don't go directly in the base, more and more guards wear night vision goggles if you infiltrate mostly at night.
Click to expand...

Oooh, this is a really good one.

I've also never played this, though. So the game adapts to your playstyle? How long does that take? For example, if I infiltrate one mission at night using headshots, will the next mission have all foes with night vision goggles and helmets, or is there a slower, more gradual ramp-up?
 
Even if youd played it, I don't think Left 4 Dead is a particularly good example, because to m it felt like the AI was predictable. It seemed to fall into calm-scary-calm with the variation being the monsters and maybe a bit of fluctuation in time.

I think a better system would be a game that had AI which adjust over multiple play throughs, rather than during a single play through. That you'd get some individual playthroughs that' were too intense, some that were dull and a mix between them. But the totality of the players time with the game would be more rewarding.
 
Belker said:
Even if youd played it, I don't think Left 4 Dead is a particularly good example, because to m it felt like the AI was predictable. It seemed to fall into calm-scary-calm with the variation being the monsters and maybe a bit of fluctuation in time.

I think a better system would be a game that had AI which adjust over multiple play throughs, rather than during a single play through. That you'd get some individual playthroughs that' were too intense, some that were dull and a mix between them. But the totality of the players time with the game would be more rewarding.
Click to expand...

That'd be almost useless. Most people only play a game once, unless you mean in L4D games or something....
 
UnemployedVillain said:
That'd be almost useless. Most people only play a game once, unless you mean in L4D games or something....
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Yes, I meant L4D. Each time I played it, it felt too similar. It's like the world they were simulating had a consistent number of zombies in each playthrough.

Edit

I'm not sure this counts, but the Shadowrun FPS had a system that made the game more difficult for better teams. It would adjust the number of bullets it took to get rid of enemy corpses - so they couldn't be resurrected - and I think it also tweaked mana usage.

You could set up bot only / mixed matches, so it would be piggy backing on the instructions for the bots.
 
Valkerionseven said:
Might be rudimentary or not exactly AI, but if I remember right a few fighting games like Virtua Fighter 4, had a mode where you would fight and the game would record data so to speak to become more difficult against your habits.
Click to expand...
I remember this too with Virtual Fighter 4. Even so I think I just used the same few moves over and over to win.
 
There is an upcomming indy game with fully adaptive AI. Its a stealth/Shooter hybrid type game. Cant remember what its called though. Will google.

Edit: it had a purple look and i always confused it with Volume.
 
Believe pro evolution soccer 2017 is a recent example of this? It was highlighted as one of the standout points of the game
 
cj_iwakura said:
Does Typing of the Dead count? The faster you type, the harder the game gets.
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I missed this, but yes, this is perfectly simplistic enough. Do we have any other examples of something like this? Maybe in the puzzle genre? This guy seems like he would probably like a paper about a puzzle game.
 
Luke_Wal said:
Oooh, this is a really good one.

I've also never played this, though. So the game adapts to your playstyle? How long does that take? For example, if I infiltrate one mission at night using headshots, will the next mission have all foes with night vision goggles and helmets, or is there a slower, more gradual ramp-up?
Click to expand...

This is not an adaptive AI process. It's a mission to mission thing, the game tracks your actions and the next mission will have predefined counters in place (like helmets if you're headshotting a lot of enemies).

Very few games with real adaptive AI.
 
ZanacBoxArt.jpg


"The game is known for its intense and fast-paced gameplay, level of difficulty, and music which seems to match the pace of the game. It has been praised for its unique adaptive artificial intelligence, in which the game automatically adjusts the difficulty level according to the player's skill level, rate of fire and the ship's current defensive status/capability."
 
Hello Neighbor, it's in alpha right now. Description on Steam:

Hello Neighbor is a stealth horror game about sneaking into your neighbor's house to figure out what horrible secrets he's hiding in the basement. You play against an advanced AI that learns from your every move. Really enjoying climbing through that backyard window? Expect a bear trap there. Sneaking through the front door? There'll be cameras there soon. Trying to escape? The Neighbor will find a shortcut and catch you.
Click to expand...
 
It's adaptation catered for the player as opposed to against them, but Dragon's Dogma makes a very intetesting example of it in their Pawn System.
 
There really isn't "true" adaptive AI in the sense you're thinking. Most examples people are posting aren't really the same thing, like RE4 increasing enemy health if you play well or MGS5 spawning enemies with helmets in the next level if you get a lot of headshots.

I can't think of any game off hand that has an adaptive AI that would count as actual learning, at least not one beyond "He's done a sweeping kick ten times in a row, bet he does it again."
 
ProgenitorCastle said:
I heard in Alien: Isolation, the Alien's AI adapts to the player's strategies...not sure since I haven't played it myself
Click to expand...

It seemed to adapt to an extent based on what I've played and seen. It's the reason that being overly hidy and staying in the same hiding spots is a death sentence because the Ai narrows down your potential hiding spots.
 
left for dead is right. as an example, some friends and I had just beat one of the campaigns on expert, and we just wanted to take a break, so we played another one on easy. the director had decided that we were too skilled for that. we ran into a tank (giant spongy enemy that punches really hard) in the sewers- typically if you can, you want to fight them in wide open spaces so you can kite him around while your team shoots him- taking one in close quarters is tough. we decide, "screw it, let's just run for it and try to get out of the sewers- some of us will probably make it." we turn a corner, and there's another tank. in normal circumstances, the game will almost never throw two tanks at you at the same time. there was still enough room to maneuver around it, so most of the team distracted them while one of us bolted for it, going through the last narrow pipe which would get him out of the sewer system. waiting at the end of the pipe was a third tank, blocking the only way out.
we all died.
the director can be a dick sometimes.
shame no one really plays that game anymore, it was a lot of fun.
 
RevenWolf said:
It seemed to adapt to an extent based on what I've played and seen. It's the reason that being overly hidy and staying in the same hiding spots is a death sentence because the Ai narrows down your potential hiding spots.
Click to expand...

Cool...sounds intense! I may pick the game up down the line
 
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