![]() Say you’re playing Halo and you’re fighting a pair of Hunters. Players make choices, receive feedback from the game regarding the choice they made, adjust their behavior, and do it again. Sid Meier is famously quoted (and disputed) for saying that “A game is a series of interesting choices,” and even though I don’t want to go quite THAT far, the significance of a choice is still a vital factor for game design. The Reverse Turing Test helps identify what kind of choices players have to make in the game. There you have it: a computer program that can play DvsW perfectly. If the former is true, react with the proper counterattack. If enough game time passes that my next attack would be faster than the player’s reaction time, launch an attack.Įvery frame, check two things: if the player has launched an attack, and if the speed of my next attack would be faster than the player’s reaction time. With this, there’s absolutely no way for the computer program to lose. We can even write this computer program to go on the offensive, too. It would be a simple matter to write a script that instantly reacts with the proper counter the exact moment that a player attacks. If player uses front kick, use punch. If player uses punch, use side kick. If player uses side kick, use front kick. Would it be possible for one to reasonably and easily create a computer program to play DvsW perfectly? The answer is a resounding yes.įirst of all, a computer program can have (essentially) zero reaction time. Now that all of that is done, let’s take a look at our Reverse Turing Test. Should I strike now, and risk being countered by my enemy, or should I strike later and have a greater chance of landing my attack? Or should I focus on counterattacking now, so that if my enemy attacks first I’ll be ready to react, even though the longer I wait the lower my chances of a successful counterattack will be? But with each second that passes, your next strike will be faster, and thus give your enemy a smaller window to counterattack (which means a greater chance that your original attack will connect). If you attack right at the beginning of the match, your strike will take about a second to land, which is plenty of time for your opponent to use the appropriate counterattack. However, the game also has another trick: the speed at which you attack will ramp up as the game time progresses. Different attacks are countered differently: front kicks (A and J) are countered by punches (S and K), which are countered by side kicks (D and L), which are countered by front kicks. But if the counterattacker presses the wrong button or doesn’t react in time, the win goes to the original attacker. If a counterattack successfully happens, the counterattacker lands the hit and wins the round. As soon as Diefenbach attacks, Wagner is able to press K (his punch) to counterattack. Say that Diefenbach attacks by pressing A, which executes his front kick attack. ![]() The three attacks are functionally all the same, but as soon as one player launches an attack, the other player is given the opportunity to counterattack by pressing one of his three buttons. The first person to land an attack on the other wins: it’s a one-hit-kill game. In DvsW, each player gets three keys (ASD for Diefenbach, JKL for Wagner) that will each activate one of three attacks. So let’s break down DvsW and see how it plays into the Reverse Turing Test.ĭvsW is a minimalist fighting game, sort of like Divekick. It’s also important to note that I mention “reasonably and easily creating a computer program,” so Deep Blue’s performance in chess doesn’t count. With the Reverse Turing Test, it’s the opposite: if a machine is successful, there’s a problem. But the main idea is that in the Turing Test, if a machine is successful it’s a good thing. ![]() The original Turing Test was something much more academic than this, and applied to a completely different field. “If you can reasonably and easily create a computer program to play your game perfectly, then you have a problem.” – the Reverse Turing Test The game design behind DvsW is actually fundamentally flawed, and it’s a good opportunity to talk about what that flaw is. This ties in to one of my principles of game design, which I call the Reverse Turing Test. 2 players required (or you can play by yourself if you feel like it).īut I’m not bringing up DvsW as a shameless plug for my own game (well, kind of). In my defense, I was sleep deprived. There were going to be DBZ-style floating rocks swirling around them, but unfortunately I didn’t get that far.ĭownload the game to play here. Diefenbach and Wagner are two of the game production professors I studied under, and in the game they beat each other up and there are explosions and lightning and grass and all sorts of other things. So I made a game called Diefenbach VS Wagner in a day. Diefenbach VS Wagner, a sleep-deprived production.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |