How Should We Rate the AI in A Fighting Game?

What makes a good AI in a fighting game? Should the AI be Rated by:

• Difficulty

• How well it executes the fundamentals

• Its use of all available combos and strings

• Ability to adapt to different players

• The ability to use the stage to its advantage

• The ability to exploit player weaknesses or mistakes

• How well it imitates how humans play the game

Should all 7 of these metrics be used to rate the AI in a fighting game? Do they all make sense? Are there more than 7 things I should be looking at?

I'm thinking about trying to rate the AI in the versions of VF that I have. I have VF4, VF4 EVO, VF5 , and VF5FS. Does anybody know if this or anything like this has ever been done before Are there ratings already out there?

Also, I'm pretty sure that along with everything else VF probably has the best AI when compared to other 3D Fighting games. But I guess first we have to have some structured way of evaluating AI in fighting games
VF is the most balanced. It probably has the best best AI as well

 

This is a tough one to answer.
I'd probably say, all of the above, and probably more.

 

Remember this thread. In a few years (2 to 4 years), the AI in Fighting Games will be a bigger selling feature than the online option

 

Yes definitely. Because deep down, I have a suspicion everyone on this forum, will be commenting on this topic, when something cool happens, especially if it's VF and AI related.

 

Bump.

 

Very great topic.
Back in the arcade days, the MK games used to have tough or even cheap AI to get you to throw your coins again and again. That kind of AI that would react to your inputs the fraction of second you press them is fun for all it's worth, but it isn't the AI that I would like.

Sometimes, in VF4 Evo or FS, the AI is impressive with reversing me and taking side steps, but I still manage to beat it on high difficulty. This AI that enforces you to react and be careful of it's reversing or even side stepping their side steps is my favorite.

So out of your options, I think I'd go for the AI that adapts to me and changes depending on how I play.

I wouldn't mind Shao Kahn it Dural (off topic: damn VF is so progressive it featured a female final boss in the 90s when every other major fighter implemented than post 2016 ) cheapness from time to time though.

 

Fighting games that read all of your inputs, and immediately react and counter attack perfectly everytime is cheap AI. Those old programmers, are known to have deliberately programmed AI in fighting games like that, to make money. Some good examples of this, are Mortal Kombat 2, stinky Kaiser Knuckle, Fatal Fury Real Bout, and those annoying SNK bosses, seen in KOF and other snk fighting games. I feel sorry for those kids in the 90's, who spent $20 in tokens, trying to beat one character, or boss character.

However the AI reading your inputs, can be programmed to make mistakes like humans, and make a human vs. cpu battle seem legit. But greedy game companies in the 90's, would rather make cheap button reading AI, that cheats and breaks rules, just to get people to spend alot of money, trying to beat their fighting games.

Me, I would rate that type of cheap AI, by giving it a nice 1 out of 10. Even though I agree with everyone else, with giving it a big 0 out of 10. Heck, even giving that type of AI a nice 1 out of 10, is giving it too much credit.

 

I feel like all AI should have a set standard difficulty, reactions/reads, and aggressiveness in Arcade Modes but for "specialty" stuff to make the AI truly great would be something akin to an Amibo system. Where you "train" the AI as you fight it. So slowly but surely it learns your strings, learns when to punish you and learns your own flaws. That way you as the player can overcome yourself once the AI has exposed your difficulties. Then you can have that "amibo" system apply to all characters that way if you need match-up knowledge but don't have anyone to play with, you can go against that trained "amibo" AI and learn what to do against it and learn which of your actions are unsafe on it.

 

Virtua Fighter 4 had this kind of trainable AI. For some reason Sega took it out of the game. It was very kewl.

 

Yeah. It was such a silly thing to do.