TAOC Discussion

[Srinath Krishna]

What normally happens is individual CPU intensive algorithms are substituted with pseudo intelligence.

For example, a football game may not have full intelligence for every individual on the pitch as there are too many things to consider for all 22 players, so the players might be grouped and they have intelligence as a group.

I'm not saying this is how it is definitely done, but it is likely.

A better example would be in EA's Rugby games. The players in the defence do not have individual intelligence in terms of assessing the situation of the game, but the players act in a group (the defensive line) and the group has one intelligence, rather than 15.

In a cricket game however, for the most important part of the game (batting and bowling) it's 1 player versus 1 player. Not only that but what can happen is quite limited (the ball bounces in a certain place, will reach batsman at certain height, so certain shot is played by AI).

It becomes more difficult with things like fielding, where there are many people involved. How does each fielder know whether or not to chase the ball, make a dive, etc.? You can't base it on who is nearest, as delays will appear for outfielders if the ball is hit past a close fielder.

I don't know how I got onto this but it seemed quite interesting at the time.

Back to Srinath's question - the sort of thing you're talking about does not have to be real intelligence per se, in that the players don't have to 'remember' what happened. All you can really do is give the players what information you have to go on (i.e. scorecards, etc.) so you can do things like give players extra confidence in a second innings if they scored well in the first innings (a very short-term 'form' or 'morale' stat), or change a batsman's form over a series.

Anyway, I'm babbling. Hope that didn't bore everyone to tears, and that I wasn't stating the obvious.

That's dazzling and you weren't babbling...

 

[gratefuldave54]

What will the online experience be like?.Will we be able to talk to each other.Almost online sledging maybe?

 

[Karachi Xpress]

What will the online experience be like?.Will we be able to talk to each other.Almost online sledging maybe?

Its not confirmed yet if there will be an online feature.

 

[morson93]

I Don't Think There Will Be But It Would Be Great. I Think From What They Have Already Done Then Who No's?

 

[Skater]

The plan was to have online play. I know because I used to help out with the website. Since I stopped though I don't know if anything has changed behind the scenes.

 

[gratefuldave54]

TAOC website says online play included.Just wondered if we'd be able to talk to each other.

 

[Srinath Krishna]

I think it might not be included in the first release... Probably, it would be included in the subsequent ones...

 

[Jit]

well it will be great to have online play rather than with ai but it will be fun with ai as this gameplay will exellent gameplay

 

[Jdz]

Personally I'd think the online play would come in subsequent releases, it's not going to be easy to get the net code spot on and all the other fine aspects of the internet.

 

[morson93]

Yeh It Will Be A Real Challenge But I Don't Really Care If It Does Not Have Online Because It Will Still Be A Great Game.

 

[Valaskjalf]

This probable isnt on topic really but ive been thinking about this a bit lately....it must be crap difficult to make cricket games compared to other sports games. The real game has so many other important elements, like pressure, test of character, mental strength, reputation, form, morale all kinds of things.

And i think one of the things that people have always complained about was the AI not batting fast enough, or being too aggressive for no reason and getting out for 12 or something. How will this be countered? How do you make a computer understand that if you chase 250 in 50 overs (for example) that it has to bat the way humans do? Try to keep the run rate at 5rpo and get more aggressive towards the end as the target becomes smaller with less balls remaining? A friend and I (both of us know less than nothing about programming or anything) talked about it today, we both LOVE cricket but weve been (as most fans) so disappointed with cricket games that we struggle to believe that a game will really be as lifelike or accurate with good AI as TAOC prides itself to be. Nothing against the game i think its fantastic how much you guys are putting in and im sure it will be better than the rest, but will it really feel like a accurate representation?

One thing that pissed me off like crazy was that new stupid game called CricketRevolution...looks all pretty and whatnot but on all the screens the batsmen are going at a rediculous runrate - 200/1 after 20 overs, now i REALLY hope it wont be the case with TAOC. How do you guys intend to prevent this from happening and keep the scores believable and realistic?

Sorry for long, untimely post, was just wondering...cheers

 

[Skater]

Cricket Revolution is an online cricket game. The scores will depend on the skill of the players.

The nuances of Test cricket will not be recreated in this game. The people walking about, the feeling of the sunshine, the little mannerisms of the players, umpires etc.

I wish it was possible.

 

[Srinath Krishna]

This probable isnt on topic really but ive been thinking about this a bit lately....it must be crap difficult to make cricket games compared to other sports games. The real game has so many other important elements, like pressure, test of character, mental strength, reputation, form, morale all kinds of things.

And i think one of the things that people have always complained about was the AI not batting fast enough, or being too aggressive for no reason and getting out for 12 or something. How will this be countered? How do you make a computer understand that if you chase 250 in 50 overs (for example) that it has to bat the way humans do? Try to keep the run rate at 5rpo and get more aggressive towards the end as the target becomes smaller with less balls remaining? A friend and I (both of us know less than nothing about programming or anything) talked about it today, we both LOVE cricket but weve been (as most fans) so disappointed with cricket games that we struggle to believe that a game will really be as lifelike or accurate with good AI as TAOC prides itself to be. Nothing against the game i think its fantastic how much you guys are putting in and im sure it will be better than the rest, but will it really feel like a accurate representation?

One thing that pissed me off like crazy was that new stupid game called CricketRevolution...looks all pretty and whatnot but on all the screens the batsmen are going at a rediculous runrate - 200/1 after 20 overs, now i REALLY hope it wont be the case with TAOC. How do you guys intend to prevent this from happening and keep the scores believable and realistic?

Sorry for long, untimely post, was just wondering...cheers

TAOC is done by spirited people who have a passion for the game... So, you could well be assured of a good AI mechanism & gameplay. And, any bugs, if found can be reported in this forum... And I'm sure, Paul would consider all of them and probably release a better, second edition of TAOC...

Our ultimate aim would be to converge at a perfect game with a near-human AI...

I hope, I have answered your query... And, as far as the game logic for the AI is concerned, I have no idea how Paul is implementing it and I would rather want Paul not to discuss about it in the forums, as it would be a bit more challenging for us to play the game, if we are unsure about how the AI is going to respond...

And Cricket Revolution is going to go to the dump for its stupid arcade style "whack-the-ball" gameplay...

 

[zimrahil]

And i think one of the things that people have always complained about was the AI not batting fast enough, or being too aggressive for no reason and getting out for 12 or something. How will this be countered? How do you make a computer understand that if you chase 250 in 50 overs (for example) that it has to bat the way humans do? Try to keep the run rate at 5rpo and get more aggressive towards the end as the target becomes smaller with less balls remaining?

This has always been a problem with AI in cricket games. Taking into account the match situation (i.e. time left in tests, weather conditions, and in ODI rpo required and how many wickets left etc) is essential for any AI.

Another big problem for developers is that humans always find weak spots in the AI which can result in getting easy wickets etc because the AI will always play the same shot to certain deliveries and will not adapt or adjust etc. Its very difficult and I wish Paul all the best on this

 

[lazy_chesnut]

Creating the AI to decide how aggressively to play shouldn't really be that hard to do. If you know how you would do it yourself and why, then it must be knowledge transferrable to a computer.

Compare that to something like deciding whether a picture of a face is male or female, that is much harder to do - you can do it yourself but it's not easily quantifiable. With cricket we have numbers, so it should really be easy.

It's just a case of how much time is spent on it, and I think too little time is spent on these things in all games, not just cricket games.