Modder Builds Super Mario Bros.-Completing Robot Controller

[Logan Westbrook]

Modder Builds Super Mario Bros.-Completing Robot Controller

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Some days you don't want to save the Princess yourself, you just want to watch someone - or something - else do it.

A modder, calling himself "pjgat09," has built an NES controller that can play games by itself, using information harvested from the speed run community to tell it what to do. Using this data, the controller is capable of completing Super Mario Bros. in around five minutes.

The information is loaded onto a flash card and run through a microcontroller that can interpret it, and convert it into button presses that the NES console can understand. The code in this particular video comes from the fastest known tool-assisted speed run of Super Mario Bros., which uses emulation - not to mention a few glitches - to clock the best possible time. Pjgat says that emulators are usually too different from the actual consoles for this to work, but in the case of NES games, the two are close enough that the emulator code can be adapted.

Pjgat also provides detailed instructions [http://www.instructables.com/id/NESBot-Arduino-Powered-Robot-beating-Super-Mario-/] on how to build your own robot controller, including how to wire it all up and how to get the speed run data - known in the TAS community as a "movie" - working with the microcontroller. It seems like a pretty painstaking process, but it could be a fun project as long as you don't mind sacrificing a NES pad to get it to work. Pjgat encourages people to experiment with different movies, although he warns that not all of them will work

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/#!5765663/can-a-controller-be-programmed-to-speed+run-super-mario-bros]













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[z3rostr1fe]

The bot needs a little work on scoring points, whilst achieving the least possible time it takes to complete a level. Still, kudos to the creator.

 

[Starke]

The bot needs a little work on scoring points, whilst achieving the least possible time it takes to complete a level. Still, kudos to the creator.

It's literally just playing from a script, so the fault would be in the original speedrun.

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

I hate seeing autoplaying bots. I know it seems cool but it just waters down the majesty of video games. I guess it's just me being a long time gamer feeling insulted by these things. It fills me with the same rage those people who have modded emulators doing bullshit speedruns.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Extremely simple idea, Xerox'ing (or even pirating) the moves of others. But an immense achievement for digitising it so well.

 

[DTWolfwood]

well the point of playing a videogame just goes flying out the window with this one. heh

Tho i can totally empathize. I cant get enough of watching SC2 matches but i never really feel like playing it much. good to be able to crack open a beer, sit back, relax and watch a game played for you XD

 

[CrystalShadow]

Ouch. See, the fact that a recorded script can do this is a little depressing. It means, fundamentally that these games are deterministic in nature.

 

[Something Amyss]

Cool on a technical level, but really pointless otherwise.

 

[Denamic]

I hate seeing autoplaying bots. I know it seems cool but it just waters down the majesty of video games. I guess it's just me being a long time gamer feeling insulted by these things. It fills me with the same rage those people who have modded emulators doing bullshit speedruns.

Bullshit?
Do you think you just 'plug in' a bot and watch it play by itself?
The people who makes TAS runs put way more time, effort and dedication into their speedruns than 'normal' players doing speedruns.
These people go through the entire game frame by frame, inputting commands on a pixel by pixel basis.
Who are you to shit on these people, saying that it's bullshit?
That's pretty damn low.

 

[JayDub147]

If it makes you feel any better, no one will be able to do this for Minecraft.

 

[minisammy]

I'd like to see it complete the game with out using warp zones. However it's still crazy good. Congrats to the creator

 

[2xDouble]

Anybody else noticing the problems with hit detection? I counted at least 11 times he should have been dead, but passed right through an enemy or thrown hammer...

I have to call shenannigans on this run.

Still, this is very cool, and odd... a computer beating a computer at computing... meta.

first Super Mario then the world

I see what you did there. here's a song for you:

 

[Undead Dragon King]

(I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords)

 

[Aptspire]

I didn't even know you could wall jump

 

[MurderousToaster]

I've always found it bizarre that modders spend so much time on their projects, and yet so few of them seem willing to shell out for a basic capture card.

 

[Smooth Operator]

It's a neat contraption to be sure, but a little underwhelming as it is simply a button playback.

Now if you make image recognition and AI combination playing it that would be quite something.

 

[rileyrulesu]

He wasn't going for a speedrun, I mean look at the time he did 4 wall kicks in a row, It's nearly impossible for a human to do 1, much less 4.

He just took the shortest route because it means less programming and did the wall kick thing to prove it was a robot.

Anybody else noticing the problems with hit detection? I counted at least 11 times he should have been dead, but passed right through an enemy or thrown hammer...

I have to call shenannigans on this run.

watch any SMB speedrun ever...

 

[Shift23]

Anybody else noticing the problems with hit detection? I counted at least 11 times he should have been dead, but passed right through an enemy or thrown hammer...

I have to call shenannigans on this run.

It was pointed out in the article that this speed run relied on a few glitches to get it done. However, I am of the firm belief that if you have to rely on glitches to complete a game that can be beaten by a casual player then you really aren't playing the game at all. Yes, I'm aware it's a speed run, I don't consider that (speed runs) playing the game for the sake of playing it. I agree that with the call of shenanigans on this, I would have loved to watch it go into a an infinite loop of death until gameover.

edit: fixed double quoting