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Move Over Super Mario Maker, This AI Creates Levels Just By Watching YouTube
With Mario Maker coming this fall, fans of gaming’s most popular mascot will finally get to try their hands at creating compelling stages. The machine revolution is upon us, and Skynet (or a relative thereof) has beaten us there.
Researchers at Georgia Tech have created an artificial intelligence that can create playable Super Mario Bros. levels. How it gathers information to do that is what’s truly impressive, though.
Team members explain that the AI uses YouTube footage to study the original level design. The program has learned how to create stages that comply with the rules of the game, including gaps that aren’t too wide for Mario to jump, pipes and treetops placed in proper locations and heights, and properly spaced elements like coins and Goombas.
“An initial evaluation of our approach indicates an ability to produce level sections that are both playable and close to the original without hand coding any design criteria,” writes Ph. D. student and lead research Matthew Guzdial.
The research was presented earlier this week at the Foundations of Digital Game Conference in Pacific Grove, California. If you don’t happen to have a level-building AI at your disposal, Super Mario Maker will be out on September 11. You can read more about it in our E3 coverage.
[Source: Georgia Tech via Wired]
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