Computer script plays Super Mario World by itself

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 13th 2009 at 2:00AM }

As you might have guessed, we're really busy guys. As such, we can't be expected to actually play the video games we write about. We dish out thousands of dollars every year to get local work release program participants to handle the grunt work for us -- but if a recent entry in the Mario AI Competition is any indication, we may soon be able to keep that cash in our wallets, opting for computer-assisted gaming instead.

Posted after the break is a video demo of the entry in question -- designed by artificial intelligence programmer Robin Baumgarten, this computer script effortlessly pushes the plump plumber through the hazardous environments of Super Mario World. It handles the game's challenges much better than our prisoner assistants -- and best of all, it definitely won't try to stab us in our sleep.

[Via Make: Online]

Tags: ai, mario, mario-ai-competition, nintendo, super-mario, super-mario-world

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Peace Fog @ Aug 13th 2009 2:04AM

Wow! If only I could turn that on when my games piss me off! This is the solution to controller tossing!

mr nimblewick @ Aug 13th 2009 2:11AM

I think Nintendo is actually working on just that, and folks here at joystiq hate it.

Josh @ Aug 13th 2009 2:59AM

Yeah, it really is a good idea. People make things easier on themselves in games all the time (see: strategy guides, FAQs, cheats, etc.), so this is basically just the ultimate assistance.

And just like those other things, it will always be entirely possible to play a game without ever using this feature.

Blank-Mage @ Aug 13th 2009 3:37AM

Yeah, remember the article on "Demo Play"?

CzAr @ Aug 13th 2009 5:20AM

You no longer have to play your games. You can turn it on, press start and then go out and do whatever. Come back a few hours later, and you can say you beat the game. Congrats on being a loser.

WiredKnight @ Aug 13th 2009 5:43AM

...except you can't. If you didn't play it, you didn't beat it. It's like having a friend come over and help you with it. He's the one who beat it for you, you get no bragging rights.

Yi @ Aug 13th 2009 7:48AM

@CzAr,

are you one of those gamers that brag about beating a game with your own pure hardwork? i beat games without using cheats or gamefaqs all the time (except for a few exceptions of course) and i just moved on with another game without bragging about beating the game honestly.

you see, the reason some ppl hate this nintendo demo play thing so much is that it really hurts them when a 10-year old could beat the same game as they did. no more bragging to your lil bro about being able to beat the game, eh? get a life.

Skaz @ Aug 13th 2009 8:44AM

Those ten year olds couldn't get past the first boss in ninja gaiden black on master mode even with this thing.

sting @ Aug 13th 2009 11:20AM

Agreed. This could save me a few $$$.

~~
http://tiny.cc/yzUel

CzAr @ Aug 13th 2009 5:09PM

Well, at no point did I say, "Brag". It's more like, I have all these games... and I still need to beat them. I put time into playing a game, and now I can check it off, and move onto my next game.

I really don't care about achievements or trophies... aren't those bragging rights? Completing the game is different than spend hours trying to kill 10,000 enemies to showoff that you did.

Secondly, the comment about 10years old not being able to beat Ninja Gaiden.. It's rated Mature in the first place. Usually that is a good indicator of the age required to comprehend what is going on in a game and how to play it.

WiredKnight @ Aug 13th 2009 7:12PM

@Czar

My point was just that you can't really say that you beat the game if it wasn't *you* who beat it - AI or otherwise.

Peace Fog @ Aug 15th 2009 5:35PM

Yeah I like beating games on my own. That is why I don't use strategy guides... it takes sooo long to beat a game sometimes but is certainly worth! I wouldn't let the AI beat the game for me...

goboColossus (LIVE, PSN - gobopop) @ Aug 13th 2009 2:07AM

I don't remember being able to wall jump in SMW.

Pretty cool though, would be interesting to see this applied to some of those ridiculous bullet-hell shmups too.

Vman @ Aug 13th 2009 3:08AM

that AI cheated its way out of that hole

Matthew @ Aug 13th 2009 2:09AM

That's not Super Mario World.

S. Tiger @ Aug 13th 2009 6:59AM

First thing I noticed. That sprite is SMB3 All Stars Mario.

charlie b. @ Aug 13th 2009 1:49PM

the enemy sprites *are* from Super Mario World, though.

maybe this Robin Baumgarten designed their own test level?

VicViper09 @ Aug 13th 2009 2:47PM

Yeah, I saw this elsewhere, someone programmed an auto level creator. I guess it must make levels at random. Who knows what sprites he used.

sonicspike41 @ Aug 13th 2009 2:17AM

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/14/new-super-mario-bros-wii-future-titles-will-play-themselves/

The Aquacharger (PSN:Elvenmonk) @ Aug 13th 2009 3:10AM

Find it funny people are praising this and yet they bashed Nintendo for it?

Ghen @ Aug 13th 2009 7:05AM

This is an art project, Nintendo is giving it to every single person that buys the game.

TomC1234 @ Aug 13th 2009 11:00AM

Personally demo play doesn't bother me so long as the game records the number of times you've used it. It's not different from games having hard and easy levels and achievements. So long as you are rewarded for not using it I'm fine.

BPMOmega [GT,Steam] @ Aug 13th 2009 2:19AM

Hmm.. some sort of weird ROM hack they're playing with. While the level and enemies are of SMW, Mario and the blocks are of SMB3.

Still, nifty AI work there.

Vidikron @ Aug 13th 2009 2:42AM

Yeah, it actually looks a lot harder than a standard SMW level. Really showcases the script though.

BPMOmega [GT,Steam] @ Aug 13th 2009 2:43AM

Obviously a custom stage... but the game itself isn't standard SMW, either.

sonicspike41 @ Aug 13th 2009 2:51AM

Infinite Mario.

"This is based on Infinite Mario ( http://www.mojang.com/notch/mario/ ). In this version, walljumps are possible (you can see Mario climbing out of a hole)."

Jayvan @ Aug 13th 2009 2:20AM

Cool. This was enteirtaining to watch. Great AI work

ArchiGamer 2.0 [Planeteer I Power of Irony and Sex] @ Aug 13th 2009 2:22AM

OMG, THE FUTURE IS NOW!!!

Ebichu @ Aug 13th 2009 2:31AM

There's not really a lot of 'real' news during the summer, is there? ^_~

goboColossus (LIVE, PSN - gobopop) @ Aug 13th 2009 2:37AM

Tell me about it. I expect only the best and most hard-hitting coverage at 2:00 AM!

JetPogi @ Aug 13th 2009 4:19AM

nice one lol

Zexion_VI @ Aug 13th 2009 2:31AM

Very cool. Though I think it needs some work to collect coins instead of just run through the level, lol. A next challenge in this design.

JRM @ Aug 13th 2009 2:39AM

hmm... I wonder if the AI would also dump Yoshi if Mario needs to jump a little higher...

AerialAngel @ Aug 13th 2009 2:42AM

holy crap lol

Komrad @ Aug 13th 2009 2:43AM

how do you know it won't stab you in your sleep?

Azbulldog @ Aug 13th 2009 2:54AM

My mind. It is blown.

alamos @ Aug 13th 2009 2:57AM

we have the most powerful electronics ever concieved... and what do we do?

We make Mario play itself.

WiredKnight @ Aug 13th 2009 5:44AM

We have the technology...

alamos @ Aug 13th 2009 3:13AM

CHARGE FOR FREE.

chaos123x @ Aug 13th 2009 3:56AM

Thats Super Mario All-Stars not Super Mario World!

All-Stars was a SNES game that had Mario 1, 2(USA and Japan versions), and 3 with upgraded 16-bit graphics.

WTF joystiq?

Blank-Mage @ Aug 13th 2009 4:14AM

Yeah, WTF?!

ducttapeBigSexy @ Aug 13th 2009 5:55AM

Actually, it's a heavily modified version of "Infinite Mario Bros!" (http://www.mojang.com/notch/mario/). Check out the official competition site page at http://julian.togelius.com/mariocompetition2009/index.php

Raffi @ Aug 13th 2009 8:56PM

A* is pretty awesome.

Ozborne @ Aug 13th 2009 4:50AM

Apparently, this spambot doesn't agree with the idea of AIs spending all their time playing videogames, when they could be making money in advertising.

edweird @ Aug 13th 2009 5:32AM

To make an AI script that can play and win is one thing (and an accomplishment of it's own, for sure), but good AI programming is really about making the computer play while displaying (some of) both the limitations and the ingenuity of a living player. If we're going to have our games play themselves, I'd rather they didn't just speedrun through it. Of course, I'm not sure what the goal of this AI competition was so I'm certainly not passing judgement.