AI 版的星海爭霸二將直接透過歐洲區的 Battle.net 匿名與人類對戰

前幾天 Blizzard 公佈的消息,DeepMind 的星海爭霸二 AI (AlphaStar) 將會透過 Blizzard 的 Battle.net 歐洲區伺服器跟人類對戰:「DeepMind Research on Ladder」。

Experimental versions of DeepMind’s StarCraft II agent, AlphaStar, will soon play a small number of games on the competitive ladder in Europe as part of ongoing research into AI.

預設是不會對到的,需要選擇參與:

If you would like the chance to help DeepMind with its research by matching against AlphaStar, you can opt in by clicking the “opt-in” button on the in-game popup window. You can alter your opt-in selection at any time by using the “DeepMind opt-in” button on the 1v1 Versus menu.

但你仍然不會知道對手是人還是 AI,而且如同一般對戰情況,這會影響到你的戰績:

For scientific test purposes, DeepMind will be benchmarking AlphaStar’s performance by playing anonymously during a series of blind trial matches. This means the StarCraft community will not know which matches AlphaStar is playing, to help ensure that all games are played under the same conditions. AlphaStar plays with built-in restrictions that the DeepMind team has defined in consultation with pro players. A win or a loss against AlphaStar will affect your MMR as normal.

okay,這樣大概知道為什麼只開放歐洲區了...

加州從今年七月開始,禁止 AI 偽裝成人類 (前幾天也有一些新聞在報導):「A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human」,對應的法條在「Bill Text - SB-1001 Bots: disclosure」這邊可以看到:

17941. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to use a bot to communicate or interact with another person in California online, with the intent to mislead the other person about its artificial identity for the purpose of knowingly deceiving the person about the content of the communication in order to incentivize a purchase or sale of goods or services in a commercial transaction or to influence a vote in an election. A person using a bot shall not be liable under this section if the person discloses that it is a bot.

(b) The disclosure required by this section shall be clear, conspicuous, and reasonably designed to inform persons with whom the bot communicates or interacts that it is a bot.

而加州是 Blizzard Entertainment 的總部...

法條上面對「online platform」有設計排除條款,不過如果只算星海二的人數,有可能不到這個豁免限制... 所以得避開而改用歐洲區來測試?

(c) “Online platform” means any public-facing Internet Web site, Web application, or digital application, including a social network or publication, that has 10,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors or users for a majority of months during the preceding 12 months.

(c) This chapter does not impose a duty on service providers of online platforms, including, but not limited to, Web hosting and Internet service providers.

美國軍方應該是超級關注這個議題,相較於 AlphaGo 或是 AlphaZero 是資訊完全透明的遊戲,這次要踏入非對稱資訊的遊戲。

如果在這個領域上有成果的話,可以預期未來的戰爭 (yeah 實體戰爭) 會開始大量採用 AI 了...

星海爭霸 II 官方的 AI Workshop

Blizzard 公佈了在十一月的月初將會舉辦星海二的 AI Workshop:「Announcing the StarCraft II AI Workshop」。

On November 3 and 4, Blizzard and DeepMind will co-host the StarCraft II AI Workshop at the Hilton Anaheim hotel, next to the Anaheim Convention Center.

官方 (包括 DeepMind 團隊) 也會針對 SC2LE (Starcraft II Learning Environment) 與 SC2API (StarCraft II API) 提供交流:

Engineers and researchers from Blizzard and DeepMind will also be on-hand to meet with attendees and answers questions about the SC2LE and SC2API.

然後時間會跟 BlizzCon 2017 重疊 (目前看起來是卡到最後兩天),票是不能通用的:

While this event takes place during BlizzCon 2017, it is considered a separate event and is not part of the official BlizzCon program – therefore BlizzCon badges will not grant access to the AI workshop. However, we will be providing a limited pool of shareable BlizzCon badges that attendees of the AI workshop can use to check out BlizzCon and catch the StarCraft II Global Finals for inspiration on how to build superior AIs!

接下來應該會有不少消息出來... DeepMind 團隊的開發進度有可以跟頂尖選手競賽嗎?

DeepMind 跟 Blizzard 合作攻略 StarCraft II

DeepMind 宣佈與 Blizzard 合作,開發了 Star Craft II 的界面讓 AI 可以操作:「DeepMind and Blizzard to release StarCraft II as an AI research environment」:

Today at BlizzCon 2016 in Anaheim, California, we announced our collaboration with Blizzard Entertainment to open up StarCraft II to AI and Machine Learning researchers around the world.

這次比起圍棋更有意義的地方在於,圍棋是在完整資訊的情況下做出決策,但真實世界中經常是沒有完整的資訊就要做決策,這次的 StartCraft II 類似於這樣的環境,更接近於現實生活的情境:

StarCraft is an interesting testing environment for current AI research because it provides a useful bridge to the messiness of the real-world. The skills required for an agent to progress through the environment and play StarCraft well could ultimately transfer to real-world tasks.

另外考慮到電腦可以無限制精細操作每個單位,而人類有「操作速度」的問題,在規劃上會設限每分鐘可以操作的速度:

Computers are capable of extremely fast control, but that doesn’t necessarily demonstrate intelligence, so agents must interact with the game within limits of human dexterity in terms of “Actions Per Minute”.

來拉板凳繼續看下去...

暗黑破壞神 Diablo 的 Game Concept 文件

看到「Diablo - Game Concept by Condor, Inc.」這份 PDF 文件,講 1996 年年底 (12/31) 發表的 Diablo,超級經典的遊戲。

文件上可以看到這是 1994 年的紙本文件 (居然已經 22 年前了),最後面還有時程表,所以感覺起來應該是內部的紙本文件?這個經典到不行的遊戲只用了一年開發...

剛剛看英文版維基百科,最後面的連結已經加上這份資料了...

新版 Battle.net launcher 更新造成 Wine 不能跑...

Linux 上玩 Diablo III 常見的解法是使用 Wine 執行,但在這次更新後就掛了,狀況是在輸入完帳號密碼後就 crash:「Battle.net launcher update on Wine/Linux - Forums - Diablo III」。

不過有人居然找出 workaround 了 (這 workaround 怎麼找出來的啊):

But, there's a workaround to have a launcher : disable dbghelp library (wine configuration, libraries, type dbghelp, add, -> disable).

據說是將 dbghelp 設定停用後就可以跑了。另外也有人提供直接執行的方法:(當然,路徑要改成自己安裝 Diablo III 的目錄)

/mnt/lvm/Playonlinux/DiabloIII/drive_c/Program\ Files/Diablo\ III/Diablo\ III.exe -launch -uid diablo3_frfr

不過我為了找問題,把整個 Wine 以及 Diablo III 都砍掉了,所以是回到安裝新軟體的階段... 但發現安裝時也會遇到同樣的 crash 問題,而使用第一個方式關掉 dbghelp 後就可以安裝了,不知道可以前進到哪一步...

過陣子 Wine 應該會放出新版,畢竟 Blizzard 家的遊戲可是重要項目...

在瀏覽器玩 HTML5 + JS + Canvas 寫的 Diablo...

沒錯,是 Blizzard 的那個 Diablo (暗黑破壞神):「Isometric minimal-code style game at html5 canvas and javascript」,遊戲可以在「http://mitallast.github.com/diablo-js/」這頁玩...

直接用 Blizzard 的圖資搞當然是很精彩 (而且很震撼),但這樣搞不會被 DMCA takedown 嗎 XDDD

Diablo III

遊戲一向都是硬體升級的主要動力... :/

Blizzard 的遊戲都會發展 Windows 與 Mac 兩個平台,Diablo III 這次也是一樣。CPU 與記憶體一向都是小問題,顯卡才是真正的大問題...

手上的 MBAMac Mini 都是 Intel HD Graphics 3000,有支援但是效果開不起來,而桌機則是 8600 GT,也是差不多的狀況,加上 NTFS resize 一直失敗,決定去光華商場弄一顆硬碟與一張顯卡來跑,在網路上翻了一下資料,看起來 GTX 550 拿來玩 Diablo III 應該是夠用...

買完回到家後查資料才發現 GTX 550 全力跑的時候是個吃電大怪物,桌機上面加上新硬碟後就有四顆硬碟,目前靠 350W 的 Power 推,這樣大概不夠用,懶得出門只好上 24h 去弄顆新的 Power,應該是有機會在光華開門前就到家... :o

所以又回頭到 Mac Mini 上面安裝起來玩,果然頓頓的,升了一級後還是先去睡覺,等早上來裝新的 Power...