AI and Games

How Forza's Drivatar Actually Works | AI and Games (2021x6)

: 26, 2021

Drivatar, the system that powers AI racers in the Forza franchise to drive just like you and your friends, is one of the longest-running applications of machine learning in the video games industry. But how does it actually work? We crack open the bonnet to find out what makes this engine tick and how it creates a social experience for Xbox players in both the Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon titles. This episode is inspired by the following sources: - Microsoft Research's pages on Drivatar (now dead) http://web.archive.org/web/20140208083127/http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/drivatar/forza.aspx - Jeffrey Schlimmer's 2015 talk at the nucl.ai conference: "Drivatar and Machine Learning Racing Skills in the Forza Series" - The following interviews with creative director Dan Greenawalt: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/09/war-stories-how-forza-learned-to-love-neural-nets-to-train-ai-drivers/ https://www.wired.com/2014/09/forza-horizon-2-drivatars/ https://www.topgear.com/car-news/gaming/meet-man-behind-forza-motorsport https://web.archive.org/web/20070314015129/https://forzamotorsport.net/news/pitpassreports/pitpass36-2.htm https://venturebeat.com/2013/11/06/how-microsofts-turn-10-fashioned-the-ai-for-cars-in-forza-motorsport-5-interview/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2011/sep/06/forza-4-interview https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-the-making-of-forza-horizon Chapters [00:00] Intro [00:50] What is a Drivatar? [02:03] The Challenge of Racing AI [05:22] Forza Physics [09:01] The Original Drivatar [13:30] Drivatar v2.0 [18:21] Designer Modifications [20:33] Hacks & Tweaks [22:27] Closing -- AI and Games is a YouTube series on research and applications of Artificial Intelligence in video games. It's supported through and wouldn't be possible without the wonderful people who support it via Patreon and YouTube memberships. http://www.patreon.com/ai_and_games https://www.youtube.com