game trailblazer

Chapter 304 The Era of Online Games

Exiting the elevator was facing Jagged Studio, so Zhang Lexing simply put down the online game for the time being, and went to see how the military simulation game they were developing was doing.Iron Blood Studio started with "Warring States", and later "Special Warriors" also had their support, but maybe the audience for games like "Hearts of Iron" was a little smaller, "Warring" and the subsequent release The sales of the enhanced version of the game are not ideal. If it is not successful in opening up the RB and Korean markets, I am afraid that even a fraction of the development costs will not be recovered.Fortunately, Zhang Lexing did not fully expect Iron Blood Studio to make any money from game development. He mainly hoped that they could make some achievements in the combination of computer AI and games. Therefore, he has enough confidence in the current situation of Iron Blood Studio patience.

When Zhang Lexing and others walked into the iron blood studio, it was a busy scene, with the exception of the middle area of ​​the office area. There were many people around there, and some of them still had nervous expressions on their faces.Zhang Lexing walked over curiously to have a look. Surrounded by these people are six computers, placed back to back just like in an Internet cafe. On the screen of one of the computers, a fleet of motorcycles and trucks is moving fast. , from the screen style, it seems to be some kind of game, but it is a little strange that no one is operating in front of the computer.

Zhang Lexing searched the crowd and found Wu Qian's figure, so he walked over and patted him on the shoulder, and asked, "Wu Qian, are you going to watch the game demo again?"

Wu Qian flicked his shoulder impatiently, and said impatiently: "Didn't you see I'm busy, wait a minute!"

After finishing speaking, Wu Qian continued to stare at the moving pictures on the screen, as if he was watching a wonderful movie. After a while, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, and the voice from behind just now seemed a little familiar.He couldn't help turning his head to look, but he didn't expect to see the big boss with a smile on his face. He couldn't help trembling in his heart, and immediately smiled embarrassedly: "Boss, I didn't know you were here, that... "

"It's okay, you don't need to be so loud, I'm just curious, what are you all looking at?" Zhang Lexing waved his hand, signaling Wu Qian not to be so nervous, and not to be too ostentatious.Fortunately, Wu Qian's "boss" wasn't shouted too loudly, or the picture on the computer screen was so attractive that the onlookers didn't notice the arrival of Zhang Lexing and others.

"Oh, this is the effect that we are testing the AI ​​autonomous control, that is, let six computers play against each other online. As for the running game, it is a test version specially designed for this purpose. The weapons and equipment in it are from World War II. It was originally a real-time strategy game we are designing." Wu Qian was afraid that Zhang Lexing would not understand, so he added: "Well, it is a bit similar to the World War II-style real-time strategy game "Raid" produced by the German CDV company."

"Oh, but if the computer is against the computer, isn't the result the same every time?" Zhang Lexing is still a little strange. To say that computer AI is intelligent is just a compliment. With the current level of technology, the so-called Decision-making is basically a procedural judgment, just making a good or bad choice according to the rules from many possibilities, so when the same AI plays a battle, the result can be said to have already been determined.

Wu Qian shook his head slightly, and said: "Our AI is not that simple. We have already conducted pre-learning before, and coupled with the decision tree with relative conditional entropy enabled, the battle between six computers is now a bit close to that of humans. It's decided."

"Pre-learning? Relative conditional entropy? Decision tree?" These words spit out from Wu Qian's mouth made Zhang Lexing feel very strange. After all, the field of artificial intelligence is still far away from him, and he is only an expert in computer AI. Just a good user.

"Hmm..." Wu Qian nodded and continued to explain: "These are all created by Mr. Yang and a few new Ph. On the basis of this, that is, a rule-based system and a finite state machine, plus a classifier using genetic algorithms and fuzzy integrals, as well as a learning system based on neural networks and a decision-making system based on relative conditional entropy, etc. Anyway. What finally came out is the current AI system that supports external control and neural network composite connection. After minor adjustments, it can be applied to many types of games. It is very high, and it cannot be directly used in games for the time being.”

"Oh." Zhang Lexing frowned slightly. The field of artificial intelligence is still too complicated. Although Wu Qian had explained it, he still didn't fully understand it, but one thing is clear, that is, this thing seems to be embedded in other In the game, although limited by the current computer performance, it cannot be used on a large scale for the time being, but you can consider adding one or two NPCs with relatively high intelligence to some games, and you can also reduce the intelligence to act as a stand-alone game. Computer cannon fodder from time to time can even be introduced into online games. Anyway, the server performance of online games can be strong. You can try to make some key NPCs more humane, or make bosses more cunning, so as to increase the game experience. challenge.

At this moment, the motorcycle trucks displayed on the computer screen encountered an attack, and a sudden burst of artillery fire blocked them on the road, followed by an infantry squad, a single-soldier rocket launcher and a thunderstorm, The convoy was quickly blown up into a sea of ​​flames, and by the time backup troops arrived, the infantry squad that instigated the attack had long since disappeared without a trace.If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be really hard for Zhang Lexing to believe that it was the result of the autonomous operation and decision-making of the computer AI. Even after seeing it with his own eyes, he still couldn't believe it.

After listening to Wu Qian's introduction, Zhang Lexing walked around the office again. After finding Yang Nanzheng, he blocked him for a long time to ask questions. Coincidentally, those doctoral students who participated in the research happened to be there too.From Yang Nanzheng and those doctoral students, Zhang Lexing asked more things. Although he still didn't fully understand how the legendary "composite neural network self-learning entropy selective AI system" was constituted, but he I still understand the practical value of this AI system. Judging from the current computer performance, the autonomous control limit of the AI ​​system is 100 different units. That is to say, a computer can control an army of about 100 people to make medium decisions. , and has the function of learning the opponent's strategy and modifying its own strategy according to the opponent's action rules. Once the limit of 100 units is exceeded, either the depth of consideration in decision-making must be reduced, or the control of some units must be given up.

From this point of view, if you want to apply this AI system to stand-alone games, the number of units that the AI ​​​​system can control will be greatly reduced because of the need for corresponding player operations and other processing.According to one of the doctoral students named Qin Ming, on the current mainstream computers, the number of units that the AI ​​​​system can control is about 30. Only in this situation can intermediate decisions be made, which is very close to that of ordinary players. The decision-making ability, coupled with the assistance of learning and correction functions, after a period of growth, may surpass ordinary players.If more powerful high-level decision-making is required, the number of control units will even drop to single digits, and even Chinese chess can't be played well.

However, Zhang Lexing is still very confident in the growth rate of computer performance. He believes that after the last two years, even if this AI system does not evolve anymore, the direct upgrade of computer system performance alone is enough to make it more practical. .Even now, if you can plan well, there are still opportunities to use it in many games. For example, in role-playing games, it can be used to enhance the intelligence of some NPC activities in a certain town. Anyway, the protagonist of the game cannot simultaneously It appears in multiple towns, and it is impossible to contact all NPCs at the same time.For example, in strategy games such as "Three Kingdoms" and "Warring States Policy", it can be used to provide appropriate assistance to the war scene. I believe that with the help of the learning and correction system, the fighting process will be more fun.Even in real-time strategy games, you can consider turning the AI ​​system into an intelligent NPC auxiliary system, which can help with auxiliary tasks such as resource collection and construction.In short, the role of the AI ​​​​system in the game is still very large.

Zhao Haiguang also didn't understand it, but from Zhang Lexing's expression, he still judged that this "composite neural network self-learning entropy selective AI system" is still very useful, otherwise his brother-in-law wouldn't need to be so eager Ask around.Coming out of Tie Xue Studio, Zhao Haiguang deliberately walked a few steps, rushed to Zhang Lexing's side, and asked in a low voice: "Lexing, what is that AI system, what exactly is it?"

Just now Zhang Lexing noticed that Zhao Haiguang seemed to understand very well, and he thought he understood, but he didn't expect to be worse than himself, so he had to try to explain what he heard and understood from Wu Qian, Yang Nanzheng and others as simple as possible. After coming out, before coming to the gate of Yuebai Studio, Zhao Haiguang finally let Zhao Haiguang understand what an AI system is.Originally, Zhang Lexing wanted to take advantage of this spare time to chat with Zhao Haiguang about other things, but after such an interruption, he had already walked into Yuebai's studio, so he had to put this matter aside for the time being.

"Boss, there are currently more than 70 developers in Yuebai Studio, which is much larger than before. Among them, 26 people have been to NCSoft in South Korea to participate in the development of "Paradise". They belong to certain online games. Development experience. At present, because the game under development is already facing Beta testing, in addition to the people from Yuebai Studio, there are marketing manager Zhao Chang from Fengyun Interactive, Zhou Haoxuan, operation manager of Fengyun Network, and technical support manager. Wang Tianlei, Xu Ziqian, the manager of the marketing department, and Chen Xingchan, the manager of the market development department of Fengyun Investment Holdings." Wang Mengyao approached Zhang Lexing while she was just entering the door, and briefly introduced the situation of Yuebai Studio: "Also, there are plaid shirts over there. , The person who is discussing the problem with others is called Lu Zixuan. He is the chief numerical planner and virtual financial planner of Fengyun Network. He has participated in the design of the virtual financial system in the game "Paradise". This time he is seconded to evaluate the work of Yuebai. The financial system inside the room game..."

Lu Yongcheng, the manager of Yuebai studio, is holding the partition to discuss the promotion plan of "Shushan" with Zhou Haoxuan, Xu Ziqian, Zhao Chang and others. They are a little dissatisfied with the tentative name now, after all, Tsui Hark has not yet released that movie. If you haven't played "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and haven't seen "Legend of Shushan", few people know about Shushan. Using "Shushan" as the name of the game is too gimmick to promote it. .

While discussing, Lu Yongcheng accidentally caught a glimpse of someone coming in, so he turned his body slightly, intending to see who it was, but when he turned his head to look, he was stunned, for it was his boss who came. Zhang Lexing.Lu Yongcheng was the first group of game developers who followed Zhang Lexing. He went to the United States to "study abroad", participated in the start-up of the creative workshop, and also participated in the development of all the games in the early stage of the creative workshop. It can be said that Zhang Lexing is not the kind of ordinary employee emotion.

"Boss!" Lu Yongcheng greeted excitedly.

Zhou Haoxuan, Xu Ziqian, Zhao Chang and others who were chatting with Lu Yongcheng followed the sound and found Zhang Lexing, and quickly greeted him.Even other people also noticed Zhang Lexing and others who were walking in, and they all stood up to say hello, Zhang Lexing smiled and nodded one by one.

After greeting everyone, Zhang Lexing came to Lu Yongcheng, Zhou Haoxuan, Xu Ziqian, Zhao Chang and others, and asked, "I heard that "Shushan" will be ready for beta testing soon, how is the preparation going?"

Zhou Haoxuan, who is in charge of arranging the test, said: "It's in progress. The server for the Beta test is being installed and debugged. It is expected to be launched in three to five days. The testers have also been arranged. There are 500 people in total. 200 people come from our own testing team, and the other 300 people include some game media personnel and members from Fengyun Game Club. Our plan is to conduct a preliminary test with our own testing team in the first week, if there are no problems , after reinitializing the data, these 500 people will be tested at the same time in the next month. We have also arranged a support group of 500 people, and the number of testers can be increased to 1000 if necessary.

If there are no problems in this month's test, then we will conduct an open test one month later, for a period of one month, during which time the commercial promotion of "Shushan" will be carried out, and relevant sales channels and ground promotion will be arranged .After the open test is successfully completed, it will enter the commercial operation stage. In the early stage, there is a 2-month free period, allowing players to have time to familiarize themselves with and master the game system. After the free period, charges will start, whether to use a monthly card or other The fee will be charged according to the operating conditions. "

"En." Zhang Lexing nodded in satisfaction, and then asked worriedly: "Is there any problem now?"

After Lu Yongcheng and Zhou Haoxuan looked at each other for a few moments, they hesitated and said, "We have a problem now, which is the name of the game."

"Name? Is Shushan not good?" Zhang Lexing felt a little strange, at least in his opinion, the name "Shushan" was quite resounding.

"We have done an investigation," Xu Ziqian took over and said, "Mount Shushan is still relatively unfamiliar to many people. If it is changed to "Legend of Sword and Fairy", it will be different. Unfortunately, this game is different from "Legend of Sword and Fairy". Nothing directly related, what can be said to be influential is a TV series "Legend of Shushan Heroes" and a movie "New Shushan Swordsman", which are not very helpful to the game "Shushan", so we are considering whether Change your name."

In fact, Zhang Lexing didn't mind whether "Shushan" changed its name or not. Anyway, it was just a temporary name. At first, it was just considering the background information of "Shushan Swordsman Biography", so the name "Shushan" was used conveniently.After thinking about it for a while, a more interesting name suddenly appeared in his mind, and a smile appeared on his face...

(End of this chapter)