amanda chaffin ph. d. student games + learning lab
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Using Player Data to Drive Intelligent Auto-Balancing of Teams in Video Games or Heuristic assignment of teams in multiplayer games. Amanda Chaffin Ph. D. Student Games + Learning Lab. Superbowl XLVI. New York Giants (NFC) 21. New England Patriots (AFC) 17. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Using Player Data to Drive Intelligent Auto-Balancing of
Teams in Video Games or
Heuristic assignment of teams in multiplayer games
Amanda ChaffinPh. D. Student
Games + Learning Lab
8/24/2010 ~ 2
Superbowl XLVI
New York Giants (NFC)
21
New England Patriots (AFC)
17
1 2 3 4 Total
NYG 9 0 6 6 21
NE 0 10 7 0 17
Nielsen Rating 45 with 111.3 million viewers
8/24/2010 ~ 3
Superbowl XXIV
San Francisco 49ers (NFC)
55
Denver Broncos (AFC)
101 2 3 4 Total
SF 13 14 14 14 55
DEN 3 0 7 0 10
Nielsen rating 39 (74 million viewers and lowest Superbowl Rating since 1968)
8/24/2010 ~ 4
Lopsidedness
• Not just in sports – voter turnout much higher in close elections
• Lopsided classrooms lead to misery – Half the class is graduate level computer
scientists– The other half cannot program– Frustrating, to the extreme!
• Video games, in particular, FPS (First Person Shooters)
8/24/2010 ~ 5
RageQuit!
• Term coined back in IRC days• Quickly moved to video games (and became an official
term with developers)– Quake 2– Unreal Tournament
• According to a recent (unofficial) survey by Valve Coorporation, players RageQuit due to– Skill imbalance– Team disharmony
• To help combat the issue, autobalance was born
8/24/2010 ~ 6
Current Autobalance Approach
• In game lobby, create teams by number, not by skills (3v4, 6v6, etc)
• In game, autobalance if:– Players drop out (original implementation– Score is very unbalanced (added later)
• Autobalance typically takes best 1 or 2 players from winning team and switches with 1 or 2 players from loosing team
8/24/2010 ~ 7
Players HATE autobalance (not the idea, the current implementation)
• Battlefield: notorious for switching best players with best players (what was the point)
• TF2: Will switch players, regardless of score, skill or even role in the middle of a round
• Section 8: Prejudice: biases towards keeping friends together, means random players have less chance
• Call of Duty 3 – autobalance buggy, does not work properly, does not work on ranked servers at all
8/24/2010 ~ 8
Typical Definition of Good Players
• Measured by a kill/death (k/d) ratio– Can be lifetime– Most often, just that map
• Problems with the approach– Can be skewed easily
• Play only against less skilled players• Play only against greater skilled players
– Only addresses individual kill skill and not teamwork
8/24/2010 ~ 9
Redefining “Good” Players
• Or, more to the point, expanding what defines a good player
• Takes into account– K/D ratio– Team work– Shooting accuracy– Sound tactical decisions– Situational awareness
• Attempting to determine what “role” the player fits best
8/24/2010 ~ 10
Left 4 Dead: Running Example
• Cooperative horror survival FPS– Created by Turtle Rock Studios– Purchased and produced by Valve Corporation– 4 game modes
• VS mode – 2 teams (up to 4 players per team)– Take turns on each level as survivor and special
infected• Survivor goal: get the team to the saferoom• Special Infected goal: stop the survivors
8/24/2010 ~ 11
L4D: Weighting Player Skill
• From Steam data, build player profiles and abilities according to skill
• Leads to categorization– Leader– Tactician– Teamwork– Shooting Skills– General Gameplay Skills– VS Skills
8/24/2010 ~ 12
Intelligent Auto Balance Rules
• Each player rated for each categorical set• Teams divided into equal (or close to)
distribution of players– For each category
• Top two players on opposing teams• Rest divided evenly between teams
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• Situational Awareness
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Questions
• ?