20 min Samurai Spirits

- 16 characters

- Story mode is basically arcade mode

- 13 of the characters are legacy 3 are new ones

- No crossover characters

- Not combo heavy, more like fencing, footsie, yomie ... slower game

- Only one character is actually a Samurai

- Weapon dropping, duels return, sprites don't appear to throw items any more

- Xblox/PS4 version release simultaneously, Switch/PC afterwords

Did you mean to write "yomi," here?

Looks like solid Samsho with 3d graphics though. I'm glad a Samsho game is taking the stage at EVO.

+1 ego points

Yay!

Thank David Sirlin

One thing don't like is the backgrounds look comparatively static.

@uninspiredcup: They can definitely spruce up the background animations.

Hm seems ok.

Inject directly into my veins!!

SN FUCKING K baby, lets go!!

Apparently they doing some magical shit with the AI.

Sounds great, AI dumb as a rock or cheaper than something-something analogy.

New Samurai Shodown appears to use neural network AI for enemy fighters

The new SAMURAI SHODOWN game appears to be using NEURAL NETWORK AI for enemy fighters. The revolutionary artificial intelligence system could completely change how fighting games implement computer enemies. SNK Playmore is supposedly developing the system with future titles in mind.

King of Fighters World noticed an interesting panel coming to the Game Creators Conference 2019 in Osaka. The panel is titled “The Incorporation of Neural Network based AI into Fighting Games” and features a screenshot of Samurai Shodown (Samurai Spirits in Japan). It is being hosted by Nobuaki Nigo from SNK’s research and development department. Here’s the panel’s description, written by Nigo:

“In a fighting game, we realized a system that learns and reproduces the movement of a character using a neural network on a game machine. You can reproduce the behavior of that player by using the situation the actual player is watching and the operation you performed. We introduce an example of TensorFlow connection that can test the machine learning algorithm at high speed as a prototype in the game constructed by UE 4 and show how to change the implementation in a form suitable for actual product incorporation I will explain. Finally, I will tell you about the difficulties in incorporating machine learning in products, what I felt was first to consider.”

Nigo joined SNK in 2016 where he works in consumer game development and mobile app infrastructure. TensorFlow is an open source machine learning framework that has been integrated into a number of applications since its release in 2015. Its use in game development has started to be prototyped by indie developers and larger development studios, but integration into a commercial game has so far been limited.

The new Samurai Shodown was announced in September 2018 and is expected to release sometime in early 2019. The game introduces a new art style to the storied fighting game and moves to 3D characters on a 2D plane. It is being built in Unreal Engine for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Nigo’s panel will be held on March 30 at the Game Creators Conference 2019 in Osaka, Japan.

Read more at https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/487803-new-samurai-shodown-neural-network-ai#X466WcHeyy8XwKs7.99

@uninspiredcup: I'll be really interested to see how these NN game AI play out. Have you watched AlphaGo? It's pretty exciting to think of their potential. But I wonder a few things - like, is there a risk of inexperienced devs allowing the AI to get too good, basically ruining the game from a "fun" perspective?

I've had my eye on Echo, for its interesting use of adaptive enemies

@xantufrog: Yea, part of the problem with AI in fighting games, even if it's challenging, it's still not really comparable to how humans behave, so, it's nowhere near as satisfying to play against, or even useful for training mode unless you set them to dummys and use specific setup. It's an interesting idea.

@Pedro: Unfortunately due to budget reasons they will probably never go back to 2D.

Game looks really good. I’ve always enjoyed the Samurai Shodown games so I’m pretty hyped for this new one.

I might even get this one I realized... maybe not though might want a bit more information.

This game looks good. I want to support SNK when they make good products. I bought King of Fighters and will buy this. Most likely day one. Even though I know there will be DLC characters. What can I say I love me some Shodown. Ippon!!!