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People have been training ML to play Minecraft via text commands for a while. Having access to the guts of a clone makes perfect sense given their past and pres

by uoaei 3y ago

People have been training ML to play Minecraft via text commands for a while. Having access to the guts of a clone makes perfect sense given their past and present projects.

gaudystead 3y ago
Just speculating here but... More than just _playing_ a game, I could see OpenAI wanting to go after the 3D assets market by letting players generate levels, items, and perhaps even NPCs, simply by describing them. It might be easier to generate voxel-based assets first though, which would make Minecraft-esque games a logical first target (perhaps just behind 2D games, but I suspect the market isn't as big there).
- ddmma 3y ago
  I agree, let’s presume that we will expect some more functionality like Text to 3D generated content. CAD is big market
ShamelessC 3y ago
Maybe...if they didn't already have direct access to the original via Microsoft.
- uoaei 3y ago
  That's a good point. Looks like there's more to the story in the announcement.
  - rvnx 3y ago
    "Conspiracy" theory: Couldn't it be the opposite ? Let's imagine, that Microsoft, one of the main investor of OpenAI, wants to get rid of a solid open-source Minecraft clone before it gets popular ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPHEtewFm3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPHEtewFm3M Not saying it's true, but that's totally reasonable to spend xxM USD if you have to defend your multi-billion game license.
    - edgyquant 3y ago
      I would totally buy this. This way Microsoft doesn’t look bad in an era where big tech is coming under scrutiny for acquisitions.
      - mrguyorama 3y ago
        The market is littered with clones of minecraft and has been since before it was even done being made. None of them have even been remotely a threat to Minecraft. Turns out you need way more than just a bunch of blocks.
93po 3y ago
I'd be really curious how this training works. Is it done on a real-time minecraft application, or did they build a custom game engine that mimics minecraft but without any movement delay and without any graphics so the speed of training could be thousands of times faster?

by uoaei 3y ago

People have been training ML to play Minecraft via text commands for a while. Having access to the guts of a clone makes perfect sense given their past and present projects.

gaudystead 3y ago

Just speculating here but... More than just _playing_ a game, I could see OpenAI wanting to go after the 3D assets market by letting players generate levels, items, and perhaps even NPCs, simply by describing them. It might be easier to generate voxel-based assets first though, which would make Minecraft-esque games a logical first target (perhaps just behind 2D games, but I suspect the market isn't as big there).

ddmma 3y ago
I agree, let’s presume that we will expect some more functionality like Text to 3D generated content. CAD is big market

ShamelessC 3y ago

Maybe...if they didn't already have direct access to the original via Microsoft.

uoaei 3y ago
That's a good point. Looks like there's more to the story in the announcement.
- rvnx 3y ago
  "Conspiracy" theory: Couldn't it be the opposite ? Let's imagine, that Microsoft, one of the main investor of OpenAI, wants to get rid of a solid open-source Minecraft clone before it gets popular ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPHEtewFm3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPHEtewFm3M Not saying it's true, but that's totally reasonable to spend xxM USD if you have to defend your multi-billion game license.
  - edgyquant 3y ago
    I would totally buy this. This way Microsoft doesn’t look bad in an era where big tech is coming under scrutiny for acquisitions.
    - mrguyorama 3y ago
      The market is littered with clones of minecraft and has been since before it was even done being made. None of them have even been remotely a threat to Minecraft. Turns out you need way more than just a bunch of blocks.

93po 3y ago

I'd be really curious how this training works. Is it done on a real-time minecraft application, or did they build a custom game engine that mimics minecraft but without any movement delay and without any graphics so the speed of training could be thousands of times faster?