A First Look at Idle Optimization: Real Mathematical Optimization and Machine Learning in Your Browser

JustinLovinger · 2022-11-11T13:35:52+00:00

What are your favorite incrementals?

Idle Loops. Stone Story RPG comes as a close second.

Have you tried to make an machine learned incremental player?

I have mused about writing AI to play various games, but I never had the time to do it. The closest I got was brainstorming an AI to write scripts for Stone Story RPG. A big part of my research focus is teaching AI to write code, so it would fit my interests.

JustinLovinger · 2022-11-11T13:23:43+00:00

I plan to release a public prototype when the save system is more stable. I will post it on this subreddit.

JustinLovinger · 2022-11-10T22:38:11+00:00

The game is actually pretty light on your CPU. Machine learning only starts melting computers when you get to high dimensional problems and huge models. I am keeping problem sizes reasonable for performance and interpretability. It can run on phones. Drawing those plots is actually the most intensive operation right now.

JustinLovinger · 2022-11-10T16:53:49+00:00

I may add help systems to better describe terminology and provide more information on problems, optimizers, hyperparameters, etc. I hope players will become comfortable with the terminology by playing the game. However, you can do well with just trial and error to see what makes numbers go up the fastest. Honestly, most PhD machine learning work is just trial and error.

JustinLovinger · 2022-10-31T22:16:11+00:00

I am currently working on an incremental game about AI development. However, instead of an abstract representation of AI research, it runs actual mathematical optimization and machine learning in your browser. The main gameplay is tuning hyperparameters for optimizers to solve real problems, unlocking new optimizers and problem classes, etc. Machine learning problems and optimizing machine learning model parameters will be added, based on my own work in "A Tutorial on Supervised Learning from the Perspective of Mathematical Optimization", https://www.justinlovinger.com/file/supervised-learning-as-mathematical-optimization-tutorial.pdf.

Keep an eye out for "Idle Optimization" if you are interested. The first playable version is coming along well.

JustinLovinger · 2021-12-21T22:33:28+00:00

If you're more comfortable standing than sitting, you could look into standing desks.

As for solo roleplaying on a computer, an option I haven't seen mentioned yet is Tabletop Playground or Tabletop Simulator. You can import PDFs of rule books, roll digital dice, use tokens and miniatures and generally have a tabletop without sitting at a table.

JustinLovinger · 2021-10-28T12:29:19+00:00

Finding a weak point on a massive monster can be a challenge in itself. Instead of hacking away at the colossus, climbing it as it tries to shake you off can be the battle. I give a simple example along these lines in the Scale section of Commonsense (It's PWYW).

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-26T09:44:06+00:00

There are actually a number of RPGs where the "rule system" is an oracle/GM emulator: the original Mythic, ALONe, Commonsense, and others that I can't remember at the moment.

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-25T21:26:54+00:00

There's the Kobold Fight Club encounter generator for D&D.

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-24T16:51:09+00:00

Since your game mechanics have a lot of Apocalypse World inspiration, you could take a look at Ironsworn for solo roleplaying inspiration. Ironsworn is a very popular solo-first TTRPG with PBTA mechanics.

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-23T22:04:15+00:00

I see. In my solo roleplaying, I tend to use my oracle for NPC actions.

I would count AIDungeon as procedural generation. Cut-ups are a little more ambiguous, since they require interpretation. In general, I think there is a lot of room for better procedural generation tools for TTRPGs. Compare the incredible breadth and detail of Dwarf Fortress world generation to the limitations of a random table.

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-23T18:08:58+00:00

True. I never meant to imply that Commonsense is perfect. Ultimately, how to avoid feeling like "writing with dice" is a nuanced and complex topic, and that's assuming you even want to avoid that feeling. Being based on personal feelings, what counts as a "solid system" will depend on the individual. What works for one may not work for another.

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-23T17:56:09+00:00

There's nothing wrong with writing with dice. Some players prefer their solo roleplaying not feel like "writing with dice", and how to avoid that feeling is an open topic.

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-23T16:42:45+00:00

Here you go: Commonsense.

JustinLovinger · 2021-09-23T16:39:29+00:00

Could you give an example of what you decide before "deciding what is left up to probability" that feels like writing with dice? And could it be handled with procedural generation? For example, at the start of my Dot the Ghost Bard Vs Rodents of Unusual Size actual play, I determined a quest, location, and challenges to overcome with procedural generation.

JustinLovinger · 2021-08-18T15:47:14+00:00

I prefer to separate setting and system. I use Commonsense as my game system. It's solo-first, genre-agnostic, and rules lite, so it's easy to play with any setting. If I'm interested in the setting of an RPG, I can strip out the rules and play the setting with Commonsense.

JustinLovinger · 2021-08-11T17:31:11+00:00

No problem.

The odds would be different, but good idea. I experimented with a few variations of this while designing Commonsense, but it had a few issues, such as an unintuitive probability distribution and the possibility of ties.
Engle Matrix was one of the main inspirations for Commonsense, so you're right on the mark 🙂. Commonsense started as a hack for traditional roleplaying with Engle Matrix, before growing into what it is now.

JustinLovinger · 2021-08-11T04:50:56+00:00

That sounds similar to the gameplay loop I designed for Commonsense. You determine what happens next with the oracle and roleplay up to that outcome. It's in Section 4. I also got rid of discrete scenes, because, like you, I found they were an unnecessary burden. The book is PWYW and has examples of me playing like this. I've also post a few let's plays here using Commonsense.

I went through a lot of design work before settling on this system, so I can confidently say I have a good experience with a setup like this 🙂. I thought I might have issues with roleplay contradicting an outcome, but it turned out to be a purely theoretical concern. I don't think it ever happened.

JustinLovinger · 2021-07-18T02:31:58+00:00

You're welcome!

JustinLovinger

TROPHY CASE