T w e n t y S i d e d

This post could also be titled, “Much Ado About Nothing”. It began as an ill-advised Twitter tirade, and turned into a confusing argument in which pretty much everyone was in misunderstood agreement. If the medium is the message, then the message of Twitter is that nobody has the time to communicate clearly.

The dispute is all settled down now, but it’s still nagging at me and so I want to put everything here as an official record of the foolishness. It begins with this preview of the upcoming Thief game, where we learn that:

As I learned straight from the developers that showed us the game, the artificial intelligence in Thief is something that is only possible on next-gen hardware. Whereas in past games, a soldier might react in an “if, then” manner – for example, if a glass breaks, then walk towards the sound – your enemies in Thief won’t be so predictable. Say you snuff out a lantern and attract the attention of a guard. At first, the enemy may simply mumble to himself that it must have been the wind, but should you do it again, the chances of the guard growing suspicious heightens. Do it a third time and he may launch an all-out sweep of the area, and each time is different.

Emphasis mine.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “AI, CPU Cycles, and Twitter”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.