Microsoft’s latest AI experiment recreates Quake 2 in web browsers

Microsoft has not been secretive about its AI ambitions, particularly in the game development space. Over the weekend, Microsoft released its first AI-powered experimental game – a clone of Quake 2. 

Microsoft has released a version of Quake 2 entirely generated by AI. Using Microsoft's own gaming-oriented generative AI model, Muse, this version of Quake 2 is automatically generated as you play it and while it is an interesting experiment, it does have some significant limitations. For instance, the game often appears fuzzy, as the ‘context length' for the AI is 0.9 seconds, so the AI ‘forgets' about objects that leave the frame for more than that length of time.

While the game is playable in browser, it also takes a while for the AI to catch up and makes its calculations. Every input you make in this version of Quake triggers the next AI-generated moment of the game. So not only do you have to grapple with fuzzy visuals, but there is also a good amount of input latency. With all of that in mind, there is still plenty of work that needs to be done before Microsoft's AI model can be fully utilised for a functioning game.

Social media commenters have also been quick to point out the amount of computational power required to run this experiment and the environmental impact it could have. Given that the game barely functions right now, I think it is a fair criticism to make. Sure it is interesting to see, but do we need this to be publicly available, eating up environmental resources when the end result is just… not very good?

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KitGuru Says: Experiments like this certainly have their place and it is interesting for those ‘in the industry'. For the rest of us, it just all seems a bit silly when you can run the original Quake 2 on practically any device nowadays. 

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