Flaws in artificial intelligence: Difference between revisions

[[File:Suicidal Bowser.gif|250px|thumb|An example of the flawed ''Melee'' AI. The computer-controlled Bowser wants to attack Luigi with his [[Fire Breath]] but ignores the physics of the spinning blocks directly in front of him. The Bowser then walks toward Luigi and attacks with Fire Breath again, expecting solid ground to still be present, and [[self destruct]]s.]]

As many players might expect from the first ''Super Smash Bros.'' game, the AI is considered poor even with CPUs set to level nine. When fighting, their main form of attacking is to constantly use their [[neutral special]]s (with only a few exceptions), especially projectiles such as {{SSB|Mario}}'s Fireballs, along with [[smash attack]]s. Other than using [[tilt]]s occasionally, they tend to not use other attacks, using [[neutral attack]]s and [[grab]]s rarely, though high-leveled CPUs do combine these two for a [[jab grab]].

The AI also has a significantly poor recovery as it never attempts to use its up special again after being attacked out of it, and always recovers by moving towards the stage while not avoiding or throwing out any attacks against [[edge guard]]ers. Their defensive abilities are flawed in a similar way: they often hold their [[shield]] against consecutive-hitting moves such as {{SSB|Kirby}}'s jab even if they can escape them, breaking their shields instead, and overuse [[roll]]s to dodge attacks even after the player stops attacking, allowing easy [[punish]]es with attacks like [[down smash]]es. Outside of this, however, grounded CPUs are still generally able to defend in time against attacks, using their shields more often than in ''Melee'', as well as being able to [[tech]] successfully in some occasions. CPUs additionally don't properly recognise [[reflect]]ing and [[absorb]]ing moves, despite themselves precisely using these moves against oncoming projectiles, allowing the player to potentially heal critical damage or take a stock out of them is a strong projectile is absorbed/reflected.

This is arguably not true however, as CPUs in this game have poor understandings of numerous attacks, as well as exhibiting strange behaviours in complex situations, poor defensive play that involves spamming rolls and not attempting to get away from attacks when airborne, and an easily gimpable recovery that allows them to be easily KO'd. These flaws therefore make even level nine CPUs easily beatable by any experienced players as well as intermediate gamers and even casual ones if they are able to exploit their flaws effectively.

The AI in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' is also notorious for how flawed it is. CPU now have an even poorer [[approach]], always [[walk]]ing towards the player while periodically using projectiles, then [[spam]]ming their [[dash grab]] and jabs at close range, rarely using tilts or smashes outside specific situations. Unlike in ''SSB'', CPUs never [[dash]] at all other than for using dash grabs and [[dash attack]]s, and perform them instantly during the first frames of the initial dash, thus barely moving themselves forward at all. They additionally never charge smash attacks (the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}' forward smash being the sole exception), and still won't attempt to attack grounded foes with aerials. CPUs also have a tendency to overuse other moves of specific characters, such as {{SSBM|Ganondorf}}'s [[Dark Dive]], {{SSBM|Zelda}}'s [[down tilt]], {{SSBM|Yoshi}}'s [[Egg Lay]] and {{SSBM|Mr. Game & Watch}}'s dash attack. Some characters are programmed to have bad follow-ups: {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} for example will always use a down-throw followed by a [[Raptor Boost]] which rarely hits (depending on character, percentage and DI) and result in a self-destruct when done near the ledge. The overuse of jabs and grabs causes CPUs in ''Melee'' to generally have poor KOing abilities, as these moves are significantly weak in comparison to the smash attacks CPUs often used in ''SSB''.

AI players still have a notably lackluster recovery: while they won't give up on recoveries like they did in ''SSB'', they still recover in a basic and predictable pattern with only their up special (or only side special with {{SSBM|Luigi}}), never using alternate methods like [[side special]]s or [[wall-grapple]]s, which causes them to fail many recoveries that were possible, while making no effort at all to fight off edgeguarders. This results in CPUs being extremely easy to edgeguard, which is exacerbated by ''Melee''{{'}}s edgeguarding friendly physics. While they do possess precise [[meteor cancel]] abilities at even level 1, they are very easily beaten by other edgeguarding techniques, such as [[Wall of Pain|walls of pain]] or [[spike]]s.

The AI in ''Melee'' also makes poor use of [[shield]]s and defensive maneuvers in general, even worse than in ''SSB'': it will almost never shield or dodge attacks even at level 9 (never [[sidestep]]ping intentionally to dodge at all), taking whatever attack is thrown their way, which when combined with their constant approaching, often leads to them just walking into a player's [[charge]]d attack, or even a slow and punishable but powerful attack like a [[Falcon Punch]]. The AI will only sidestep if it is on a [[soft platform]] and wants to both fall through the platform and [[shield]] an oncoming projectile at the same time (the AI only seems to do this for projectiles and not direct attacks). On the other hand, though, high leveled CPUs are very precise with [[powershield]]ing, usually succeeding with it when they do shield attacks, and while they rarely shield physical moves, they will reflect almost any oncoming projectile with their powershields when not in lag. They are also programmed to always dodge specific attacks, examples being: [[Bowser Bomb]], {{SSBM|Bowser}}'s up smash, [[Yoshi Bomb]], [[Dancing Blade]] and the uppercut of [[Raptor Boost]]. They still do this to a fault however, as in the former case, CPUs will prioritise reflecting projectiles over anything else and stand in place shielding even if that causes them to break their shield, and in the latter case, they often make basic dodging choices with their rolls or [[air dodge]]s, sometimes even rolling towards edges or air dodging straight into the attack, getting hit anyway.

The AI is notably more efficient with its recoveries, using any [[side special]]s or [[tether recoveries]] their character has to aid them, and will as well punish opponents more often, always [[shield grab]]bing them when optimal, instead of just rolling or dropping their shield after being attacked. It is also much better at handling items in comparison to previous games, as it now recognises and uses all items that appear, while also repelling any other players trying to get them, and not ceasing fighting if an item appears too far from them (exempting the [[Smash Ball]]) unless the foe goes for it. When a dangerous item or attack such as a {{b|Hammer|item}} or [[Final Smash]] is active on the field, CPUs on revival platforms will stay on them instead of reentering the fight instantly, and also attack any other stragglers while staying away from it.

While CPUs are better at recovering than in previous games, they still underutilise recoveries, such as by not making use of alternate recovery options with some characters (such as {{SSBB|Lucas}}), or always recovering in the same direction with a recovery move. A computer player, regardless of level, will also always aim for solid platforms that can be [[edge sweet spot|sweetspotted]] when recovering, even when there are "soft" platforms off the stage. They also tend to play strangely in complex custom stages, and in overly large and complex stages like [[New Pork City]] and [[75m]], where they might stand in a place attacking nothing, or unintentionally self-destruct while navigating platforms and hazards. Despite recognising items and using them better than in the previous installments, they may still self-destruct with certain items, such as by walking into a row of Bob-ombs when approaching a player, self-destructing with their own explosives, or inadvertently attacking a [[Blast Box]] and being KO'd by it.

Aside from being flawed as stated above, in [[free-for-all]]s, CPUs will all target the human player even if they aren't [[Team Battle|teamed]]. They will also target the character that has the highest damage to earn a KO, and in doing so will not attack other CPUs, which results in them following each other in lockstep. This mechanic has been severely hated by many fans to where FFAs are considered to actually be a 1-vs-3 (player vs. computers).

In {{forwiiu}}, the AI has had most of its flaws from ''Smash 3DS'' addresed and fixed: CPUs will no longer overuse their forward smashes, attempt to use worn out projectiles (such as {{SSB4|Robin}}'s {{b|Thunder|Robin}} with the Tome worn out), hold their shields for a long time or air dodge almost all the time when launched. Another prominent change is that CPUs now finally attempt to avoid edgeguarders during their recovery, air dodging any oncoming attacks while carrying on their recovery afterwards; they will also always [[footstool]] foes coming near when they have the opportunity, a behavior exhibited even by {{SSB4|Mii Fighter}}s in Multi-Man modes, including [[Cruel Smash]].

CPUs are more proficient using short hopped aerial attacks, and will now always use [[out of shield]] [[up smash]]es when possible, improving their defensive game. They also choose better follow-up options when using certain attacks, more often following up their jabs with other moves (such as CPU {{SSB4|Fox}} following up his second jab with a grab, as well as {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}} with [[Falcon Dive]]), and finally take the advantage to unleash a fully charged [[smash attack]] on a foe [[stun]]ned from a broken shield. They also notoriously [[combo]] their throws into aerials more often, with most CPU characters at high levels being programmed to always follow up their [[down throw]] with a specific aerial or special move, examples being {{SSB4|Luigi}} into his forward air or [[Luigi Cyclone]], or {{SSB4|Meta Knight}} into [[Shuttle Loop]].

Despite all these improvements being made to the AI, though, it still posseses some flaws. CPUs still use projectiles more frequently than regular attacks when at far distances (allowing characters with chargeable special moves to freely charge against other characters with projectiles), and characters like {{SSB4|Wario}} and {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}} still tend to spam certain other special moves. They still seem to ignore character differences when doing certain actions; they may still roll often with characters like Yoshi and Samus (whose rolls are slow and easily punishable), use out of shield up smashes with those whose up smash is either slow (such as Ike) or has poor horizontal range (such as Mega Man), or favor their back throw or down throw as a KO throw and combo throw respectively, even if those throws are not the optimal choice in those situations (such as with {{SSB4|Bowser}}, who will not attempt any follow-up even if it does choose to use up throw). They are also prone to overdoing their throw combos (such as with Meta Knight, who will continue to attempt Shuttle Loop after down throw even at high percentages where it no longer works), as well as misspacing their attacks, either getting consistently shield-grabbed or whiff punished by potentially fatal attacks.

CPUs additionally do not change their "playstyle" in free-for-alls, causing them to use grabs or projectiles that can only hit one foe at a time, instead of more frequently using others that can hit multiple foes, giving them several problems especially in [[8-Player Smash]] battles. Aside from this, CPUs still behave rather eccentrically in complex or [[custom stage]]s, where they can have difficulty recognizing walls and hazards or jumping across platforms, as well as aiming recoveries.

The effectiveness of CPU players were enough to gain slight notoriety within the community and Nintendo themselves, with the official [[List_of_updates_(SSBU)#1.2.0|1.2.0 patch]] reducing the difficulty of CPUs in "Challenger Approaching" matches to make unlocking new fighters easier.