Virtual Pinball: Firepower AI vs. MPT3k Battle

TL;DR

MPT3K plays AI-controlled Firepower in virtual pinball; AI dominates with expert-level strategy.

Summary

Key Claims

• The Firepower AI was created by a couple of programmers who wrote a custom AI version of the game

  high confidence · MPT3K explains early in stream that 'someone wrote' the AI version, noting 'a couple of guys got together and wrote this'

• The AI version runs at expert difficulty level which prioritizes shots based on return on investment and knows the rules

  high confidence · MPT3K states: 'He's set at expert level. Meaning he also prioritizes shots. So he knows the rules. And he knows what to shoot for when. So he's getting the maximum return on investment basically.'

• The AI cannot nudge because it tilts when attempting to nudge due to the custom accelerometer and tilt bar setup

  high confidence · MPT3K explains repeatedly: 'whenever he tries to nudge, it tilts the game, so I stopped him from nudging... The coders who wrote it didn't have access to a real accelerometer or a tilt bar.'

• The AI can perform flipper tricks including post passes, bounce passes, lane flips, and lane switches

  high confidence · Throughout gameplay, MPT3K observes: 'He can do flipper tricks and everything', 'He can trap. He can bounce pass', 'Lane flipping and everything. Lane passing and everything.'

• MPT3K won 3 out of 8 games played against the AI

  high confidence · MPT3K states near end of stream: 'I managed to win three out of eight' and 'So far it's five games to three'

Notable Quotes

• “Everything is going extremely well. Everything is going extremely well.”

  MPT3K@ 4:09 — Running joke used by both MPT3K and the AI's taunting text responses whenever the AI is dominating

• “This is clearly... This is like playing a pro at this right now.”

  MPT3K@ 6:29 — Recognition that the AI plays at competitive tournament level

• “Now if you never thought that a computer could play pinball, these guys have proven that wrong because this is clearly... This is like playing a pro at this right now.”

  MPT3K@ 6:23 — Direct acknowledgment that the custom Firepower AI demonstrates that computers can play pinball at high skill levels

• “I want them to come out with some more AI versions of games. Firepower was probably the simplest rule set, so it wasn't that much work.”

  MPT3K@ 35:37 — Expresses interest in seeing more AI-controlled pinball games; acknowledges that Firepower's rule simplicity made it a good candidate for AI adaptation

• “It's so weird to hear my pinball machine playing itself, though. This is weird. Like, everything firing. The switches are all firing. Everything is as if someone is actually playing.”

  MPT3K@ 37:10 — Commentary on the uncanny experience of watching automated play occur on his physical virtual pinball machine

• “I need something. Oh, there we go. I need an advantage. I can nudge. He cannot nudge. I need that.”

  MPT3K@ 7:21 — Recognition that nudging is MPT3K's only advantage over the AI opponent

Entities

Signals

• ?

  technology_signal: Custom AI opponent programmed to play Firepower at expert difficulty level with shot prioritization, rules knowledge, and advanced flipper techniques (post passes, bounce passes, lane flips)

  high · MPT3K describes AI capabilities extensively: 'He prioritizes shots based on the return on investment of the shot during the game... He knows what to shoot, basically.' AI consistently demonstrates sophisticated play throughout 8+ games.

• ?

  design_innovation: Firepower AI programmed with expert-level shot selection algorithms that evaluate return-on-investment and prioritize game rules; demonstrates flipper trick execution at competitive tournament standards

  high · MPT3K observes: 'He's set at expert level... he also prioritizes shots... he knows the rules... getting the maximum return on investment basically.' AI executes post passes, bounce passes, and complex target sequences with ~75% success rate.

• ?

  product_concern: AI unable to nudge/tilt manipulation due to incompatibility with custom accelerometer and tilt bar hardware; disabling nudge feature was necessary workaround to prevent immediate tilts when AI attempts nudging

  high · MPT3K explains: 'whenever he tries to nudge, it tilts the game, so I stopped him from nudging... The coders who wrote it didn't have access to a real accelerometer or a tilt bar.' This remains an unfixed limitation.

• ?

  gameplay_signal: AI demonstrates tournament-level pinball performance, winning 5-7 games out of 8+ played matches; exhibits strategic shot selection, rules mastery, and consistent high scores (averaging 300k+), compared to human player averaging 74-166k

  high · Final tally shows AI winning majority of games; highest AI score documented is 679k, while MPT3K struggles to break 400k. MPT3K compares to 'playing a pro' and 'playing Bowen' (elite tournament player).

Topics

Sentiment

mixed(0.45)— MPT3K expresses frustration at repeatedly losing to the AI (negative sentiment), uses humorous self-deprecating commentary, but also shows genuine fascination and enthusiasm for watching expert-level AI play (positive sentiment). The tone is lighthearted frustration rather than genuine anger.