Firepower A.I. vs MPT3k Rematch!!

TL;DR

MPT3K plays Firepower AI VPX remake with custom AI bot across difficulty levels.

Summary

Key Claims

• Firepower AI is a VPX table with custom AI created by Third Access and collaborators

  high confidence · MPT3K, throughout stream; explicitly credits 'Third Access and his boys' as creators

• The AI cannot tilt or nudge because the game wasn't coded with a mechanical tilt bob; disabling tilt was necessary deep in the code

  high confidence · MPT3K explains: 'The game was not coded with a mechanical tilt bob installed... They tried to get it to work, but they were too deep into the code for it to work'

• Firepower (1980) was the first solid state game with multiball by Williams

  high confidence · MPT3K states: 'Firepower, as you know, is the first multiball game made by Williams... First solid state game with multiball'

• Firepower AI is currently the only VPX table with a fully integrated custom AI opponent

  medium confidence · MPT3K: 'Firepower was the first and is currently the only table that is AI' and notes 'This is a very... the AI is married to this table. It's scripted with the table'

• The AI's strategy is aggressive and focuses heavily on stand-up targets to build score quickly

  high confidence · MPT3K observes: 'It looks like the strategy that Third Access has built into here, looks like it's just stand-ups. Go for stand-ups, as many stand-ups as you can, and boost that score as fast as possible'

• Creating the Firepower AI table took significant development time due to the complexity of scripting AI for a specific ruleset

  high confidence · MPT3K notes: 'This is no trivial task... The code was written to work specifically with this rule set and this table... this one is pretty hardcore'

• The table is available free on vpinball.com and can be played on any Windows computer with Visual Pinball installed

  high confidence · MPT3K: 'if you go to vpinball.com they have all the instructions for doing it... you don't need a vcab you don't need all you need is a computer that runs windows'

• MPT3K found a restored Scared Stiff at Free Gold Watch with a wiring error (spider spins backward)

Notable Quotes

• “They wrote such good code... If you notice, there's no tilt cam. I do have a tilt in here, but there's no tilt cam because I have to disable the tilt for this game. Because the game was not coded with a mechanical tilt bob installed... Trust me, if this thing could nudge too, it would never lose a ball.”

  MPT3K @ Early in stream — Explains a critical design limitation of the AI table that demonstrates deep technical knowledge of VPX coding

• “This is no trivial task... The code was written to work specifically with this rule set and this table. So we'll see if they come out with another one. But this one is pretty hardcore.”

  MPT3K @ Mid-stream — Acknowledges the massive effort required to create custom AI for a pinball table, suggesting this is a one-off achievement

• “It looks like the strategy that Third Access has built into here, looks like it's just stand-ups. Go for stand-ups, as many stand-ups as you can, and boost that score as fast as possible.”

  MPT3K @ During Hard difficulty gameplay — Reveals the AI's coded strategy, allowing viewers to learn from the bot's play

• “This stupid thing goes first... I don't feel like it's fair for me to boost the difficulty. I go first.”

  MPT3K @ Transitioning to Hard difficulty — Shows MPT3K's sportsmanship and attempts to keep the match fair despite the AI's dominance

• “Firepower was the first and is currently the only table that is AI.”

  MPT3K @ Mid-stream — Emphasizes the uniqueness of this VPX achievement in the entire Visual Pinball ecosystem

• “Did anyone know of any other virtual tables with AI? ... Well, so Third Access did this one. This is very... So the AI is very married to this. It's scripted with the table.”

  MPT3K @ During Expert difficulty — Clarifies that the AI is table-specific and cannot be easily ported to other games

Entities

Signals

• ?

  content_signal: MPT3K maintains regular Tuesday VPX streaming schedule and highlights Pinball Network collective of streamers (Don't Panic Flip, What The Flip, Just Another Pinball, Faye)

  high · MPT3K states 'Tuesdays I do VPX. Tuesdays I always do VPX' and provides Pinball Network schedule; notes Don't Panic Flip has a stream tonight

• ?

  technology_signal: Firepower AI represents a significant technical achievement: the first VPX table with fully integrated custom AI opponent that learns and adapts across difficulty levels

  high · MPT3K: 'Firepower was the first and is currently the only table that is AI' with multiple difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert, Legendary); AI demonstrates strategic gameplay adaptation

• ?

  design_innovation: Third Access implemented creative workarounds to handle AI limitations: disabled tilt/nudge to prevent unstoppable play despite being mechanically viable in real machine

  high · MPT3K: 'The game was not coded with a mechanical tilt bob installed... they were too deep into the code for it to work. So, I can nudge, but it can't... if this thing could nudge too, it would never lose a ball'

• ?

  community_signal: Pinball streaming community is organized and collaborative through Pinball Network; multiple streamers cross-promote and interact in chat during broadcasts

  high · MPT3K promotes Pinball Network schedule; Don't Panic Flip and Faye active in chat; coordinated promotional messaging for network members

• ?

  gameplay_signal: Firepower AI demonstrates intelligent difficulty scaling: Easy mode shows limited strategic play (minimal drop-catching, no lane changes); difficulty increases significantly with each level; Expert/Legendary reportedly unstoppable with nudge capability