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LLM plays an 8-bit Commander X16 game using structured "smart senses" (pvp-ai.russell-harper.com)

28 points by russellharper ↗ HN
I connected the ChatGPT API (model gpt-4o) to an 8-bit shoot-'em-up game, PvP-AI, running on a Commander X16 emulator.

Instead of pixels or audio, the model receives structured text summaries, what I’m calling "smart senses", based on the game's existing touch and EMF-style inputs.

The LLM maintains notes between turns, develops strategies across games, and even discovers an exploit in the built-in AI's behavior.

Write-up, technical details, and three sequential gameplay recordings: https://pvp-ai.russell-harper.com/#v3

8 comments

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pragmatick
Please add a button to disable a background animation (or just remove it). It adds visual noise and is so distracting I closed the website after reading a couple of sentences.
russellharper
Thanks for the feedback. I've updated the page to honor the "prefers-reduced-motion: reduce" media query, so the background animation won't show for those who have animations disabled in their OS or browser settings.
msephton
The flow charts don't fit on mobile. Also, I would lead with a video as that's surely what everybody wants to see, it's a video game after all.
Folcon
Well done OP!

I've been thinking about doing this for the game I've been working on and you've inspired me to put some energy behind accelerating it