Adaptive Physics for Game-Balancing in Video-Games for Social Interaction

This article describes the work in progress of an adaptive video game that is based on the arcade game of air hockey. The video game uses adaptive physics to improve the experience between two human opponents. The physics of the game continually adapts itself to the ability of each player. That is, the game becomes more difficult for the skillful player, however, it becomes easier for the inexperienced player. This is achieved by using a behaviour based architecture, first used on mobile robots, later on artificial characters and finally on computer driven video game opponents. The architecture affects the physical properties of some elements of the game, which are handled by the physics engine used in the project described herein.