History Main / ComputersAreFast

Examples:

* Some Street Fighter games have AI with tournament-level combo skill on even the easier difficulty settings.

* In ''Pokémon Puzzle League'', computers at the highest difficulty level can pull off the most ''ridiculous'' chains thanks to the precision and speed they boast. In fact, even the ''first'' oponent in [[NintendoHard Super Hard difficulty]] can be potentially more problematic than the ''last'' oponent of [[HarderThanHard Very Hard difficulty]] if you're not careful. Expect to use lots of continues in S-Hard as you hope for a lucky break against several of the later foes. The [[ThatOneBoss 2nd encounter with Gary]], in particular, is specially grating, as not only does he pull enormous chains as often as he can (something that all but the most skilled players would be hard pressed to replicate, even to the degree that he does), but if you lose to the next opponent, [[spoiler: Puzzle Master Mewtwo]], [[OhCrap then you have to]] [[ThisIsGonnaSuck face Gary again.]]

* In ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' and many other RTS games, the computer can do an absurd amount of actions per minute. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=easv7l0NyJA And by absurd]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAM41idmdIo&feature=channel it's 2000+ APM]], when even the best [[PositiveDiscrimination Korean]] players are around 500 APM.

** Calculation speed isn't the only factor in chess computers, of course. In recent years high-level chess play has been possible on commercial hardware, not just super-fast purpose-built machines. In 2009, a chess program called Pocket Fritz 4 won a tournament with grandmaster-level play calculating 'only' 20,000 positions per second. [[WithThisHerring It was running on an HTC mobile phone.]]

* ''{{Touhou}}'' games have their BulletHell directed by mathematical formulas. In the ''Phantasmagoria'' installments, this translates to the AI opponent being able to pull off ridiculous dodges due to knowing exactly where every bullet is in relation to its own hit box. In essence, they are "pushed" away by bullets. {{AI Breaker}}s aside, the computer is invincible until it decides (via RNG) [[TacticalSuicideBoss to commit suicide.]]

Usually not quite part of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, as the concept of "cheating" gets abstract; the computer by necessity has to be the one drawing the action, and it's never really using a controller. The idea is that someone with SuperReflexes could theoretically pull off the same with a TV and controller.[[hottip:*: In practice, display and control devices do have their own physical limitations ("lag") that would prevent even a superhuman player from matching an AI at full speed, so only a [[{{Speedrun}} Tool Assisted Speedrunner]] could do it.]] Normal players, on the other hand, need to [[GameplayDerailment drive the focus away]] to something else that they can beat the computer at.

Usually not quite part of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, as the concept of "cheating" gets abstract; the computer by necessity has to be the one drawing the action, and it's never really using a controller. The idea is that someone with SuperReflexes could theoretically pull off the same with a TV and controller.[[hottip:*: In practice, display and control devices do have their own physical limitations ("lag") that would prevent even a superhuman player from matching an AI at full speed, so only a [[{{Speedrun}} Tool Assisted Speedrunner]] could do it.]] Normal players, on the other hand, need to [[GameplayDerailment drive the focus away]] to something else that they can beat the computer at.

* AI players in VideoGame/BlackAndWhite physically move over the map at a limited, moderately fast pace, and must (slowly) draw a spiral in the air to use the Gesture system and trigger their spells. You, on the other hand, have a variety of shortcuts and snaps to move around the map much quicker, and can Gesture much faster than them with some skill and experience.

** Calculation speed isn't the only factor in chess computers, of course. In recent years high-level chess play has been possible on commercial hardware, not just super-fast purpose-built machines. In 2009, a chess program called Pocket Fritz 4 won a tournament with grandmaster-level play calculating 'only' 20,000 positions per second. [[BeyondTheImpossible It was running on an HTC mobile phone.]]

* The patch notes for TeamFortress2 reveal that the AI actually use a virtual mouse and keyboard, complete with the jitters and jiggles that human hands might experience.

* In ''Pokémon Puzzle League'', computers at the highest difficulty level can pull off the most ''ridiculous'' chains thanks to the precision and speed they boast. In fact, even the ''first'' oponent in [[NintendoHard Super Hard difficulty]] can be potentially more problematic than the ''last'' oponent of [[HarderThanHard Very Hard difficulty]] if you're not careful. Expect to use lots of continues in S-Hard as you hope for a lucky break against several of the later foes. The [[ThatOneBoss 2nd encounter with Gary]], in particular, is specially grating, as not only does he pull enormous chains as often as he can (something that all but the most skilled players would be hard pressed to replicate, even to the degree that he does), but if you lose to the next opponent, [[spoiler: Puzzle Master Mewtwo]], [[OhCrap then you have to]] [[ThisIsGonnaSuck fight him again.]]

** Calculation speed isn't the only thing factor in chess computers, of course. In recent years high-level chess play has been possible on commercial hardware, not just superfast purpose-built machines. In 2009, a chess program called Pocket Fritz 4 won a tournament with grandmaster-level play calculating 'only' 20,000 positions per second. [[BeyondTheImpossible It was running on a HTC mobile phone.]]

* ''{{Touhou}}'' games have their BulletHell directed by mathematical formulas. In the ''Phantasmagoria'' installments, this translates to the AI opponent being able to pull of ridiculous dodges due to knowing exactly where every bullet is in relation to its own hit box. In essence, they are "pushed" away by bullets. {{AI Breaker}}s aside, the computer is invincible until it decides (via RNG) [[TacticalSuicideBoss to commit suicide.]]

* The ''MortalKombat'' games have computers instantly pulling off all sorts of moves that require frame-exact timing or pushing a bunch of buttons in quick succession, causing many players to discard the stylish strategies they would use against other humans and simply repeat an AIBreaker over and over again.

* In ''LeagueOfLegends'', the bots are able to pull off combos (Especially Annie, Renekton, and Ryze) with superhuman reflexes. This is what makes them dangerous, and arguably what makes them the ''least'' Cheatsy.

This trope applies to anything an AI can perform well without cheating. Computer opponents can also be programmed with an impeccable memory, and a team of [=AIs=] can communicate with each other more quickly and accurately than any human team could.

This trope spreads to other computer fields besides video games. Computers are "fast but stupid"; they can crunch an awful lot of data, but will do it exactly as coded, and [[AIIsACrapshoot you can thank your lucky stars for that]], [[ZerothLawRebellion or maybe not]], frankly we're not sure yet.