Counter-Strike's Dust II runs purely within a neural network on an RTX 3090 — performance is disappointing at only 10 FPS

Eloi Alonso and Adam Jelley's "DIAMOND" diffusion world model used to simulate Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gameplay on series staple map, Dust II.
Eloi Alonso and Adam Jelley's "DIAMOND" diffusion world model used to simulate Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gameplay on series staple map, Dust II. (Image credit: Valve for CS:GO; Eloi Alonso and Adam Jelley on GitHub)

In a move showing yet further progress in the field of generative AI being capable of simulating existing (copyrighted) games, the "DIAMOND" Diffusion for World Modeling model has now been showcased simulating Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, trained and played off a single RTX 3090 (at 10 FPS). One of the people working on the project, Eloi Alonso, posted footage of this CS:GO "world model" being run in a thread on Twitter, including plenty of disclosure on the involved glitches, of which there are many.

While a responsible enthusiast should be critical of the implications posed by AI technology implemented in this way, it's undoubtedly an impressive technical achievement on the part of Eloi Alonso and the rest of the people who worked on the "DIAMOND" diffusion model to effectively "port" CS:GO to AI by training a single GPU with enough Dust II Deathmatch footage to "teach" the diffusion model the game. The glitches are all fascinating in their way, too, showing us some of the logistical shortcomings of generative AI technology that is still ultimately guessing correct player/game behavior, not running it within a game engine.

Of the glitches showcased by Alonso, one of the most interesting by far relates to jumping. Players can jump infinitely within this AI simulation of CS:GO because the model views pressing the button as having a fixed reaction (moving on the Y axis by a set amount) rather than being ruled by Source Engine's gravity or collision detection. This also allows for other strangely dreamlike "hallucinations," including weapons morphing in certain lighting conditions and even the ability to phase or teleport through particular walls.

Instead of roughly simulating a GPU's dream of Counter-Strike, you can install Counter-Strike 2 for free on Steam today and play it well above 60 FPS on gaming GPUs much cheaper than an RTX 3090. But as a technical demo for the RTX 3090's onboard AI hardware training and running a diffusion model all on its lonesome, this "port" of CS:GO's Dust II into a diffusion model is still quite enjoyable. Hopefully, the game industry doesn't make the absolute worst of these technical advancements in morally, legally, and ethically dubious ways.

Christopher Harper
Contributing Writer

Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.

  • void555
    Hopefully, the game industry doesn't make the absolute worst of these technical advancements in morally, legally, and ethically dubious ways.
    Not a chance
    Reply
  • TheHerald
    It's not really playable. It's just a video. User influenced, but still a video.
    Reply
  • AkroZ
    TheHerald said:
    It's not really playable. It's just a video. User influenced, but still a video.
    Where do you think the term "video game" come from ?
    The video being generated by rasterization, ray casting or neural network doesn't change the fact that they are all video games.
    Reply
  • TheHerald
    AkroZ said:
    Where do you think the term "video game" come from ?
    The video being generated by rasterization, ray casting or neural network doesn't change the fact that they are all video games.
    There is no engine running underneath a video
    Reply
  • einheriar
    This must be a ploy by nvidia to encourage the easily convinced to buy a 5090 so it can run at 30-40 fps. The 6090 will finally reach minimal acceptible frame rates of 60+ fps in simulating a game in AI
    Reply
  • Master_Shifu
    10 FPS on Dust II with RTX 3090? Yikes. That’s worse than running a marathon in sandals. Cool idea but needs optimization.
    Reply