Fish fight! Programmer creates system allowing his pets to play Street Fighter

It is one of the most bizarre sporting matchups ever seen- and you can watch it unfold live below.

A computer programmer has set up a system to allow his fish to play the classic arcade game Street Fighter against each other.

The two fish, Aquarious and Robert the Bruce, trigger commands as they swim around their tank. 

HOW IT WORKS

A video camera captures the fish as they move.

Software then virtually segments the tank into 9 parts (3 by 3).

Depending on which part of the tank a fish is in, it will send a different key press to the game. 

The game is then playing 'live' on a console connected to the computer, and the game broadcast live online. 

Aquarius sends key presses for Player 1, and Robert the Bruce sends key presses for Player 2. 

It was created by Andrew Hill, a 23 year old living in Aylmer Ontario, Canada, and was inspired by another system that allowed fish to play Pokemon. 

'I went to college for software development and made this stream in my spare time,' he said.

'I'm absolutely amazed at how fast this picked up steam, and I'm super grateful for everyone's support. 

'I'm glad I could make something so entertaining for so many people.'

Hill wrote the code for the game himself.  

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The fish's scores are automatically tracked and posted online at the end of each day.

'Similarly to FishPlaysPokemon, I have virtually segmented my fish tank into 9 parts (3 by 3).

'Depending on which part of the tank a fish is in, it will send a different key press to the game.

'Aquarius sends key presses for Player 1, and Robert the Bruce sends key presses for Player 2.

'As for the actual code used for color detection and key sending, I do all of it using AutoIt and some shoddy code I cooked up over the course of a few days.'

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The fish control players by swimming around a 9x9 grid. Each movement triggers a move in the game, allowing the fish to fight each other.

Hill has also kept an online score table for the fish, and hundreds have visited to Twitch gaming site to see a live stream of the pets in action. 

He also answered claims the game was cruel.

'Just so that everyone is clear:The fish do not actually fight each other in real life, just in the video game. 

'Thankfully their fish brains cannot comprehend the violence at this level of abstraction.

'There is a filter in the tank, but the front of it has been hidden from sight to improve color detection.

'I am dedicated to taking the absolute best care of my fish that I can.'