Inside Mac Games Volume 5 #8/IMG 51 Vol 5-8.iso/Goodies/More For Your Games/Quake/MODs/Reaper Bots/Reaprb80.txt

Text File | 1996-11-14 | 11KB | 290 lines

Title    : The Reaper Bot
Filename : reaprb80.zip
Version  : Beta 0.8
Date     : 11/15/96
Author   : Steven Polge
Email    : [e-mail]
Credits  : id software, for making the only computer games I ever play, and for
        releasing QuakeC
       The QuakeC modifications included in this archive are entirely my
        own design.
       Dennis Noordsji for the skins code concepts.

Build time: about 120 hours so far...

Type of Mod
-----------
Quake C  : yes
Sound    : no
MDL      : no


Format of QuakeC (if a Quake C Mod)
-----------------------------------
unified diff  : no
context diff  : no
.qc files     : no
progs.dat     : yes


Description of the Modification
-------------------------------

This may be the most advanced bot opponent currently available.  It learns levels
 as it plays them, picks up and uses all items, roams around.  It understands
 doors, teleports, triggers, and buttons.  It will jump off ledges, and avoids
 landing in lava (understanding the gravity level).  When fighting you, it picks the
 best weapon it has, and strafes, circles or charges.  Variable skill levels are
 provided (skill 3 is very tough).

Note:  This bot does not cheat!  At higher skill levels, it rarely misses, and
 shoots at the maximum rate allowed to players, but it never shoots faster than
 allowed or causes more damage on hits than normal.  It also does not move
 faster than players.

If the bot is too tough, try a lower skill level (default skill is 1).  If you
play with skill level 1, the bots automatically adjust their difficulty.  You can
pick any value between 0 and 3 inclusive, including fractional values (e.g.
1.4, 1.5, etc.).  To select skill, type 'skill n' at the console, where n is the
value.

To play with this bot, you should enable deathmatch either by starting quake
with the -listen parameter, or by typing 'deathmatch 1' at the console, or
by using the multiplayer game menu to start the game.  The included autoexec.cfg
 (formerly reaper.cfg) will automatically set the deathmatch cvar to 1.

The file autoexec.cfg (included) sets up aliases for common bot functions, and
binds them to keys.  For example, hitting the key b will add a bot at the current
skill level.  You can edit this file to suit your preferences.  The key bindings
are shown below.  If you do not want to use this config file, rename it to
something other than autoexec.cfg.

Changes from Beta 0.75 to Beta 0.8 are described in B08CHG.TXT, included
in this archive.

Commands include:
KEY
[            IMPULSE 200 - Increment skin (if skins support is set)
]        IMPULSE 201 - Decrement skin (if skins support is set)
p        IMPULSE 202 - Toggle skins support - three settings
                    (off, normal, skill skins)
                    With skill skins mode, bot skin
                    depends on its skill level
b        IMPULSE 205 - add a bot (can do it repeatedly)
n        IMPULSE 208 - add four bots
        IMPULSE 210 - scores (bring up the console -
                hit the ~ key - to read)
        IMPULSE 211 - remove all bots
o        IMPULSE 212 - Toggle limited observer mode
                (you are invisible to bots unless you
                attack them, but move normally)
        IMPULSE 214 - update bots. Use when the
                SV_GRAVITY or SV_MAXSPEED
                server cvars are changed.
v        IMPULSE 215 - Toggle verbose mode
                (bots tell you what they're doing).
        IMPULSE 218 - turn on restricted mode (only
                client 0 can add bots or become
                an observer)
        IMPULSE 219 - turn on super restricted mode
                (no client can add bots or become
                an observer)
m        IMPULSE 220 - normal scores (frag count)
        IMPULSE 221 - update team colors (used to tell
                the bots on your team if you change
                colors)
q        IMPULSE 222 - show top three scores (so you
                don't need to bring down the console
        IMPULSE 1XX - Bounds the total number of bots
                + players to XX (XX must no
                greater than 15)  Enough bots to
                meet this bound are spawned, and
                they leave and come back as players
                enter and leave the server.

    SKILL N - Change skill level (N = 0 to 3, default
            is 1)

    Note: Make sure your SV_MAXSPEED is not set too
    high.  Bots use SV_MAXSPEED to determine their
    speed.  The default is 320, and a higher setting will
    make the bots move faster and look jerkier.

    I have included autoexec.cfg, which creates aliases for
    the above commands and binds some common ones
    to keys.  Look at autoexec.cfg to see what the aliases
    are, and edit it to change the key bindings if you
    want.

TEAMPLAY
    This release supports teamplay.  When teamplay is
    on, IMPULSE 1XX no longer functions as above.
    All bots added with IMPULSE 205 or IMPULSE 208
    belong to the bot only team.  IMPULSE 1XX sets the
    number of bots on each player's team to XX (must be no
    greater than 15).  Bots on your team will have the same
    color as you (and the same skin, if you're using skins).

SKINS
    No player.mdl is included with this archive.  If you want
    to use skins, get a player.mdl with multiple skins and
    put it in a progs subdirectory to your reaper bot directory.
    Recommended player.mdl files (and where to get them)
    are listed in SKINSPEC.TXT.
    For more information on how the bots use skins and
    available player.mdls, see SKINSPEC.TXT.

DEDICATED SERVER SUPPORT
    Please read the DEDSERV.TXT readme included with this
    archive.

Features Include:

* Skill levels ranging from 0 to 3 (including non-integer values)
which affect
    - bot accuracy when shooting
    - bot yaw speed (how fast it tracks you)
    - average bot re-fire rate
    - bot reaction time, and pain time
    - bot field of vision, and reaction to nearby noises
    - whether bot leads you with grenades and rockets
* Uses all player frames
* Improved following AI
    - can handle following opponents around corners, through
    doorways, doors, teleports, etc.
* Dynamic level learning
    - Bots build internal map of level as they play, and use
    it to roam around, go find weapons, hunt opponents, etc.
* Understands jumping
    - predicts jumps based on current gravity level
    - won't jump into lava or slime
    - will jump up onto low ledges or down, to go after goal
* Combat AI
    - charges, strafes, circles based on its weapon, enemy's
    weapon, the distance between them, and whether enemy
    is running away.
    - picks best weapon depending on range (only uses rocket
    launcher at close range if it doesn't have anything else
    good, and health+armor is high)
    - will even if needed go after health, ammo, or a weapon
    in the middle of combat!
    - trys to avoid combat if health or ammo low, and it
    thinks it can escape
    - avoids combat with invulnerable enemies
* Improved grenade and rocket aiming
    - leads player at higher skill levels
    - adjusts grenade aiming to compensate for trajectory
    (using current gravity     level)
    - adjusts rocket aim to avoid lips and edges
* Understands triggers and buttons
    - Will go for the triggered entity when it shoots a trigger
    or presses a button.
    - Doesn't go after doors, etc., which must be triggered
    (unless they're already open).
    - Doesn't go after triggers or buttons which have already
    been activated.
* Understands door, teleporters, secret doors, and wind tunnels
    - Will fire at secret doors before going through
* Chooses goals according to priorities depending on its current
    inventory, health, armor, etc.
    - Understands and uses all weapons, ammo, powerups, etc.
    - Won't keep going after an item if it can't reach it
    - Will use internal map to go after items it wants but
    can't see
* Up to 16 bots on a level
* Multiplayer Server capability - deathmatch bots vs humans!
      - No other files needed by the clients
    (they can use their original progs.dat).
* Scoring - Impulse 210 gives a break out of kills & deaths
    versus bots and players
    - scoring is 2 * kills - deaths - 2 * suicides
* Limited observer mode - you are invisible to bots, but
you walk around rather than flying.  Toggled on and off by
Impulse 212.
* Bot swims in water
    - avoids drowning, even during combat
    - understands whether it can swim to items
    - can jump out of water
    - chases enemies into water
    - won't use lightning gun underwater unless
    invincible
* Same number of bots generated in new level after changelevel
* Bots die in lava and slime, and drown if under water
too long
* Bots can telefrag or be telefragged

Features to be added by version 1.0
* Observer Mode (improved)
* Learning AI w/ personalities - chooses camping,
charging, sniping based on previous successes/failures
- retreats when health is low, or bad relative weapons
* Yaw bot model up and down
* Merge w/ v1.06 Quake source

And more to come...

Known bugs
* Occasional erroneous splash sound by bots, particularly
when spawning

How to Install the Modification
-------------------------------

Create a directory called RPBOT as a subdirectory in your Quake directory
 (parallel to the ID1 directory) move the PROGS.DAT file included in this archive
 to the RPBOT directory.  To play, type QUAKE -GAME RPBOT from the Quake
 directory.  This modification only works with the registered version of Quake.
  Make sure you
run deathmatch when you play with the bots- they don't play coop (either select
multi-player, or type DEATHMATCH N at the console, where N = 1 or 2).  To change skill levels, type SKILL N at the console, where N is a value between
0 and 3 (inclusive).

Technical Details
-----------------

The combat and local goal setting AI uses heuristics with fuzzy logic for
 decision making.  I am currently working on supporting learned behaviour based
 on combat success for the combat AI, as well as the hunting AI.

The roaming AI uses dynamically placed botpaths to move from place to place.
  The botpath node placement is optimized to guarantee a valid path followable
 by the bot, while bounding the number of botpath nodes.  Botpath routes are
 dynamically merged to minimize the number of botpath nodes.  Multiple spanning
 trees point in the upstream route direction for routing updates.  These routes
 can be used to go to both static and moving goals (e.g. players).  Loop detection
 and avoidance is implemented both for bots following the paths, and for routing
 updates.  Route caching has been implemented to improve performance, and
 to instantly provide the bot with the route to the "best" (based on distance and
 type) item of a given class (e.g. health, armor, weapons).


Author Information
------------------

This is my first publicly distributed quakeC patch.
I design router software and protocols for a living.


Copyright and Distribution Permissions
--------------------------------------

The modifications included in this archive are Copyright 1996, Steven Polge.
  The original
QuakeC source is Copyright 1996, id software.

Authors MAY NOT use these modifications as a basis for other publicly or
 commercially available work.

You may distribute this Quake modification in any electronic format as long as
 all the files in this archive remain intact and unmodified and are distributed
 together.


Availability
------------

This modification is available from the following places:

FTP   : ftp.cdrom.com in \pub\quake\quakec\bots