FerBotz (new AI, XCGE release 20)

[DeathoX 8]

Nice work! I tried them out in a quick match and they rock!

However for me the difficulty was a bit steep, I play with higher gamespeeds and the bots were too strong for me (I generally can handle normal godlike bots in most of the DM maps, but these bots ripped me a new one).
I noticed that when using the AddBotZ command the game difficulty changed to Masterful, is this the intended behaviour? Is there any way to make them a bit less lethal without changing the stat files?

I think I found a bug, if you use the "Mutate AddBotZ " command (with a space after AddBotZ) a bot with no name gets inserted into the game.

[Higor]

DeathoX 8

Check in BotZDefault.ini for these lines:

Code: Select all

[FerBotz.Botz]
bHumanMove=True
bSuperAim=True

Change bSuperAim to False, that will make BotZ rotate slower when aiming, helps preventing the 'Loque' effect with hitscan weapons.
You can always do that ingame too with SET BOTZ BSUPERAIM 0

About addbotz... well looks like my parameter parser isn't perfect lol, I highly suggest using the addbotzlist (you first need to configure a few botz) and addbotzfaction.
Mhhh, I managed to improve my 55-7 loss on Flak arena me vs Aegor, now it's a 10-10 tie .

[Old UT Veteran]

Nice work! I tried them out in a quick match and they rock!

However for me the difficulty was a bit steep, I play with higher gamespeeds and the bots were too strong for me (I generally can handle normal godlike bots in most of the DM maps, but these bots ripped me a new one).
I noticed that when using the AddBotZ command the game difficulty changed to Masterful, is this the intended behaviour? Is there any way to make them a bit less lethal without changing the stat files?

I think I found a bug, if you use the "Mutate AddBotZ " command (with a space after AddBotZ) a bot with no name gets inserted into the game.

Botz were a total change for me aswell.
Check out all the other gametypes too! (CTF and AS), if you ever felt that the normal bots slacked in those gametypes, then botz cool traslocator usage abilities do the job well.
Have you tried "mutate botzmenu" yet? It allows you to manage the botz skill (hopefully, have to learn more espanol ) Also, if playing team based games try adding botz by factions. Check out the readme.txt for that one.

Mhhh, I managed to improve my 55-7 loss on Flak arena me vs Aegor, now it's a 10-10 tie

Not even close for me. Especially with the flak cannon weapon. Botz are way to lethal with that weapon.

Edit:
Did some testing lately on botz. Made a simple map only of one cube which contained 2 spawners (to prevent telefraging) and the flak cannon. I spawned one bot (highest skill) and all hell broke loose. I didn't stand a chance and went into 'godmode' because there was no point in fighting fairly (and to prevent myself from rage quiting,lol) I was lucky to sometimes (40% of the time) get an accurate shot at the bot which was constantly jumping. Speaking ethically, I would have died atleast a thousand times before I actually got the kill.
I used the same map for my impact hammer dual with botz. Lost that one too easilly because there is no escape....

Shortly speaking, I recommend any botz loving person to make a simple map similar to mine. It's really good in showing off botz skills. (atleast in my opinion)
I used the arena match mutator to test botz with a few other various weapons. Good for 1on1!

@higor
So, I assume that you're gonna use someone's else air nodes? Dr.Flay mentioned the ones in Spatial Fear. I haven't got the chance to check those out yet. The only doubt I have with an air navigation system is the thought of making a combat system. (possibly if an option) Until this moment I haven't dreamed of or even took the time to effectivelly think of bots in Ut99 ever really navigating the air with jetpacks.

all 100% of siege maps don't include air nodes... or even proper pathing

Maybe, someday in the future...... you can create a map with an air navigation system. We can see how things work out with that.

[DeathoX 8]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I tried disabling superaim (why is that even enabled by default, arrrgh ?) and using the botzmenu and the resulting bots were still too hard for me. I even tried to set the game difficulty to novice and the Difficulty slider to the lowest in the menu and I didn't notice any change in their behaviour.
I played two 1on1 matches against two different botz (to be fair I used my Winged map, which is pretty open although not more than most Epic maps) and what turned me off is that I died like 95% of the times by minigun and pulse gun secondary. I do notice that they are deadlier with other weapons too (flak especially) but these two are off the charts, basically if they are anywhere close to you with one of these weapons you're dead in a split second. With the minigun especially it happened to be dead right after they saw me. For me it was a bit frustrating since it didn't really feel fair (I've played quite a bit of Duel in UT 3 and I've never died so quickly against a human opponent).

These new BotZ are very good, they move like humans and are generally very smart, but IMO they are too precise in aiming with the hitscan weapons. I am no pro player (I spend more time in the editor than playing the game I think ), and while I do appreciate a challenge usually when I play UT I use just Adept or Masterful bots when playing a fun and relaxing match. If it would be possible I would love to have all the new movement and tactics of the BotZ without the godlike-like aim. I'm not saying to nerf them all, just to provide some options to those who are looking just for an easier fun match


I have a suggestion about movement, one thing the retail bots don't understand is lift-jumping (jumping while riding a lift to gain extra height, some maps have paths specifically designed to be accessed by lift-jump), not sure if it's doable in any way but it would be awesome if the BotZ could lift-jump.

[Higor]

BotZ have an accuracy slider.

If you already added BotZ into a game, you can force accuracy change with this:
SET BOTZ PUNTERIA (0-5)
0 is perfect, 5 is worst

[Old UT Veteran]

BotZ have an accuracy slider.

If you already added BotZ into a game, you can force accuracy change with this:
SET BOTZ PUNTERIA (0-5)
0 is perfect, 5 is worst

'mutate botzmenu'



You can use this GUI if it is any easier. Just move the bar to change botZ accuracy.
Also, I'm doing this for people that might be viewing this forum/topic later on.

[Dr.Flay]

I will be having a look at whether editing the config via "Advanced Options" is useful tonight.
The previous version I found that I prefer it (it also works immediately, without re-setting the game, so is good for server use).

*EDIT*
Here is my edited version of the "INT" file.

FerBotz.rar

(3.97 KiB) Downloaded 69 times

The main changes are to add configuration to the "Advanced" window (see below)

Code: Select all

[Public]
Object=(Name=FerBotz.BotzMutator,Class=Class,MetaClass=Engine.Mutator,Description="Activar BotZ,Activate the alternative FerBotz.")

Preferences=(Caption="Mutators",Parent="Advanced Options")
Preferences=(Caption="FerBotz",Parent="Mutators")
Preferences=(Caption="BotzMutator",Parent="FerBotz",Class=FerBotz.BotzMutator,Immediate=True)
Preferences=(Caption="BotzBasicWindow",Parent="FerBotz",Class=FerBotz.BotzBasicWindow,Immediate=True)
Preferences=(Caption="ServerBotzManager",Parent="FerBotz",Class=FerBotz.ServerBotzManager,Immediate=True)
Preferences=(Caption="Botz",Parent="FerBotz",Class=FerBotz.Botz,Immediate=True)
Preferences=(Caption="FBotInfo",Parent="FerBotz",Class=FerBotz.FBotInfo,Immediate=True)
Preferences=(Caption="Pawn",Parent="FerBotz",Class=Engine.Pawn,Immediate=True)

[Higor]

Bumped for ya...

And content.

FerBotz.u

(905.49 KiB) Downloaded 92 times

Reworked BotZFunctionManager, more stable now as it's based on a unique actor instead of an object (with BotZ as outer), easier to plug in now.
Lots of code cleanups, moving more logic functions into the BFM.
Also, projectile detection should work better.

sdkBFM.u

(14.49 KiB) Downloaded 84 times

This is the BFM that uses the SDK r500's functions, unfortunately the weaponfinding and projectile handling routines are commented out until fix comes for those.
Usage of faster pawn iterators has a huge impact on games with over 20 BotZ.
While BotZ's already reduce usage of heavy functions in order to preserve framerate, this helps make BotZ use advanced features more often in crowded games.

The sdk BotzFunctionManager should only be used if the SDK is setup and running on the UT client, you can load it with this config change in BotzDefault.ini

Code: Select all

[FerBotz.BotzMutator]
CustomFunctionManager=sdkBFM.sdkBFM

No behaviour changes so far, maybe the next 'noticeable' thing i'll work on is the client simulator again, wanna make it compatible with ZeroPing at least...

[UT99.org]

FerBotz.u
(905.49 KiB)

it's the 6.6 ?

[Higor]

FerBotz.u
(905.49 KiB)

it's the 6.6 ?

Yep, it's necessary to run the sdkBFM.u
I had to rewrite the base Function Manager to make it easier to subclass and plugin.
No extra configs or new Ferbotz_cl needed, just replace the .U

[UT99.org]

You do a ready zip or wait for a new one FerBotz ?

[Higor]

I'll wait, I'm making an experiment with the CL module, trying to see what happens if the PlayerPawn dummy that clients see transfer damage to the actual BotZ.

[UT99.org]

Ok

[Higor]

Noticed the sdkBFM makes UT unstable on mapswitch, maybe I'm using the SDK incorrectly?

Creating a test Rocket Launcher profile.

Adding ENEMYNOSIGHT condition for the basic weapon profiles.
It's triggered if the BotZ's enemy is out of sight (within specified distances)... or if there are various undetected enemies in the BotZ's proximity.
I'll be using that one as conditional for loading clusters of rockets.

Adding RUNAWAY condition.
It's triggered when a BotZ has a defined movement objective in the opposite direction to enemy, and if enemy is chasing.
Has a modifier that alters the result whether BotZ is aggressive or not.
In rocket launcher case will be used with LURE and aggressive bots, this will make aggresive bots distract themselves from their objective and pick an advantage position in order to spam back at the enemy.

[papercoffee]

But I don't have to install the BFM if I didn't install the SDK, right?