gyrobot.txt

Indecisive Bot 1.04 - 7/25/97 Gyro Gearloose

Indecisive Bot Features:

Teamplay is supported, and bots respawn across level changes
Maps levels with "breadcrumb trails" (which you can see & edit)
High performance - you should be able to run lotsa bots with not much slowdown
Can be configured to use axes, weapons, or to switch between them
Uses combination of wall-following and object seeking to explore levels
Deals with lifts, doors, buttons, shootable triggers, etc.
Evaluates items - doesn't go for health when uninjured for example
Imbued with an inate sense of carnage, and is not afraid of death
Moonlights as a professional art critic, and is a sensitive violin virtuoso

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Quick start: With the registered Quake, copy PROGS.DAT to quake\gyrobot
(create the "gyrobot" subdirectory under your "quake" directory) and type

quake -game gyrobot +deathmatch 1 +map start

Generate more bots by typing "impulse 220" at the console prompt.
Impulse commands can be assigned to keys with the bind command.
With the following console command, I can just hit E each time I want to
add a bot:
	BIND E "IMPULSE 220"

Impulse 220 always spawns a bot (up to 16) that wants to kill you.
If teamplay is on, then impulse 229 will spawn a bot for your team.
With impulse 230 and 231, you can make spawned bots stick with axes or
use axes and weapons, and when you change levels, the same set of
bots and their behaviours should respawn.  However, they lose whatever
weapons and armor they had accumulated in the previous level.

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What's all this about "Key bindings"?!?  There's a number of ways to do this,
but here's how I do it.  In my quake\id1 directory, I have a file called
autoexec.cfg that includes the line "exec bot.cfg" in it.
Over in quake\gyrobot, I have a file called bot.cfg that contains these key
bindings:

bind e "impulse 220"
bind f "impulse 229"
bind o "impulse 221"
bind r "impulse 222"
bind i "impulse 228"
bind p "impulse 237"
bind . "impulse 235"
bind , "impulse 236"

Now, when I run quake -game gyrobot, it picks up these bindings so that
when I hit "e", I get one more enemy bot, and when I hit "o", I get one
less bot.  This is important to me, because every typing keystroke I save
means one more time I can smack the fire button before my digits seize up
in paroxysms of carpal tunnel agony.

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Short list of impulse commands:

200 - Display version and short list of commands
220 - Spawn one bot (up to 16 allowed)
229 - Spawn a bot for your team (teamplay must be enabled)
221 - Remove one bot (removes the highest numbered bots first)
222 - Remove all bots
223 - Status of a particular bot
224 - Sorted list of scores of players and bots
225 - List top 3 scores
228 - Toggle observer mode - Bots don't notice you unless you shoot them
230 - Use axes only
231 - Use axes and weapons
232 - "Bot's Choice"  If winning, use axes.  If losing, use weapons.
235 - Bump skill level up by one
236 - Drop skill level down by one
237 - Cycle through waypoint visibility options
238 - Make selected bot blind to waypoints
239 - Select an object or waypoint entity
240 - Add a waypoint that points at selected entity
241 - Delete selected waypoint
201-216 - Select an individual bot for a future operation
242 - Select particular bot you're looking at for a future operation

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Long list of impulse commands:

Impulse 200 - List impulse commands

	Displays a quick reference list of supported impulse commands,
	along with the current skill setting and number of bot waypoints.

Impulses 201 to 216 - Selects an individual bot

	These impulses do not have an immediate effect, but rather, select
	a bot for a future impulse to have an effect on.  Note that
	selecting a bot with an impulse from 201 to 216 will change the
	behaviour of most of the impulse commands that operate on bots.

Impulse 220 - Spawn a bot

	Spawns a bot for the bot team.  If teamplay is disabled, then bot
	wants to kill everyone.  Having an individual bot selected has no
	effect on impulse 220.  Up to 16 bots are allowed.  To affect
	their behaviour, see impulses 230, 231, and 232.

Impulse 229 - Spawn a bot for the player's team

	If teamplay is disabled, then the bot wants to kill everyone,
	including the player.  Having an individual bot selected has
	no effect on impulse 229.

Impulse 221 - Remove a bot

	If no bots are selected, removes the highest numbered bot, which is
	usually the last one created.

	If a bot is selected, then that particular bot is removed.

Impulse 222 - Remove all bots

	Zap!  They're all gone.

Impulse 230 - Use axes

	If no bot is selected, causes future bots spawned with 220 or 229
	to be axe-only.

	If a bot is selected, causes that particular bot to use axes only.

Impulse 231 - Use axes and weapons

	If no bot is selected, causes future bots spawned with 220 or 229
	to use weapons.  Axes are used sporadically, even when they are not
	the best choice.

	If a bot is selected, causes that particular bot to become a
	weapons user.

Impulse 232 - Bot's choice - If winning, uses axes.  If losing, uses weapons.

	If no bot is selected, causes future bots spawned with 220 or 229
	to use "merciful" behaviour (what I do I when I'm an LPB playing
        with a bunch of modemers), which is to periodically compare their
	frag count to the player's, and to switch to either axes or axes and
	weapons depending on who's winning.  If the frag counts are close,
	they will sometimes just stick with whatever behaviour they're
	currently using.  When they respawn in the next level, they will
	continue with the behaviour they were using in the previous level,
	and will continue to adjust depending on frag count comparisons.

	If a bot is selected, has the same effect on that particular bot only.

Impulse 235 - Bump skill level up by one

	Make bots a little meaner.  This is good, and helps build character
	in players.  The skill setting affects all bots.

Impulse 236 - Drop skill level down by one

	Make bots a little kinder and gentler.

Impulse 224 - List scores

	Prints a sorted list of the frag counts of all player and bot
	entities it can find.

Impulse 225 - Top 3 scores

	Same as 224, but only lists the top 3 scores.

impulse 223 - Bot status

	Prints a short blurb on the currently selected bot.  Impulse is
	ignored if no bots are selected.

Impulse 228 - Toggle observer mode

	Make bots not notice you, unless you shoot them or they were
	already mad at you.  This is handy to let you walk around and
	see how the bots behave and navigate.  You can still take damage,
	so don't step in front of any rockets.

Impulse 242 - Select targeted bot

	Selects the bot you are looking at for a future operation.
	This has the same effect as using impulses 201 to 216 to
	select a bot, but it solves that problem that most of the
	time, all bots look the same.  This permits selection of
	a bot by pointing at it and issuing an impulse.

Impulse 237 - Cycle through waypoint visibility options

	By default, the dynamic waypoints that the bots use to help
	themselves locate worthy objects are invisible.  Issuing this
	impulse makes the waypoints that the bots are using visible to
	the human.  The impulse cycles through several sets of waypoints.
	Note that having waypoints visible slows down the action
	considerably.  I use this mostly to help me debug waypoint
	creation, but left it in because some of you hackers might
	find it kinda interesting.  The setting reverts to the default
	across level changes.  Note that this setting does not affect
	the bots at all - they see the waypoints even if you don't, unless
	you blind them.

	0 (default) = Waypoints invisible
	1 = All waypoints visible
	2 = View Armor waypoints
	3 = Weapon waypoints
	4 = Powerup waypoints
	5 = Megahealth waypoints

Impulse 238 - Make selected bot blind to waypoints

	By default, all bots see the waypoints that other bots have created.
	In theory, bots that use waypoints should have higher armor and health
	values over time and be carrying better weapons on average.
	Statistically, they should be able to kick virtual butt over the bots
	that don't see the waypoints.  I wanted to test the theory, hence
	this impulse.  Impulse is ignored if no bots are selected.  Blind
	bots are healed across level changes.

Impulse 239 - Select an object or waypoint entity

	Besides seeing the waypoint routes that the bots have created,
	you can also edit them.  This impulse selects the waypoint or
	object that's right in front of you so that you can either create
	a waypoint that points at it, or delete it.  If you issue this
	impulse and see "No object selected", try moving a little closer
	or changing your angle slightly.

Impulse 240 - Add a waypoint that points at selected entity

	You must have previously selected something using impulse 239
	before using this for the first time.  You should also be able to
	see the object that you selected from your present position
	(if you can't, the bots probably won't be able to either and won't
	be able to follow the path).  As soon as you add a waypoint, it
	becomes the newly selected entity, which means that you can create
	a twisting path to something without having to issue impulse 239
	over and over again.

Impulse 241 - Delete selected waypoint

	You must have previously selected something using impulse 239
	before using this for the first time.  This impulse deletes the
	currently selected waypoint and makes the waypoint that it was
	pointing at the new currently selected waypoint.  A waypoint
	can be deleted only if it is at the end of a chain of waypoints.
	In other words, you cannot sever a chain of waypoints in the middle.


Bots and teams that have been configured for certain behaviours should
retain those behaviours across level changes.  So, for example, if you have
set up a bunch of bots with four axe users, three weapons user, two that
change their behaviour depending on whether they're fragging you too much
or too little, and one for your own team, all those bots should remember
their settings when you change levels.

Note that the bots will map a level out differently each time you play
that level.  Also, they do take some time to construct useful links.
Too few bots will take a long time to map a level, but too many bots will
also take a long time because they'll be fighting instead of mapping.
For most levels, 4 to 8 bots work well to map it out, but you can turn on
the lavaball waypoints and see what works best for a level.

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Known problems:

-They don't jump out of water like players yet (except by rocket jumping).
-The little perverts get a thrill out of bashing their brains out on lifts.
-Some "Tried to sprint to non-client" errors still to be weeded out. 
-They can get stuck in walls when underwater.  I gib them when I detect it.
-They don't move over grates very well, especially ones over lava or slime.
-Once in awhile they get hung up in fairly simple wall-following situations.
-They cannot set their own colors - if anyone can fill me in on the story
 behind the entity fields .owner, .team, .color, and .skin, I would be
 grateful.
-They're vicious opponents, but in levels with lots of lava and slime to
 fall in, they kill themselves out of clumsiness too often.  If you're finding
 skill 3 bots too easy to waste, add a few more or try playing in a different
 level.
-Not tested much as a net/modem multiplayer server
-If enough people like this thing, maybe I'll do some more work on it.  There
 are enough really cool bots out there already that I thought one more was
 kind of redundant, but it's fun to work on it anyway.  Bots R cool.
 
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1.04	More preloaded waypoints for id levels.  Object valuableness tuning.
	Fixed not noticing backpacks bug.  Fixed bug with running in place
	near lava/slime.  Added rocket jumping.  No longer sees through water.
	No longer attacks inactive clients (multiplayer).  Made skill 0 and 1
	bots more wimpy.  Made them a little smarter about doors and buttons.

1.03	Bugfixes: Fixed wall button triggering.  Added 2nd "ignore" entity
	which should fix most button infinite loops.  Bots now have trouble
	seeing Ring-of-Shadows enabled players.  Lightning gun discharges
	underwater behave correctly.  Added waypoint editing.  Bots now get
	knocked around during combat just like players.  Preload a few
	waypoints for some of the tougher things to get to, like the red
	armor in dm3.  Bots now have limited up/down vision.

1.02	Added some cool waypoint navigation features, and permit display
	of bot's "breadcrumb trails" so you can see how they work.
	Got rid of indecisive chatter - he was almost always lying anyway.
	I put support for all the factory monsters back.

1.01	Fixed skill problem - Quake resets 'skill' in deathmatch sometimes.
	Fixed some multiplayer dprint/sprint problems.
	Improved grenade aiming and rocket leading.
	When you run, the bot will now sometimes launch rockets or lob
	grenades at the spot where it last saw you before giving chase.

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Greetz n' howdies:

Thanks to Den for encouraging me to release this thing!
Thanks to Meanstryk for bot dissection and analysis!  Thanx and tips
o' the hat to Matt, Crash, Scope, Bubbah, DavO, Langsuyar, Taskmaster, Bill
for destroying the Corporals in Nightmare and making me eat my words :),
Scott, Marcus, Ace_Dave, and everyone else that I'll feel guilty about for
not remembering off the top of my head because I'm going senile.
Thanks to Lee Smith for ProQCC, which eliminated some really baffling
problems I was running into (and compiles real fast too), and to
Steven "Reaper" Polge and Jonathan "Zeus" Wright for their awesome bots
and inspiration.  Thanks as well to John Carmack for this incredible game
and for the open-architecture nature of id products.

Things you should download before you even bother with my measly bot
include Matthias Worch's Beyond Belief level pak, and Neil Manke's awesome
level Slaughterhouse - SLAUGHTR.ZIP.  You must play them.  Go to your
favorite level review page right now and download them.  For an eyefull,
check out DavO' mondo cool artwork at http://www.algonet.se/~davo

Thanks for gibbing Indecisive Bot!

- Gyro   gyro@blarg.net   http://www.blarg.net/~gyro

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Indecisive Bot is Copyright (C) 1997 by Aaron Logue.  Unauthorized
commercial use of this material is subject to prosecution, including
but not limited to injunctive relief.  Portions of the compiled
progs.dat are copyrighted by Id Software, Inc.