[3.1+] NullBot: an adaptive skirmish AI

[NoQ]

Uhm yeah, playability of the beta is mostly concerned with the GPU, which is easy to replace.

Is it possible that Nullbot is causing this?

I dunno if Nullbot is related, but i'm sure i can't control that via scripts, so even if it is, it probably still needs to be fixed on the game side.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

@NoQ: I haven't tried either the light and the normal AI yet, though given that my 10+ year old computer has trouble running Starcraft 2 at normal speeds, even with minimal settings, I MIGHT have some trouble running the default Nullbot AI.

10+ year old computer?
My old computer had around of 8 years old, but whit some upgrades. But I couldn't play beta whit it
I wonder how you can play whit such an old computer...

It has gotten some viruses throughout its life, though thankfully, my 10+ year old Gateway computer has the ability to initiate a system recovery without the need for a disk (since the data needed to reset it is stored on a read-only portion of the hard drive instead). I've already used it at least twice when it seemed as if my computer was on the verge of collapse, though thankfully, there's an option to keep the older data intact (though it does uninstall everything), which has been very helpful in maintaining vital data (such as password records, custom content, and even a few programs that I like to use frequently).

I've been upgrading it over these years as well. Currently, it has a graphics card that's probably at least 4 years old now (though its drivers were updated a month ago, when I got Starcraft 2 for my birthday). I may plan on increasing its RAM from 512 MB to at least 1 GB later on so that it could play some of the more modern games, including Starcraft 2, at acceptable speeds.

In other words, I've been maintaining this old clunker of a computer pretty well.

[themac]

"If it is known that the best strategy is to do nothing, should the AI keep doing nothing? Or should he try to provide this "fun" thing instead?"

Well, the goal of the match should always be to win the match. Keeping the army alive is a good choice. But sitting duck on the map is not a way to win the match. I won the match yesterday, because I did try different things. I would never have won by also sitting duck on the map with my army! When tons of forces can not do the thing, it may be useful to try an artillery and sensor strategy. I did so and I won, while my team member bot decided to do nothing!

edit: I wonder if I have to start a new skirmish match after replacing the NullBot file. In my current match all NullBots are very defensive in normal difficulty. Their power increases but they do not use it. Black NullBot has got >7000 power but it doesn´t seem to have much ideas how to use it. O.o

[NoQ]

I wonder if I have to start a new skirmish match after replacing the NullBot file.

Yeah, unfortunately.
I rename the script files every new version, so that it were possible to play version vs. version matches, and they won't be recognized by the savegame after they are renamed.
To run a new script on an old savegame, you can rename all the files inside the .wz archive and all the includes inside them.
Alternatively, you can try getting the nullbot source from git, and run make.sh in your console to name your version the way you want and substitute it easily in savegames.

[themac]

Ah, tnx!

[NoQ]

I just checked out the savegame. I think it's the savegame that is broken, not the script; the savegame lacks any script state information in its scriptstate.ini file, so the AI isn't running after it is loaded =/ no idea how could that happen.

[themac]

In this savegame I started with an earlier version of NullBot, maybe one version before, and I did continue the match after changing to the latest version of NullBot. Maybe this did cause the problem. :-/

[NoQ]

Ok this makes sense then. Yeah, since the new script wasn't loaded, there was no state to save.

[Giani]

MC nullbot of extras doesn't get derricks and does almost nothing...
One MR nullbot could beat 2 of them. All of them were on insane difficulty.
In that game I was orange, but I only killed a scavenger base.
Edit: I forgot to save

[Giani]

Another game whit the same problems...
Some nullbots couldn't destroy the scavenger's defences...
I don't remember who was who, but they were in insane difficulty, Hover nullbot, MC nullbot(black), MR nullbot and Turtle nullbot(yellow).

[NoQ]

The .gam file is missing in the Bug.zip.

[Giani]

The .gam file is missing in the Bug.zip.

"The extension gam is not allowed."

[themac]

NullBot is not present in the beta 11. Where do I have to put the NullBot file to? O.o

[NoQ]

"The extension gam is not allowed."

The extension "zip" is still allowed, or just post the same archive with all the necessary files inside it.

NullBot is not present in the beta 11. Where do I have to put the NullBot file to? O.o

As usual (:

[themac]

I have put it in any directotry possible, but NullBot is not available in the beta 11. It is also still in the maps folder, but not in the game.