Interesting bot observations.

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JOURNEYMAN
Dragoon
Posts: 339
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:42 pm UTC

Interesting bot observations.

Post by JOURNEYMAN »

On station15, I moved human base to the furnace room. But human bots seemed to be going the long way via human default or the garden, instead of the other door, which is much closer to the alien base.

On nano, a basilisk was stuck on a wall in middle area, trying frantically to get at the telenode behind the wall. When the node was destroyed, the basilisk stopped moving. A couple of human bots somehow got stuck in a gap between the reactor and the wall and couldn't get out.

On cruz-b6, all of the human bots were stuck on the conveyor belt, and consequently, all of the aliens were stuck at Bob's Boulevard, above the conveyor belt. I built a few eggs closer to the human base and team killed some of the aliens so they can spawn else where but it didn't stop them from hanging around Bob's Boulevard.

On methane, I built eggs on the ceiling at the end of spill way. Dretches started to spawn and got stuck on the corner of small ledge, and soon, there were four dretches on top of each other, unable to move. I couldn't push them off and goon barbs didn't dislodge them from the corner either. Also, a tyrant was doing bad things to a tree. :eek:

On spacetracks, I tried to push the tyrants into the elevator but they wouldn't go in. On same map, different game. I built an armory at the stairs. Three tyrants came up the stairs but got stuck. I was expecting the tyrants to destroy the arm but they didn't. They were just trying to push their way into the gap between the arm and the railing.

On ATCSHD, all the bots were stuck in their base.

On most of the maps, the bots seem to be using only one route into the enemy base, even when there are shorter routes available. Also on multi-level maps, bots have hard time getting to the enemy base. They just go about half way and then return to their base. Otherwise, they are very vicious and difficult to kill when they are in groups.

Grab reality by the balls and squeeeeze!

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JOURNEYMAN
Dragoon
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Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by JOURNEYMAN »

On Arachnid, at some point toward the SD, bots of both teams just stopped moving around. Doing either absolutely nothing, or just moving in circles around a spot. It was quite eerie, especially in human base with battle suits gathered around the reactor. A couple of human bots were just standing on the middle of long hallway. When I built a couple of eggs on the platform above overmind, any alien bots spawning there wouldn't jump off there, even when the base was being attacked. I had to push them off.

On ATCSHD, I was able to make human bots to move around by moving base to the side hall. However, the bots wouldn't go all the way into the alien base. They would just stand on the side entrance ledge and shoot the aliens attacking them or just stand there and do nothing. They didn't shoot any of the aliens or the structures at the opposite side of the ledge (eggs and overmind). Some of the alien bots went outside and were hanging around the side wall, where new human base was.

Grab reality by the balls and squeeeeze!

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danmal
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Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:44 am UTC

Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by danmal »

The issues with ATCSHD are known. I think it's something relatively simple and should be fixed fairly soon.

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Fuma
Programmer
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Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:49 pm UTC

Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by Fuma »

Just a note:
I just discovered that I was filtering out a surface that I shouldn't have when parsing the bsp geometry for navmesh generation.
This makes bots unable to navigate maps with grate flooring very well.
So, arachnid2, niveus, nexus6, etc...

I have just implemented off mesh connections for bots.
This will solve the problems of bots getting stuck.
I already automatically add ladder connections during navmesh generation, and other connections (e.g. from a ledge to the floor) can be placed at will.

Bots getting stuck behind buildings is also solved now with the introduction of dtTileCache for modifying the navmesh at runtime.
Collisions between players and other bots have been solved with the introduction of Reciprocal Velocity Obstacles for avoidance.

RVO also solves the issue of bots getting stuck on the map's geometry.

Oh, and now we have nice graphics to display the Navmesh on the map so we can see if the mesh is ok :).
http://imgur.com/D2hVK

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E-Mxp
Graphic Designer
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Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:23 pm UTC
Location: Holland

Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by E-Mxp »

Nice, well done!

le mi'a bende cu nitcu lo zbasu

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KenuR
Tyrant
Posts: 369
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:54 pm UTC

Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by KenuR »

that's great!

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JOURNEYMAN
Dragoon
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Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:42 pm UTC

Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by JOURNEYMAN »

Fuma wrote:

Oh, and now we have nice graphics to display the Navmesh on the map so we can see if the mesh is ok :).
http://imgur.com/D2hVK

Is this something a regular player can turn on and off during the game?

Grab reality by the balls and squeeeeze!

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ViruS
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Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by ViruS »

Nice... does it 'snap' onto the brushes of the map?

The following has a potential but most likely unrelated due to the new navmesh path system:..
Fuma: about the old CoW qvm, i think i might know the cause for them running in circles.
I have a few theories but i haven't really completly understand the bot source...:
[1] This only applies when they walk in circles or stay in the same spot inside the base: There was a structure they tried to get to and didnt get 'satisfied' because the structure is no longer existing (killed/deconned)
[2] After the bot rush, i think there might be a slight error in putting 'normal routing' after it and may have caused them to only get to one spot/target. [the target may be a structure or a non-existant structure as stated in [1]]
[3] The server is going crazy. I've many times had the glitch where i enter the game as a bot*..., but thats just one of many.
*Unrelated

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JOURNEYMAN
Dragoon
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Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:42 pm UTC

Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by JOURNEYMAN »

On Orion, two or three dretches got stuck behind the barrier on the main hallway and couldn't get out. Human bots just ignored them even when they were equipped with helmets. I built a med under the ramp on human default, and instead of standing still, one of the bots would just circle around the spot until he got healed.

Grab reality by the balls and squeeeeze!

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KenuR
Tyrant
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Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:54 pm UTC

Re: Interesting bot observations.

Post by KenuR »

Bots don't seem to have their priorities in the right order
For example, if I build a repeater and an alien starts attacking it, even if I start shooting at it (or build a turret next to it), it's not going to react until the structure is destroyed

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