Answers:
INSTALL PROBLEMS
Q: How do I get RCBot to work
on Deathmatch Classic / Valve Deathmatch on Steam?
A: Steam has added a new method of loading game dlls
instead of using the liblist.gam file to edit the "gamedll".
To do this you must start up the HL.exe for the MOD
you want to use with an extra command line option. Add option -dll
<dll path/file name> to the command line when loading HL, to
make it easier you can create a shortcut with something like this:
(standalone install method) :
HL.exe -dll ../rcbot/dlls/rcbot.dll
or you can have the metamod dll file here if you want
to use metamod and load the rcbot_mm.dll file normally using metamod
install method. i.e.
HL.exe -dll addons/metamod/dlls/metamod.dll
see
this thread for more info!
Q: I type "addbot" in console and it
says "unknown command"!
A: type "rcbot addbot" !!!<back to top>
Q: Alright, I type "rcbot addbot"
and it still says "unknown command"
A: This could be of a few reasons:
1. There are two gamedll lines or two gamedll_linux lines that are
uncommented in the liblist.gam file for the MOD you want to use. You
should only ever have ONE of each of these lines.
2. If using metamod, the bot may be installed in the wrong folder
or you have entered the path wrong in metamod's plugins.ini file.
1 : If using the stand alone dll (without metamod) open the liblist.gam
and remove any other lines that start with "gamedll" other
than the line which gives the bot dll.
2 : If using metamod, type "meta list" in the console.
If it shows rcbot_mm...dll/so status is 'badf' it means the file could
not be found (meaning the path written in metamod's plugin.ini file
is wrong). If it isn't shown at all then you haven't wrote the bot
dll path into metamod's plugins.ini file and still need to do it.
Some people have found that changing the '/' folder characters in
the rcbot path in metamod's plugin file to windows folder character
(backslash : '\') will work.<back to top>
Q: I type "rcbot addbot" and the console
says something about "no profiles are free"
A: Bots have their own profiles stored as files in the botprofiles
folder. Also the file called bot_profiles.ini must have numbers in
them (each line is a valid profile number).
The most common situation is that you simply have not installed
rcbot to the correct folder. RCBot must be installed ABOVE the mod
folder (that's the same folder where the MOD folder is, NOT inside
the MOD folder!)
In STEAM, and if running mods such as deathmatch classic where the
mod is in its own folder (i.e. not inside half-life steam app folder),
you must make another copy of the bot folder and put it in the "steamapps/<email>"
folder too.
So you may get this error if:
- you haven't installed the bot to the correct folder
- there are no profiles in the botprofiles folder / the botprofiles
folder doesn't exist
- there are no lines in the bot_profiles.ini file (which denote valid
bot profiles)<back to top>
Q: I am running Linux, I have installed everything
to the correct folder but when loading the bot it says "Load
Library Failed"
First of all this could be because the bot is again not installed
into the correct folder, or the gamedll_linux line in liblist.gam
is pointing to the wrong .so file or the path is written incorrectly.
If the installation folder and liblist.gam seem fine then you may
need to download the GNU C++ Libraries for backward compatability.
The bot is compiled on gcc on mandrake 8.2 (don't know what gcc version
it is to be honest!) and may need the libraries to link the dll file
with metamod etc. Download the libraries for your linux distribution.<back
to top>
SQUADS
Q: How do I make a squad from bots on my team?
A: Use the squad menu ("rcbot squad_menu"), you can bind
a key to it and then select
"more options" and then "make squad". Alternatively
you can say "form up" in a team
message.<back to top>
Q: No bots will join my squad when I want them
to
A: You must be nearby bots to be able to make a squad from them<back
to top>
Q: They still won't join my squad even if I am
really close to them!
A: Probably the bots have got a squad already of their own. You can
remove the squads made by bots (or being lead by bots) by using the
squad menu. Choose the "more options" item in the squad
menu and then "remove all bot squads" Then try making a
squad again.<back to top>
Q: I try to make a squad and enemies join my
squad!
A: If you have godmode or notarget mode on then enemies might join
your squad because the enemy check will return false.<back
to top>
NATURAL SELECTION MOD
Q: Bots in NS marine team don't build! So they
can't respawn if they die.
A: Try using the 'rcbot config marine_auto_build' command. It will
create an infantry portal near the command console provided there
are waypoints on the map.<back to top>
Q: How do I get RCBot and Whichbot (NS Bot :
http://www.whichbot.com) to work together?
i. Download latest RCBot and whichbot
ii. Extract the bots to their locations
iii. Get the latest metamod dll file from http://www.metamod.org
iv. Extract metamod dll into ns/addons/metamod/dlls and overwrite
the old file.
v. Edit the metamod plugins.ini file and make sure these lines are
in the file:
win32 addons/whichbot/dlls/whichbot.dll
win32 ../rcbot/dlls/rcbot_mm.dll
Similarly for linux, edit the plugins.ini file to point to the metamod
linux dll files instead. (see metamod documentation if unsure) <back
to top>
ADMINISTRATING
Q: Can you run the bot on a dedicated server?
A: The bot should run fine on a dedicated server, you can access
the commands by using the same as the client (i.e. to add a bot use
the command "rcbot addbot")<back to top>
Q: The bots always just stand still!
A: The map must have waypoints, you can make your own or look for
some on my waypoints page on the bot site or the bot forum. If it
does have waypoints type "rcbot debug nav 1" and it will
write in the console what the bots are trying to do, perhaps there
are problems with the waypoint paths etc, or there is a bug you must
sort out.<back to top>
Q: How do I set up my server so I or others can
have access to bot commands?
A: The procedure has changed a lot since last RCBot because of the
introduction of steam. Read the "Admin Use" section in the
rcbot readme and also the bot_users.ini file (open with notepad)
and read the comments on how to add a user. Note that the test in
the bot_users.ini file is case-sensitive! <back
to top>
PERFORMANCE
Q: The bot uses too much CPU / framerate is low
with bots running.
A: Change some of the performance settings, these are typical bot
commands. They are:
rcbot config max_path_revs
rcbot config update_vision_time
rcbot config max_update_vision_revs
See the bot_commands.txt file for more information on these commands.<back
to top>
WAYPOINTS & NAVIGATION
Q: What are the .rcw files in Waypoints folder?
A: These are the waypoints for the maps, each waypoint is in a folder
corresponding to the MOD it is for also.<back to
top>
Q: What are the .rcv files in the Waypoints
folder?
A: These are the waypoint visibility files, they store info on each
waypoint if a waypoint is visible from another to work out best cover
places etc.<back to top>
Q: How do I make my own waypoints?
See the waypoint readme that you get with the bot!<back
to top>
Q: How do I install waypoints I downloaded?
i. If you downloaded a ".zip" file open the zip file with
winzip or other zip compressor utility and extract the .rcw file into
<HALF LIFE FOLDER>/rcbot/waypoints/<MOD FOLDER NAME>/
ii. If you downloaded an ".rcw" file then save it to the
same folder above
-: Replace <HALF LIFE FOLDER> to the folder where your half-life
hl.exe is stored.
-: Replace <MOD FOLDER NAME> with the name of the MOD's folder
that the MOD is used in.
-: Delete the .rcv file that has the same name as the map that the
waypoints are for to save possible crashing and bad performance.<back
to top>
MEGAHAL (Bot chatting)
Q: How can the bot
stop learning from people chatting?
If you want bots to stop learning the language people are speaking
altogether (for reasons such as that your megaHal brain .brn files
are becoming huge) you can disable bots learning by using the config
command "rcbot config chat_dont_learn 1". <back
to top>
Q: Why won't the bots
stop talking, they talk too much?!
You will need to put the reply percentage down. Use the config variable
"rcbot config chat_reply_percent" and enter then percentage
of time you want them to reply to messages. Plus you may have bots
responding to other bots that will cause a lot of messages. If real
mode is not on, then the bots will also chat more as the bots reputation
with the player that it is responding to does not have affect. <back
to top>
Q: The bots don't
respond to other bots.
You will need to change the config variable "rcbot config chat_reply_to_bots"
to 1, that's "rcbot config chat_reply_to_bots 1". <back
to top>
Q: What are the .brn files in the botprofiles
folder?
The .brn files keep the bots megaHAL brain, so that it can read it
again when the bots re-joins the server. It stores what it has learned
from humans talking in the server while the bot was also in the server.
<back to top>
Q: What are the .trn files in the botprofiles
folder?
The .trn files are training files for the bot. Each bot profile can
specify a certain .trn file for it to train the megaHAL brain if none
exists so that it has something it can say without needing bots to
see humans say messages. If no .trn file is specified in the botprofile
then it will load it's own if it exists. See the botprofile readme
for info. <back to top>
Q: I am using steam and steam
crashes when starting a server
Steam crashes if it can't find the DLL File to play the game (Yes
good old steam) whereas WON didnt use to. HL Can't find the rcbot
DLL so you haven't installed rcbot to the correct folder or
made a mistake when entering the bot DLL file 's location in either
liblist.gam or metamods plugins.ini
Q: I am using WON and I get a "Can't getEntityAPI
from server" error
HL Can't find the rcbot DLL so you haven't installed rcbot to
the correct folder or made a mistake when entering the bot DLL
file 's location in either liblist.gam or metamods
plugins.ini
Misc
Q : The bots aim too slow
and not very good!!
The aiming is meant to be more human like so it misses quite often,
although it may be too often. You can change the bots sim skill by
changing some things in the bots profile. aim_skill, aim_time and
aim_speed can all be changed in the bot profile. See the
bot profiles help.