RCBot 0.79 BETA DLL ONLY, debug dll downloadable from sourceforge Options

[Cheeseh]

If you'd like to try a debug DLL on what I'm working on, have a look

this is a debug dll. to run this you must put -allowdebug into the command line. Also the file is much larger because its a debug DLL. It might be able to give you a crash log if it crashes.

http://sourceforge.net/p/rcbot2/code/HEAD/....dll?format=raw

there are more additions including

CODE

DOD:S improved combat behavior
DOD:S added some improved behaviours for machine gunners
DOD:S machine gunners deploy machine gun at cover points
DOD:S bots crouch and pull out to shoot the enemy at crouch cover points
DOD:S improved bots listening behaviour in DOD:S
DOD:S new cvar rcbot_listen_dist (make larger for bots to hear further)
DOD:S dod bots pick up weapons if out of ammo
DOD:S bot squads : disable by using rcbot_bots_form_squads 0
DOD:S bots use need ammo voice command
DOD:S bots give ammo to players who use the need ammo voice command
DOD:S bots use area-clear radio command
DOD:S fixed possible crash
DOD:S bots pick up weapons in dod:s
DOD:S added some new squad leader voice commands after capturing and defending
DOD:S bots in squads do their own thing if the squad leader is idle, but do not go too far from the leader

DOD:S/TF2 fixed sniper bug

DOD:S/TF2/HL2DM altered waypoint belief system
DOD:S/TF2/HL2DM bots are a little more aware of their environment, investigating enemies etc

for bot listening to work, dod_stats must be working

[Cheeseh]

I've updated the DLL here again (same place)

http://sourceforge.net/p/rcbot2/code/HEAD/....dll?format=raw

with new changes
+ fixed bots shooting dod_ragdoll in air after a breakable at a breakable waypoint is broken
+ increased listening efficiency and made bots look more in the direction of noises and their previous enemy position.
+ bots go towards team mate if they hear their teammate firing a weapon and look in the direction they are firing
+ sometimes bots will go toward the point teammates are firing in, especially if they are already shooting in the direction of the bot
+ If bots can't see team mates attacking they first turn around to see where they are attacking, then look to where they are attacking

[Cheeseh]

I've updated the DLL here again (same place)

http://sourceforge.net/p/rcbot2/code/HEAD/....dll?format=raw

with new changes
+ fixed bots shooting dod_ragdoll in air after a breakable at a breakable waypoint is broken
+ increased listening efficiency and made bots look more in the direction of noises and their previous enemy position.
+ bots go towards team mate if they hear their teammate firing a weapon and look in the direction they are firing
+ sometimes bots will go toward the point teammates are firing in, especially if they are already shooting in the direction of the bot
+ If bots can't see team mates attacking they first turn around to see where they are attacking, then look to where they are attacking

a little video showing squad voice commands

http://youtu.be/KJxU8yp59VU

[YuriFR]

a little video showing squad voice commands
http://youtu.be/KJxU8yp59VU

First of all, I want to thank mr. madmax2 and mr. Cheeseh. You are very attentive and are helping me a lot!

I Must also commend mr. Cheeseh and his work. I am increasingly impressed and optimistic, with every advance of each version! I really admire your ability to program! There are many very good things in Rcbot2 v0.79beta.
And please , mr.Cheeseh ... parodying mr. genmac in another post: "bot authors should stay away on asian beaches hehe"!
Stay away from these beaches (and Tsunamis), don't do like "Jowo"!


Yesterday I reduced further configuration parameters from my PC and tested the dll-0.79 again. The graphics were crude. I also decreases the amount and configuration of bots, as recommended: 6 vs 5 (+1 human: I). EVEN WITH ALL THE DRASTIC REDUCTION, THE GAME REMAINS WITH LAGS ON ALL MAPS . Improved somewhat, indeed, but not like to normal speed, how he came to be before ... ( when I played 3-4 hours, 12X12 bots). On some maps the improvement of run-speed is almost imperceptible.

Settings of bots were as follows (v0.79):

For all profiles of 11 bots:
visionticks_clients = 9
visionticks = 9
pathticks = 50
braveness = 70
aimskill = 75
sensitivity = 14
--
On "config.ini":
rcbot_defrate 0.20
rcbot_skill 0.7
rcbot_anglespeed 0.21
rcbot_avoid_radius 80
rcbot_avoid_strength 100
(...)
rcbot_runplayer_hookonce 1
rcbot_runplayer_cmd_dods 417
rcbot_scoutdj 0.28
rcbot_heavyaimoffset 0.1
rcbot config min_bots 11
rcbot config max_bots 11
rcbot_listen_dist 510
rcbot_bots_form_squads 1


Comments:

- Really, mr. madmax2, be surprised, hehehe [laughter] ! I played with 24 bots in total with virtually all high-settings (bots and graphs), for about 3-4 hours without interruption (with the same speed of a online-game), passing several maps (official and unofficial). I'm not exaggerating or lying ... and it was an amazing experience for anyone who is a fan of bots ... I was so happy! For 3-4 hours I believed that the speed-problem had been solved on my PC ... ! Until the slowness returned from nothing ...

- My PC is " desktop -tower " and single-core [answering to madmax2 and Cheeseh], I have no other PC. I checked the refrigeration (cooling fans etc.) and fittings and saw nothing unusual. Responding to madmax2 : apparently there is no clear standard for the manifestation of the "symptom-slowdown". Most often the first game session is already slow, even with only 6 vs 5 bots (+1 human).

- I used the "ProcessExplorer" software (in "Threads" tab) to identify the point responsible for excessive CPU usage, and is thus: " TID 3348 ; CSwitch 420 ; hl2.exe+0x17e1 ; CPU 58.46 " (the CPU-usage ranging from 58.46 to about 70). Special attention to hl2.exe+0x17e1!

- I wondered the possibility of some " looping " in Rcbot2, some on internal process, which requires the CPU unnecessarily. But however you do not have the same problem as mine ...

- I wondered that there may be some problem in loading the dll-Rcbot2 on my PC, perhaps loading the same processes (and dlls) 2 or more times - or load lots and lots of files. But however I believe that I took precautions and procedures to prevent this (on installation process).

- Viruses can not be, because I checked all the PC again (A.V., anti-spy/malwares and Combofix). Also includes Steam and Dod:S in exceptions-list of my A.V.

- I've defragmented (and optimize) the Hard Drives before returning to play with 6 vs 6 bots. So, the HD fragmentation can't be. But I did not could use the defragmenter of Steam because only now I became aware of it (I'll find out where it is and how it works) - anyway I think the fragmentation within the Steam is not the cause (it's only an opinion).

- The observation of mr.madmax2 (and mr.Cheeseh: "Yeah, These points are quite important!") Surprised me: "I noticed in your console [2] txt, the cpu is reported to be at 6.8ghz, yikes !!! I think you may have a hardware problem, heat or memory.". What does that mean? What are the implications of that "wrong report" about my system? Is dangerous(?), with respect to Rcbot2, or to Dod:S-online, or to the problem of slowness? How to fix it? Is it possible? Is it necessary?
Another related point is that in the main-screen (home) of Dod:Source, the console show a closer value of the reality (processor AMD Athlon 3200+): "1 CPU, Frequency: 2.0 Ghz, Features: AuthenticAMD SSE SSE2 MMX 3DNow RDTSC CMOV FCMOV" (source: file that I have attached previously, named "console [1] with Rcbot2.txt").
The value is changed for some reason, when it comes into a game session. I do not know what causes this and what is the purpose of this modification ... ! ... ?

- Some points worried me in particular (I thought on possibility of being related to slowdowns). When you can, I would like clarification (see more details in the file I sent, named "console [3] with Rcbot2 (strange 'things')":

a) It is normal to appear on the console, on each map, these things? : " *** working out visibility (...) percent ****** ", where "(...)" means a list of numbers ranging from 1 to 100 (or 99 ... can not remember)? There are 2 messages that also do not know if they are normal, or what they mean: "Warning! Client physic props overflow *max 120)" and "Set Gravity 800.0 (0.250 tolerance)".
Also appear with some frequency the following 3 lines: " *** Working out waypoint visibility information... *** " ; " *** Can't open Waypoint Visibility table for reading!" and " *** No waypoint visibility file *** ". The last three I believe to be a lack of files ".rcb ; .rcd ; .rcv" (on folder), when I erased them. That's right, is this normal?

b.) There are also other strange and relatively common messages: "JOY_AXIS_Z: unmapped" ; "JOY_AXIS_V: unmapped" (I do not use joystick). Also very common: "Error reading weapon data file for: weapon_ifm_steadycam", "GetUserSetting: cvar 'hap_HasDevice' unknown". "ISteamUserStats::GetStat failed to get progress value from Steam for achievement DOD_KILLS_WITH_SPRING_STAT" and "ISteamUserStats::GetStat failed to get progress value from Steam for achievement DOD_KILLS_WITH_BAZOOKA_STAT". Too: "Redownloading all lightmaps [;] R_RedownloadAllLightmaps took (...)" where "(...)" = number of seconds and "CGameEventManager::AddListener: event (...)" where "(...)" = list of multiple files. There is also:"Attemped to precache unknown particle system" where "(...)" = list of multiple files.
These messages are related to lags or slowdowns?

--------------------

Changing the subject:

I'll take you to a video posted above, mr. Cheeseh, and include some comments and questions:

- In beta-dll version 0.79, I could not make the bots (who were close) obey my command voice "I need backup!" When I was on a flag that needed more than 1 soldier for capture. Another "symptom" is that they did not approach and did not respond to my voice command with "yes" or "no". The feature already works (from human to bots)? Or is not ready yet...?

To add:

- In addition to answering "yes, sir!" or "no, sir!" (or "Negative, sir!"), the bots could move the head according to the answer ("yes" or "no") - this is only possible if there is already the animation, "embedded" on "vanilla game" (I think...).

- Bots can see through the cloud/dust from smoke-granades (I died several times this way). I think there is a command-line ("rcbot_ ...") can make the bot stop to see beyond the dust/cloud, but I forgot how this command line and if it works ...

- Bots started taking (good) cover on sandbags, more realistically in this 0.79beta version. VERY COOL ! You can add the possibility to reload the gun, crouched, when the bot is behind a sandbag (or piece of concrete etc.). I say this because a bot that was behind the sandbag, took the empty magazine, and reloading him, remained standing-position. He died because of it (had an enemy in front of the sandbag).

- There are some gaps in perception (by bots) of enemies in far windows. It may be that the reason is the waypoint (although the bot did not notice me in a window, on map Donner), or other reason related to the map (eg: mapping). If interested you, mr.Cheeseh, I take screen-shots of these windows (as I discovered) and post here (or send you e-mail).
Environmental perception of bots are much improved in this version 0.79beta. Nice! I think it should be further enhanced (and be more consistent), since the behavior of bots have varied: sometimes are able to perceive the threat of the enemy surrounding (eg: a close/near gunshot him), and they respond; sometimes the bots ignore/oblivious to: ballistic impacts, sounds of gunfire (or footsteps/gibber), the shouts of the enemy's voice commands etc.

- I noticed that the bots perceive me better (more realistically) in holes in the wall or windows near them, in this beta-version 0.79. Are also able to do a search/hunt inside the house where are the hole or window, if I crouch or lie down to hide (prone position). However, they often continue to route and ignore my existence within a certain construction (after seeing me hiding). When they do a search/hunt, it is not very consistent. That is, the bots do not employ efforts to perform the search/hunt, against me (or other bot). The bot that saw me hiding, and did not search/hunt me, in fact is in danger when ignore me: so the bot keeps the usual route, I leave the building/shelter and gun shoot on their backs, killing him.

- I'll be back to that idea, the "improving engagement off route" (exposed in that other thread: http://rcbot.bots-united.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1858). I repeat this because you achieved greatly improve the environmental awareness of bots in this beta-version 0.79, mr. Cheeseh, and this is probably the time to improve the engagement "off route" too (perhaps along with improving the "bot-understanding" of ballistic impacts and perception of gun-sounds, voice commands, screams and closer melee-fights etc.).


THANKS FOR ATTENTION !

[my apologies: using google translator...]

[Cheeseh]

your visionticks_clients is still a little high. This can be as low as 1 , 2 or 3 for your system.

With visionticks_clients 3 is perfect for your number of bots

this is a little calculation:

bot reaction time = ( number of players on system * 0.04 ) / visionticks_clients

for you : (12 * 0.04) / 3 = 0.16, an appropriate reaction time for your bots I'd think

however, because your game is smooth until 3-4 hours of play I'm guessing its an overheating problem.

IF there's any looping in rcbot2 -- the whole program would freeze!

a) It is normal to appear on the console, on each map, these things? : " *** working out visibility (...) percent ****** ", where "(...)" means a list of numbers ranging from 1 to 100 (or 99 ... can not remember)? There are 2 messages that also do not know if they are normal, or what they mean: "Warning! Client physic props overflow *max 120)" and "Set Gravity 800.0 (0.250 tolerance)".
Also appear with some frequency the following 3 lines: " *** Working out waypoint visibility information... *** " ; " *** Can't open Waypoint Visibility table for reading!" and " *** No waypoint visibility file *** ". The last three I believe to be a lack of files ".rcb ; .rcd ; .rcv" (on folder), when I erased them. That's right, is this normal?

If you erase the files, it will say those messages, common sense really. I prefer not to delete them, if you delete them it will use more cpu to generate them again.

b.) There are also other strange and relatively common messages: "JOY_AXIS_Z: unmapped" ; "JOY_AXIS_V: unmapped" (I do not use joystick). Also very common: "Error reading weapon data file for: weapon_ifm_steadycam", "GetUserSetting: cvar 'hap_HasDevice' unknown". "ISteamUserStats::GetStat failed to get progress value from Steam for achievement DOD_KILLS_WITH_SPRING_STAT" and "ISteamUserStats::GetStat failed to get progress value from Steam for achievement DOD_KILLS_WITH_BAZOOKA_STAT". Too: "Redownloading all lightmaps [;] R_RedownloadAllLightmaps took (...)" where "(...)" = number of seconds and "CGameEventManager::AddListener: event (...)" where "(...)" = list of multiple files. There is also:"Attemped to precache unknown particle system" where "(...)" = list of multiple files.
These messages are related to lags or slowdowns?

this is nothing to worry about

- In beta-dll version 0.79, I could not make the bots (who were close) obey my command voice "I need backup!" When I was on a flag that needed more than 1 soldier for capture. Another "symptom" is that they did not approach and did not respond to my voice command with "yes" or "no". The feature already works (from human to bots)? Or is not ready yet...?

to make bots follow you with 'need backup' the other bots must be able to see you and are within range, or in the latest version, or a squad leader. more additions are to be added for squad leaders.

- In addition to answering "yes, sir!" or "no, sir!" (or "Negative, sir!"), the bots could move the head according to the answer ("yes" or "no") -

this is only possible if dod:s offers such a thing as you said, the bot cannot add animations to the game

- Bots can see through the cloud/dust from smoke-granades (I died several times this way). I think there is a command-line ("rcbot_ ...") can make the bot stop to see beyond the dust/cloud, but I forgot how this command line and if it works ...

bots know about smoke grenades but sometimes it doesn't work perfectly, its a known issue, it will be improved upon.

- Bots started taking (good) cover on sandbags, more realistically in this 0.79beta version. VERY COOL ! You can add the possibility to reload the gun, crouched, when the bot is behind a sandbag (or piece of concrete etc.). I say this because a bot that was behind the sandbag, took the empty magazine, and reloading him, remained standing-position. He died because of it (had an enemy in front of the sandbag).

yes I will add this, however it requires crouch waypoints or special waypoints behind the sandbags for this to work

- There are some gaps in perception (by bots) of enemies in far windows. It may be that the reason is the waypoint (although the bot did not notice me in a window, on map Donner), or other reason related to the map (eg: mapping). If interested you, mr.Cheeseh, I take screen-shots of these windows (as I discovered) and post here (or send you e-mail).

this is a long known issue that madmax and genmac have debugged in the past

Environmental perception of bots are much improved in this version 0.79beta. Nice! I think it should be further enhanced (and be more consistent), since the behavior of bots have varied: sometimes are able to perceive the threat of the enemy surrounding (eg: a close/near gunshot him), and they respond; sometimes the bots ignore/oblivious to: ballistic impacts, sounds of gunfire (or footsteps/gibber), the shouts of the enemy's voice commands etc.

listening to footsteps will be added , enemy voice commands will also be considered.

- I noticed that the bots perceive me better (more realistically) in holes in the wall or windows near them, in this beta-version 0.79. Are also able to do a search/hunt inside the house where are the hole or window, if I crouch or lie down to hide (prone position). However, they often continue to route and ignore my existence within a certain construction (after seeing me hiding). When they do a search/hunt, it is not very consistent. That is, the bots do not employ efforts to perform the search/hunt, against me (or other bot). The bot that saw me hiding, and did not search/hunt me, in fact is in danger when ignore me: so the bot keeps the usual route, I leave the building/shelter and gun shoot on their backs, killing him.

bots decide whether to follow an enemy based on their current health and other objectives. can you tell me how to decide whether a bot will decide to keep attacking or defending the point or follow enemies?