Smarter Bots and other ideas

[JRHockney*]

Before our next release, I really think the tabbots need to be improved. The following should be done:

 

1. They should vary in their parry rates depending on what skill level you set for them.

2. They should have an attackparry(reposite) rate thats lower then their parry rate (which should also vary for skill level). This is easy to add and makes a big difference. Heck, I did it myself in my own code.

3. They should kick some slowbounces of yours and kick in general on a rare occasion.

4. They need to stop being penalized for always trying a superbreak (I made a bug tracker ticket for this one.

5. They should maybe take breaks from their swinging and focus on parrying (in which their parry rate increases a bit)

6. We need them to use the new point system more efficiently somehow as far as using guns, or jet pack or whatever they choose.

 

Also, since that whole 50% chance of mishap at higher levels thing is a bit controversial, maybe we should make a cvar for it so you can set the rate yourself and see what people decide they like the best. Default will still be 50%, but I personally would like to be able to change it for more pro fights so we can have more control over when we cause them to mishap without it being decided for me 50% of the time. If bots get their own attack parry rate, it will work just fine against them as well (at least it did in my own code changes). And who cares if servers make their own settings unique settings, they can already do that with other cvar features and this is still an open source mod anyways. It wasnt meant for perfect uniformity.

 

When I did my code changes, I also liked having stumbles happen for maxing out your MP meter at higher DP and disarms and knockdowns happen at maxing out with critical DP.

[razorace]

I don't think the mishap roll rate per parry needs to be cvared. This is really a matter of playtesting vs personal preference. Plus, it makes such an impact on the system that cvaring it would only create player fragmentation between servers.

[JRHockney*]

I don't think the mishap roll rate per parry needs to be cvared. This is really a matter of playtesting vs personal preference.

 

Well, my "personal preference" settings haven't exactly been playtested to any to any particularly conclusive level as far as knowing whether they are better or worse than the default settings. Thats why I say make it an option since there are already existing worries and potential worries about anything random in the system. I mean, heck MB2 gets alot of complaints that their saber system is random in alot of ways and they dont even have anything thats suppose to be random. All it takes is a few people to scream "random" bloody murder for our mod and we get tagged as a random system. They won't allow themselves to understand that the randomness we have isnt that big of a deal if it still has "some" potential do decide the outcome of a fight.

 

Plus, it makes such an impact on the system that cvaring it would only create player fragmentation between servers.

 

(clears throat) ahem.

 

And who cares if servers make their own settings unique settings, they can already do that with other cvar features and this is still an open source mod anyways. It wasnt meant for perfect uniformity.

 

On top of that, the option to turn dodge on and off affects the gameplay alot more than this would and it has already made some servers different from others. Having the roll mishaps at 0 isnt that noticeable at first, but you soon realise that it makes the combat a more bit dynamic and gives the players alot more control. I think even noob players will be able to tolerate this change alot better then they can tolerate having dodge on or off or half the other things you can potenially change with cvars.

 

Anyways this is only a 1/3 of what this thread is about. What do you think of the bot ideas?

[razorace]

Fair enough. We'll have to tool around with the mishap rate at the next weekly playtest.

 

As for the dodge toggle, you're right. It is a major gameplay changer. Are people really using that setting? If it's a problem, we might have to remove the setting.

 

As for the TABBot stuff, I agree that it would be nice to upgrade the TABBots. However, the amount of changes suggested would delay the release significantly. I think we should focus on the remaining issues and add better TABBot support after the release.

[JRHockney*]

Fair enough. We'll have to tool around with the mishap rate at the next weekly playtest.

 

Ok. I'll do my best to make it. Thursdays have been trouble the past few weeks.

 

As for the dodge toggle, you're right. It is a major gameplay changer. Are people really using that setting? If it's a problem, we might have to remove the setting.

 

Yeah some servers end up liking that setting better or just experiment with it. I'm not sure if it should be removed or not.

As for the TABBot stuff, I agree that it would be nice to upgrade the TABBots. However, the amount of changes suggested would delay the release significantly. I think we should focus on the remaining issues and add better TABBot support after the release.

 

Ok, but I do think that at least two of the easiest on the list should be done for good measure and development for the next release (not including the bug I listed because that just needs to be fixed period). The attack parry rate one is easy so that should be one of them. The skill level one doesnt sound that hard either and it would be the best option for training noobs with less frustration.

[razorace]

You're right, we can do the skill-based parry rates pretty easy. Submit a task ticket for it and attach your modified code files to the ticket. I'll get to it as soon as I can.

 

Also, create another ticket of the other general TABBot improvements you'd like for Enhanced. Set the milestone to Enhanced v1.0.0 so we can remember those ideas for the long run.

 

Thanks Hocky, you're suggestions are great. I'm sorry if I'm sounding extra picky, I just think that an official release is getting over due. The changelog for v0.1.0 is so long that I'm having a hard time keeping track of things.

[Sushi_CW]

Check this out:

 

Wow!

 

I logged in and just found the bots like this... they apparently managed it all on their own. Apparently the new TabBot code is so advanced, it imitates the behavior of real human JKA players: why fight when we can make a player stack?

[ensiform]

I see this happen a lot, try playing CTF on ctf4 and most likely they will stack themselves under the rocket bridge at least on red side sometimes blue is a little different just give them a little time eventually they will crowd around that area. I used to see it all the time in siege because I had forgot to add the removal of monsterclip clipmask to bots in my code. :>

 

And what is even more funny, I had the head sliding thing so that you can slide off of player's heads, and they still stood on top of each other without sliding.