Did you know? UBerserker loves the Dispersion Pistol.

Bot Handler beta

For discussion of anything relating to multiplayer gameplay in the Unreal series, including co-op.

Moderators: Semfry, ividyon

XYZ8000
Skaarj Assassin Skaarj Assassin
Posts: 131
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00
Contact:

Subject: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 12 Jan 2011, 21:22

Third public beta of my Bot Handler program, the purpose of this Java application is to easily manage and randomize the properties of the Bots of an Unreal Tournament game.
UT has lots of different skins and variations, but the in-game menus to change the Bot configuration are clunky and slow to use. Since I got tired of always playing against the same bots, I decided to write a Java program to handle quickly the properties of the bots.

Note that being written in Java, this program requires a Java Runtime Environment installed to run (you probably already have it, since it is used by many popular applications such as Open Office). Also due to the Java language, this program works on any kind of OS that has a JRE installed (I personally tested Linux and Windows, will work fine also on Mac).


The main new feature in version 0.73 is the support for XBots, the UT mutator that allows you to have multiple bot lists. Both versions 055 and 9b are supported.
Other additions are the inclusion of file overwrite checks, some new custom content in the BotHandlerSettingsExtra file, some new menu functions and quite some fixes.

Please read the ReadMe file included in the archive before using this program, and remember to back up any file you want to save over / overwrite with this program (I overwrote my own user.ini file dozens of times and everything seems fine, but since this is a beta it's better to be safe and do backups)

For more details:
http://www.deathox8.com/Stuff/BotHandler.html
Full changelog:
http://www.deathox8.com/Stuff/BotHandlerChangeLog.html

Any feedback is welcome :)


Screenshots:

Image
Image
Image


Download link:
http://www.gamefront.com/files/20152717 ... erV073_zip
Last edited by XYZ8000 on 23 Mar 2011, 19:11, edited 3 times in total.

redeye
Banned Banned
Posts: 1393
Joined: 08 Dec 2007, 06:55

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 15 Jan 2011, 01:16

My first thought, using the word generator add to my confusion.

some other word

without using it or downloaded, but generater 1? 2? 3?

why, why does one have 3 generates, what does each one do, is it 3 different things, 3 different properties for one bot, 3 bots,

Now once i do things, the bottom "generate" makes sense.

is all. otherwisse it looks nice, pretty good, perhaps some slider controls to get a feel for settings for all bots, or settings for certain things.
Just ban everyone

XYZ8000
Skaarj Assassin Skaarj Assassin
Posts: 131
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00
Contact:

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 15 Jan 2011, 15:37

redeye wrote:My first thought, using the word generator add to my confusion.

some other word

without using it or downloaded, but generater 1? 2? 3?

why, why does one have 3 generates, what does each one do, is it 3 different things, 3 different properties for one bot, 3 bots,

Now once i do things, the bottom "generate" makes sense.

is all. otherwisse it looks nice, pretty good, perhaps some slider controls to get a feel for settings for all bots, or settings for certain things.


Thanks for the comments :)

Generator 1, 2, 3 doesn't mean that there are three generators, I just split the generator parameters into three different tabs since otherwise the window would have been too large IMO. I don't really see any other way to call these tabs, any suggestions?
The first tab contains the properties relative to the appearance of the bot and it's combat style, the second tab contains the parameters relative to its skill and the third allows the user to choose what properties to change when generating.

I know that the word generator is a bit pretentious since it's a simple program, but I wasn't able to come up with a more fitting word. Technically it is a generator since it creates from scratch new values, but I do agree that such word sounds more complex than this program really is.

Sliders are quite nice if used sparingly, but they do take up quite some space in the GUI. I would need to have two sliders for each parameter in the Generator 2 tab, and that's a bit overkill. I think that spinners are a valuable alternative to sliders, and when using the program I noticed that anyway generally I write directly the value in the field. Sliders do have the advantage of visually representing the limits of the values, though.

redeye
Banned Banned
Posts: 1393
Joined: 08 Dec 2007, 06:55

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 15 Jan 2011, 17:34

Maybe the third tab called "options"

Possibly type exactly what you just told me, first tab second, "skill, skin"

hard saying got to be something, plus setting up bots in UT is a lost function people don't use, so your program is a pretty good idea.
Just ban everyone

diamond
Skaarj Berserker Skaarj Berserker
Posts: 366
Joined: 13 Nov 2007, 10:51
Location: ROFLand
Contact:

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 15 Jan 2011, 17:36

Generator 2, Generator 3. That really makes people thinking there are some different kinds of generators. IMO, long scrolling list of parameters will be easier to understand and use - everybody has mousewheel nowadays, so scrolling is easier than tab switching.
Image
UBerserker wrote:Architecture doesn't need to detailed, it just needs to be right.

redeye
Banned Banned
Posts: 1393
Joined: 08 Dec 2007, 06:55

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 15 Jan 2011, 18:23

How about a "global" button that contains sliders for all the bots at once, just the fighting stuff, then a check-box for "difficulty" on that same page.
I think it would be used the most, because people could test each property and get a feel for what each one does facing off against difficulty setting..Then these screens can be used for individual settings once you know how the bots react from a global setting.
Just ban everyone

XYZ8000
Skaarj Assassin Skaarj Assassin
Posts: 131
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00
Contact:

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 15 Jan 2011, 18:56

Thank you for the comments :)

I didn't think about adding all the parameters in a scroll pane, I originally went for the route of having everything on the same pane but it was too large (although the window size was still under 900px) and it was a mess to set up (the various parts kept being placed in the wrong places).
I will try replacing the three tabs with a single scroll pane, that will also allow me to add the little editor for the source classes skins etc. as another tab. Instead of placing all the toggle buttons (now in tab 3) at the bottom, I will place it next to each property (that will also be more intuitive since you won't have to switch tabs just to check the settings).

The settings in the three tabs are already global, you can choose whether to apply them to all the bots or only to the selected ones (the Gen. buttons in tab 2). For fine tuning each bot there will be a Properties tab (already there, but the current one is a placeholder that just shows bot data) where you will be able to change the properties of the selected bots on the fly (without using the generator).
I don't understand what you mean with ' a check-box for "difficulty" ', do you mean the eight Skill Levels of UT (Novice Average etc.)?

redeye
Banned Banned
Posts: 1393
Joined: 08 Dec 2007, 06:55

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 15 Jan 2011, 23:59

yes skill levels.
Just ban everyone

User avatar TheIronKnuckle
Gilded Claw Gilded Claw
Posts: 1967
Joined: 12 Nov 2007, 07:21
Location: Riding my bicycle from the highest hill in Sydney to these forums

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 09 Feb 2011, 01:07

Sounds good. Would be mad if you could get it with an internal interface and a mutator that randomizes every aspect of the bots every match. (I'm not talking xbots either :P)
ImageIgnorance is knowing anything
And only idiots know everything

XYZ8000
Skaarj Assassin Skaarj Assassin
Posts: 131
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00
Contact:

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 17 Mar 2011, 10:47

I just released an updated version of the program, I did quite some changes to it. First post edited with the new information...

Changing the three global parameters (Difficulty, bAdjustSkill, bRandomize) isn't yet supported from the interface, that will come in the next version since it requires a partial rewrite of the export function, at the moment I tried to make the program more stable.
I tried using sliders in the interface but the Java default sliders are freakin humongous, they took up a bunch of space so I had to keep the spinners instead.



TheIronKnuckle wrote:Sounds good. Would be mad if you could get it with an internal interface and a mutator that randomizes every aspect of the bots every match. (I'm not talking xbots either :P)


Thanks, that would be indeed pretty cool but since there doesn't seem to be much interest in this I don't think that it's worth to spend so much time into developing a working UT interface and basically rewrite everything from scratch.
A mod like that would still require some external files containing all the possible names to assign to the bots, and they would still need to be assigned per class. It would get pretty messy I guess...

It's a shame UT can have only 32 bots at a time, I was playing some CTFs lately for the XMas Contest at Unreal Playground and when you're using 16 bots per map the same faces always pop up, there has a way to enlarge the bot list... when you're playing Duel this program gets more useful, since you frequently face a different opponent.

User avatar TheIronKnuckle
Gilded Claw Gilded Claw
Posts: 1967
Joined: 12 Nov 2007, 07:21
Location: Riding my bicycle from the highest hill in Sydney to these forums

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 17 Mar 2011, 22:43

The last official version of Xbots gives you 4 or 5 extra bot lists. And there's an unofficial version that gets you 7 more if I remember right. Might be what you're looking for.

I still need to get that 7 list version come to think of it....
ImageIgnorance is knowing anything
And only idiots know everything

User avatar Lightning Hunter
Skaarj Elder Skaarj Elder
Posts: 1291
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 22:12
Location: Pervert.

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 17 Mar 2011, 23:30

And there's an unofficial version that gets you 7 more if I remember right. Might be what you're looking for.

I still need to get that 7 list version come to think of it....


A version like that exists? :shock:

Link! Link!
For High-Res Unreal skins, click here.
For the RTNP "Ultimate Edition" HD, click here.

Image

User avatar TheIronKnuckle
Gilded Claw Gilded Claw
Posts: 1967
Joined: 12 Nov 2007, 07:21
Location: Riding my bicycle from the highest hill in Sydney to these forums

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 18 Mar 2011, 00:02

can't believe I actually found it :P :
http://ecoop.ucoz.com/load/loathsomesbo ... s/1-1-0-13

And it has NINE lists. wow. can't believe I didn't install this earlier
ImageIgnorance is knowing anything
And only idiots know everything

XYZ8000
Skaarj Assassin Skaarj Assassin
Posts: 131
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00
Contact:

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 18 Mar 2011, 09:17

TheIronKnuckle wrote:can't believe I actually found it :P :
http://ecoop.ucoz.com/load/loathsomesbo ... s/1-1-0-13

And it has NINE lists. wow. can't believe I didn't install this earlier


Holy moly, how the hell didn't I know about XBots before? :B
Sounds great, I'll give it a try and definitely add support for it in the next version of BH.

Any chance that you have also a link to the latest official version, which seems to be XBots056? I've seen it mentioned in posts but I haven't found a download yet. I guess that most people are using either that or version 055, I will add support also for those.

User avatar TheIronKnuckle
Gilded Claw Gilded Claw
Posts: 1967
Joined: 12 Nov 2007, 07:21
Location: Riding my bicycle from the highest hill in Sydney to these forums

Subject: Re: Bot Handler beta

Post Posted: 18 Mar 2011, 14:01

Just checked which version I've got installed currently: 055. I remember trying to chase down version 056 years ago and even then I didn't turn anything up. Which sucks because I see it mentioned in a lot of places too :P
ImageIgnorance is knowing anything
And only idiots know everything

Next

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests

Copyright © 2001-2024 UnrealSP.org

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited