Omni-bot SDK
 

Hello again everyone.

I've posted before about my bot framework Omni-bot and since then I've still been hard at work on the project.

The old thread can be seen here for those that don't remember.

Anyways, since my last post there have been significant progress, most of which can be read about here in the development section of the homepage.

In the next few days the linux version of Omni-bot will be released along with the ETF 1.4 update, also the ET version will be released, freshly built on the new ET 2.6 SDK. The interface layer for Half-life 1 is coming along decently, so soon the number of potentially supported mods will increase significantly.

To coincide with a working HL1 interface, in the coming week or so I will be putting together and releasing an Omni-bot SDK, which will allow users to add bots to mods. It should be significantly easier(and definately faster) to get bots up and running in a mod using the framework.

The SDK will contain all the available game interfaces(ET, HL1, and HL2 as soon as we figure out the weapon problems with bots). The ET interface should be easily adaptable to Q3 and RTCW, considering their code is likely very similar. Additionally I will probably expose all the source code to the ETF bot as an example of how the framework is used.

Basically all implementations of Omni-bot will share the features of a central omnibot.dll, which contains all the common code that the author shouldn't have to worry too much about. It houses the path planner(currently waypoint based, abstracted to be extendable to nav mesh or some other variation in the future), the scripting support, the archive support, integrated downloader, the weapon/item/goal system/sensory/targeting/steering systems, and some other stuff.

The user will primarily be responsible for deriving their own version of a Client class for the mod they are implementing, such as CS_Client, and their own version of an IGame class, and optionally deriving from an IPlayerClass if the mod has different player classes they would like to implement differently. Most of the implementation of the bot are done in the mods bot dll, with an occasional visit to the interface in order to implement custom messages to get data from the game.

My plan is to continue developing the framework, and work it into an even more powerful and feature rich foundation for FPS bot work in games that support them. As I develop the framework with optimizations or new features, every supported mod will have them available to them.

Anyways, I'm curious whether any bot developers around here would be interested in checking out and giving feedback on an early version of the sdk before it is released. I'm guessing this might be available ready to check out sometime in the next week and a half or so.

Thanks

Re: Omni-bot SDK
 

"trying" a whole new SDK is not as straightforward as it seems. You need to get used to its author's coding style and practices, which necessarily involves a shift between how you think stuff should have been implemented and how it actually is inside the SDK. What you need, I'd say, is merely documentation. Lots of. And tutorials. Heaps. If you want to turn your bot SDK into something attractive to others... especially when these others are already developing something similar on their own :)

Re: Omni-bot SDK
 

Point taken.

I suppose what I mean more than "try it out", is to take a look at the documentation, tutorials, and code, and let me know what is clear and what isn't so I can improve on it. If someone has the time maybe even try their hand at adding basic support to a mod just to experience the process and provide feedback.

I don't expect any of you hard core bot authors to abandon what you are doing in favor of this SDK, I know that many of us do what we do for the love of doing it, I'm just looking for feedback for improvement.

With a provided interface, it should be easily possible to have bots running around in a brand new mod in a few hours work. There should be an interface for HL1 and Enemy Territory in the first release of the SDK. HL2 will of course come when we have the proper access to the components we are missing.

Thanks
J

Re: Omni-bot SDK
 

Sounds pretty cool to me. If it only takes a few hours to add support for another mod, then your bot framework for sure got potential. Most of the other bot authors I have talked to says that it is nearly impossible to port their bot.

We need a bot for the hl mod Sands of War(www.sandsofwar.net). I will check with our coders to hear if they are interrested.

Re: Omni-bot SDK
 

Thanks, I'll keep everyone updated.