This Bot Setup Guide is brought to you by (clOck-wOrk),
The guide layout man,Syntax Error,
Your friends at the Bot Epidemic,
And support from readers like you
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Introduction: What's up? |
I would like to introduce you to a new "partner" who helps me with these guide, Syntax Error. This guy is in charge of the setup guide layout, in-other words, what the bot guide looks like. It's a pleasure have him to work on my guides and help me out. Anyways, before I bore you to death with a bunch of b.s., let's get started.
Checklist: Tools for the Trade. |
So now you're sitting here wondering what in God's name you've downloaded...Don't worry, I'll describe everything you downloaded right now.
Well, basically that is all you need for EraserBot to run, so get ready for the next section.
Installing: Getting closer. |
Nice, we have gotten this far, but there's still a ways to go before we can start playing with the bots (get your head out of the gutter). Now we enter the installation section, the section most prone for mistakes. There will be a lot of typing, so make sure what you enter is what it reads on this screen. I can not stress the importance of perfection in this section. One mistake and EraserBot will not run. Just read the instructions carefully, it's usually it's a good idea to read them more than once, and check to make sure what you enter is what you see.
Our Goals:
Hopefully, by reading through this section you will learn how to install the EraserBot correctly. You will demonstrate the ability to create a directory which will contain the necessary EraserBot files essential for the bot to run. Next, you will create and modify a shortcut which will allow the EraserBot to run with Quake2.
I'm gonna try to make this as easy and painless for you as I can using step by step instructions, and after every [ENTER], I will remark what should happen. Follow these instructions RELIGIOUSLY. That's the only way this is going to work. Do what I say and nothing will go wrong. And without an more distractions, here we GO...
NOTE: You are going to run into steps like: Type: "command". Type what you only see in red, nothing else.
A. Installing EraserBot v.97:
1). Click on "START".
2). Move the mouse cursor to "FIND".
3). Move the mouse cursor to "FILES OR FOLDERS".
Magically, v.97 of the Eraser Bots is now installed on your computer. But we have to install one more thing, the patch. So let's move on to the v.99 Patch upgrade.
B. Upgrading EraserBot v.97 to v.99:
1). Click on "START".
2). Move the mouse cursor to "FIND".
3). Move the mouse cursor to "FILES OR FOLDERS".
Wow! Almost identical to the v.97 installation. The only thing left we have to do in terms of EraserBot installation is make a shortcut that will load it with Quake2. Let's roll.
C. Making an EraserBot shortcut:
1). Exit any Windows 95/Dos programs.
2). Click on "START".
3). Move mouse cursor to "PROGRAMS".
4). Move mouse cursor to "WINDOWS EXPLORER".
5). Click on "WINDOWS EXPLORER".
Great stuff huh? Yeah, I knew you would like it. Now to finish this sucker off let's just drag the shortcut you just made onto your desktop. Well how's that for quick installing? Next, we are going to get the View Weapon patch installed. So buckle up, and hold on...
D. Installing View-Weapons:
1). Exit all Win95/Dos programs.
2). Move the mouse cursor to "RUN".
3). Click once.
4). Type: "command".
5). Hit [ENTER].
We knocked that bad boy down real quick. The next item that needs to be thrashed is the CTF zip files that you need to get up and running. Let's do it!
E. Installing Capture the Flag:
1). Exit all Win95/Dos programs.
2). Move the mouse cursor to "RUN".
3). Click once.
4). Type: "command".
5). Hit [ENTER].
Nice. Well, that takes care of all the installation and setup for EraserBot, so why don't we just slide right on in to the next section and get some bots running around eh?
Playing EraserBot: Magical fun! |
So here we are. We are now ready to load up Quake2 and get this bad boy running and I'll even show you how to get a bot in the game! (Funny, I thought that was my job?)
Our Goals:
The goals in this section are to understand and use the commands for adjusting skill and the commands which handle the creation of bots. You will learn how to create each type of bot from the three various types of Eraser Bots available to play against (or with) and any special rules that may apply.
Before we create bots, we first need to set how good the bots are going to be. Quickly rate yourself interms of your Quake2 skill on a 0-3 (worse to best) based scale. You a 2? Or how about a 1? No matter, I'll just say that your a 1, your average "I'm alright, but I can use some help," type player. It is important to figure out your skill rating because it's not a helluva lot of fun to get your ass kicked every time you face a bot. Ok, now this is how you set the skill of the bots.
A. Adjusting the Skill:
1). Load Quake2 with Eraser Bots via the shortcut created in the first section.
NOTE: You will be required to restart a level each time you change the skill setting for it to take affect.
5). Hit the [~] key.
Ok, the first type of bot we are going to tackle is the "deathmatch" bot.
Very few rules apply to normal deathmatch. Now you may wonder what I mean when I say "normal deathmatch". Well, this term describes deathmatch where only two rules apply to winning:
Who ever has the most kills, (or in Quake2 terms "frags") wins. It's as simple as that. Anything goes in this all out "I'm gonna kick your ass" fest, and it gets quite hectic at times when you have more than 5 "things" (players or bots) playing, so don't complain if you find yourself chewing on the barrel of a rail-gun.
Anyways, this all sounds good and great, but I bet you're wishing I was just shut the hell up and tell you how to spawn a bot, so I will.
A. Spawning Deathmatch Eraser Bots:
1). Bring down the console. ("~" key)
2). Type: "deathmatch 1".
3). Hit [ENTER].
NOTE: You can get a complete list of maps by entering "dir maps\ *.bsp" in the console.
6). Type: "bot_num 3".
7). Hit [ENTER].
There. Hit [F1] and look at the scoreboard. See? In the game with you are Eraser Bots that you can kill. Don't worry, they all have a skill setting of 2 so run around and look for the monkies.
But maybe plain deathmatch isn't your cup of tea...Maybe you want to spice up your Quake2 gaming experience by creating teams of bots. Image, you and a couple of other Eraser Bots on a team running around blowing the hell out of enemy EraserBot teams. Sound interesting? It is.
The same basic rules apply as in "normal deathmatch", but there are a few more twists and turns. First of all, don't go and blast your own team members. If you do, the reward is minus one kill. Doesn't take long before you realize that your're not going to win killing anything that moves, but in some cases, killing a team mate can't be helped.
Ok, enough of the B.S. already, I'll just move on to creating the bots...
A. Spawning Team-Play Eraser Bots:
1). Load Quake2 via the shortcut created in the first section.
Now would be a good time to see who is on your team. Hit the "F1" key to bring up the scoreboard. Wait?! What's this, the scoreboard differs from the normal non-teamplay scoreboard. Don't panic! When you join a team, you will see the special teamplay scoreboard. This scoreboard will show the best teams by a collective frag count under each team name, and show the rankings of each individual in each team fragwise. Nice and simple.
Well, you think you have experienced team play? Sure you have, but I mean REAL cooperation to solve a goal rather than running aimlessly about killing everything that moved? No, not if you haven't played Capture the Flag. Thanks to Ridah, CTF is now supported by the EraserBot so you can try your hand at seeing how good of a player you REALLY are; where brains count as much as skill.
Ok so here are the rules of CTF. There are two teams, (red and blue); each team has a flag in a flag station on opposite sides of a map. Your job is to make it over to the opposite base, take the flag, make it back to your flag in one piece. If you manage to bring the flag back, you get 15 points, (frags), and your team mates get 10. If you decide to defend your base, you get 2 points for every kill you get defending your base. If your flag is stolen and you kill the flag carrier you get 2 bonus points. Sound simple eh? Easy to learn...Difficult to master.
Now I'll show you how to get CTF working with the EraserBot.
A. Spawning Capture the Flag Eraser Bots:
1). Load Quake2 via the shortcut created in the first section.
11). Type: "sv redbots "Venus" "Cobalt" "Flak" "Grunt" "Ensign"".
12). Hit [ENTER].
Well how does it feel to have downloaded/installed/setup and actually played with Eraser Bots? Good eh? You want more? Don't worry there is plenty more to play with. . .How does creating "custom" bots sound? Playing an advance team game with customized Erasers? How about editing what they say to you? Now, settle down, that will be all taken care of in the next section.
Custom Bots/Models: Taking advantage of "bots.cfg". |
Yeah, they all look pretty plain when they are running around don't they? The bots that is...Wish there was some way you could make them all look different? Oh, but there is, not only in the skin sense of the word, but also in what the bots look like! Yes, it can be done all for the price of $9.95. Or you can just read on and I'll show you how it's done for free. What a deal!
Our Goals:
All right, with the bots running, you are now ready to learn some advance options that come with Eraser Bot 0.99. In this section we'll discuss editing bots.cfg, the file which handles custom bots, and chat.txt which is used by EraserBot for in game bot chatter. So what are you waiting for? Read on.
Bots.cfg is an external file that sits around in your /eraser directory. This is the brain of all the bots that you spawn. In this you can edit bot personalities, such as which weapon is a bots favorite, or if they camp, and even the ability to set their ping rates. All of the above I have mentioned is pretty straight forward. Ridah, (if you don't know by now Ridah made the Eraser), has used comments to show you what each field means so it's only a matter of reading to make such minor changes. Editing this file is pretty straight forward, because the layout for adding custom bots is simple to understand, and what would be the cause of most problems would be typing errors rather than anything serious.
But these are some changes that are not explained in the bots.cfg file: how to use an external model with a bot, creating your own personal team, and how to edit existing teams. Don't worry, I'm here to guide you through this mess.
So you want a brand spanken new bot eh? One that you can spawn and show off to all yer buddies and say "look at me I'm in the game!" or bots that you can name after people you hate so you can blast them to you hearts content? This is how we do it:
NOTE: An importing thing to remember when editing "bots.cfg" is to make sure that the beginning of anything you enter aligns perfectly with the beginning of the original inserts made by Ridah. So make sure you have perfect rows and columns that are matched with the originals.
A. How to create a custom EraserBot:
After all that, you should have something like this in your "bots.cfg":
"(clOck-wOrk)" "male/sniper" 3 4 4 9 1 1 100
Remember these steps. Just change the names/numbers around and this is how you make custom bots and edit existing ones. Now that you have edited and created a new bot let's run Quake2 and see if it works.
B. Checking if the bot works:
Now, running around in the game with you, should be an EraserBot named (clOck wOrk). Well, that's about it for making a "new" bot from scratch. But how about if you wanted to make an entire team of "new" bots?
So you learned how to create your own bot and now you want to play with more of your creations on your team and against you. . .Well, it's not as hard as you think, just a few keystrokes away from your wish. This section will also tackle to create NEW teams as well. Aren't we on a roll?
NOTE:Like the section above, make sure that columns remain aligned perfectly with what Ridah had originally entered into the file. Use the "Tab" key to add a gap between fields.
A. Creating a new Team:
NOTE: You CANNOT use a space to separate a team name more than two words long. Example: "The Thrashers" is incorrect, it must be "TheThrashers" in order for it to work.
I'll break down each column for you so you get an idea of what's going on so later on you can make your own teams:
"TheThrashers" "TT" "" ["botname" "botname" "botname" "botname]
Pretty straight forward eh? Just follow this format for editing/creating teams and you're set. Let's start a team game and see if the team is working.
B. Checking out the Team:
And that's it, the bots you created are in your game ready to kick your ass. Now just use the steps to join a team if you want to be on their side. Now on to using models with bots. . .
To understand models, you must first understand the structure of the Quake2 directories. Under your main Quake2 directory (c:\quake2 for example) you will find a directory called "baseq2". Now, in "baseq2" there will be a directory called "players". "Players" is the directory where are the models go. You have noticed, I hope, how there are two models that come with Quake2, the male and the female. Within the "players" directory you will find, interestingly enough, two directories, "male" and "female". Woah! Do I smell a connection. The sub-directories in the "players" directory are the names of the models. Only make a directory in "players" if you have a new model. Don't make directories for skin files, because skin files go into the model sub-directories.
Ok check it out. Now within the "male" or "female" directory you will find and "md2" file, the actual model file, and other files which represent the model skins. For example, in the "male" directory you will find two types of files. Let's use the files with a "viper" prefix as an example. "viper.pcx" is the file that contains the skin to be used on the "male" model, while the "viper_i.pcx" is that cool little snap-shot of the characters face that you see when changing your skin or when viewing a deathmatch scoreboard.
So what does this mean? Let's say I have a model called "GI JOE". It's a bad-ass model (I just made it up don't go run off and try to find the beast because it probably doesn't exist) that everyone is talking about and I wanna install this puppy. First, what I would do is move to my "players" directory . Now you remember how I said that the sub-directories under the main "player" directory are only for models. Because "GI JOE" is a new model, I would make a directory called "GI JOE". Simple as that. Now I would move into the "GI JOE" directory and then unzip the file there, and only in there. It's that easy. The only thing you have to remember is that in the "players" directory, the only sub-directories there should be are sub-directories which contain model files.
So with that long model discussion out of the way, I'm going to show you how to install the wonderful model "Fuel4.46" created by Stecki. Let's roll...
A. Installing Fuel4.46:
Ok, now we want to tackle the problem of getting a bot to use a specific model. It's really not that complicated as you would think provided that you know what your doing, and if you don't know what your doing, I got yer back.
B. Setting up Fuel4.46 in Bots.cfg:
"Voodoo" "female/voodoo" 3 4 4 9 1 1 100
Nice. All right, now that we have specified all the aspects needed to run Fuel4.46 in Quake2 let's see what the model looks like in game.
C. Loading "Fuel 4.46" in Quake2:
Now "Fuel 4.46" should be in the game running about. Go forth and find the bastard and show'em who's boss. Treat the "Fuel 4.46" bot as you would a bot that you created. Use the methods I have described in previous sections to stick "Fuel" on a team and to edit him to your liking.
Well, that about covers getting a model to run with the EraserBot.
1). Click on "START".
2). Move the mouse cursor to "FIND".
3). Move the mouse cursor to "FILES OR FOLDERS".
4). Type: "bots.cfg".
5). Click on "FIND NOW" button.
6). Double click on "bots.cfg".
7). Scroll down until you reach the name "Voodoo".
("Voodoo" appears right before the "#Teamplay Notes" section)
8). Click once below "Voodoo".
9). Hit "Enter".
10). Move the cursor up to the beginning of the blank row created in step 9.
11). Type: ""(clOck-wOrk)"".
12). Move the cursor until you reach the beginning of column 2.
13). Type: ""male/sniper"".
14). Move to the beginning of column 3.
15). Type: "3".
16). Move the cursor to the beginning of column 4.
17). Type: "4".
18). Move the cursor to the beginning of column 5.
19). Type: "4".
20). Move the cursor to the beginning of column 6.
21). Type: "9".
22). Move the cursor to the beginning of column 7.
23). Type: "1".
24). Move the cursor to the beginning of column 8.
25). Type: "1".
26). Move the cursor to the beginning of column 9.
27). Type: "100".
28). Save "bots.cfg".
29). Close Note pad.
1). Load Quake2 via the shortcut created in the first section.
2). Hit the [~] key.
3). Type: "deathmatch 1".
4). Hit [ENTER].
5). Type: "map base1".
6). Hit [ENTER].
7). Type: "bot_name "(clOck-wOrk)"".
8). Hit [ENTER].
9). Hit the "~" key.
1). Click on "START".
2). Move the mouse cursor to "FIND".
3). Move the mouse cursor to "FILES OR FOLDERS".
4). Type: "bots.cfg".
5). Click on "FIND NOW" button.
6). Double click on "bots.cfg".
7). Create four new custom bots as outlined in the previous section.
8). Scroll down to the "Team Notes" section.
9). Click once next to the last bracket of the "GibBrothers" row.
(The bracket to the right of "Razor")
10). Hit "ENTER".
11). Move the cursor up to the beginning of the blank row created in step 10.
12). Enter the following text in the blank row:
"GibBrothers" "GB" "" ["Cipher" "NightOps" "Major" "Razor"]
"TheThrashers" "TT" "" ["botname" "botname" "botname" "botname"]
"GirlPower" "GP" "" ["Athena" "Jezebel" "Stilleto" "Voodoo"]
13). Review your work.
14). Save "bots.cfg".
15). Close Note pad.
| | | |
| | | This is where you enter the names of the bots, you want on this particular team.
| | Team skin/model
| Team abbreviation
Team name (no spaces allowed between words)
1). Load Quake2 via the shortcut created in the first section.
2). Hit the [~] key.
3). Type: "deathmatch 1".
4). Hit [ENTER].
5). Type: "map base1".
6). Hit [ENTER].
7). Type: "players_per_team 6".
8). Hit [ENTER].
9). Type: "cmd teams".
10). Hit [ENTER].
11). Type: "addteam tt".
12). Hit [ENTER].
13). Hit the "~" key.
Learning about Quake2 directory structure
1). Click on "START".
2). Click on "PROGRAMS".
3). Click on "WINDOWS EXPLORER".
4). Double click on the Quake2 directory.
5). Double click on the "baseq2" directory.
6). Double click on the "players" directory".
7). Right click once.
8). Click on "NEW".
9). Click on "FOLDER".
10). Type: "Fuel".
11). Hit "ENTER".
12). Exit "WINDOWS EXPLORER".
13). Click on "START".
14). Click on "RUN".
15). Type: "command".
16). Hit [ENTER].
17). Move to the location of the "fuel4_46.Zip" file.
18). Copy "fuel4_46.zip" to the "Fuel" directory created in step 9.
19). Move to the "Fuel" directory.
20). Unzip "fuel4_46.zip".
21). Type: "exit".
22). Hit [ENTER].
1). Click on "START".
2). Move the mouse cursor to "FIND".
3). Move the mouse cursor to "FILES OR FOLDERS".
4). Type: "bots.cfg".
5). Click on "FIND NOW" button.
6). Double click on "bots.cfg".
7). Scroll down until you reach the last bot entry before the "Teamplay Notes" section.
8). Click on the last bot entry name.
9). Hit "Enter".
10). Move the cursor up to the beginning of the blank row created in step 9.
11). Type the following:
"Fuel4.46" "fuel/fuel" 4 3 3 8 1 0 123
12). Review your work.
13). Save "bots.cfg".
14). Close Note pad.
1). Load Quake2 via the shortcut created in the first section.
2). Hit the [~] key.
3). Type: "deathmatch 1".
4). Hit [ENTER].
5). Type: "map base1".
6). Hit [ENTER].
7). Type: "bot_name fuel4.46".
8). Hit [ENTER].
9). Hit the "~" key.
List of Commands: For EraserBot v.99 |
bot_num X | bot_name |
players_per_team X | addteam | cmd teams | cmd join | group | disperse |
sv redbots | sv bluebots | ctf X | rushbase | redflag/blueflag | bot_tarzan X | cam (mode) |
auto_bot_skill | bot_drop | bot_show_connect_info | bot_calc_nodes | allow_bot_client_commands | bot_free_clients |
view_weapons | bot_chat | cmd_lag |
Our Goals:
This section is very simple. I'm going to list all the commands present in EraserBot and what each one does, and how to enter the command into the console. This is the layout I'll use for every command:
Example
There are going to be three colors in which the command will appear:
Green Will be the color used to specify commands to be used in Deathmatch.
Blue Specifies a command to be used during Teamplay.
Red Denotes a command to be used in Capture the Flag.
Purple
Is the text color of a miscellaneous command.
Perquisite: What do you need to have typed first for this to run.
Where to Use: Where do you use this command?
Action Executed: What will the command do?
Description: Description of the command.
Additional Notes: What else should you know about this command?
Variations: Does this command do anything else?
X Value: What does the "X" stand for in the command?
Problems Encountered: Should I expect any problems?
That's what the format for every command is gonna look like. Not really all that hard is it? Well, now that we understand the layout, let's move on to the actual commands.
MiniFAQ: Answering Questions. |
Here are some typical questions you may have during the installation and running of EraserBot.
Q: I try to run Quake2 with Famke but when I type "bot_num 3"at the console, no bots appear in my game...What's wrong?
A: Make sure that your shortcut defines the correct path of your Quake2 and EraserBot directories.
Q: I run EraserBot but as the main title screen loads, it drops to the console and tells me "Version 3 not 1"...What's happening?
A: This is a problem usually associated with not having the incorrect version of Quake2 installed onto your computer. To get Famke to run, you need Quake2 v3.14.
Q: I know that everything is setup properly but still no bots appear in my game...What's wrong?
A: If you know that everything is correct, try using a bot launcher to help you get your bots running. Bot launchers are programs which handle all the nitty-gritty of getting bots created in a game. Head over to Impact to get a list of Eraser approved bot launchers.
Q: During the game sometimes my computer crashes...What's wrong?
A: As with all 3rd party software you have to expect crashes due to bugs. Don't worry if this occurs once or twice, but if it continues on a regular basis, send an E-mail to the author describing the problem at hand.
Q: I've tried everything I could, but it still won't run!
A: Try re-installing EraserBot. It's amazing how just a simple re-installation can solve almost anyone's problems.
Q: The bots will work, but they usually stand around doing nothing...What's wrong?
A: Set "bot_calc_nodes 0" in the console and run around the level for around 15-20 minutes grabbing anything you can. This will create nodes for the EraserBot which will allow it to navigate the level and pick up items more efficiently.
Q: I try to use the command "bot_name '(name)'", but nothing happens...What's going on?
A: in order to use the "bot_name '(name)'" command the custom bots name must be specified in the "bots.cfg" file.