FoxBot Review Taking a look at the most prominent bot for Team Fortress Classic. Want a tagline? It rocks.
— The Warthog
Bots and multiplayer go hand in hand these days, and for good reason: clan leaders layout strategies, map makers test gameplay in their level, large maps/teams are made accessible at small LAN parties, and regular gamers get a change of pace. No whining, no cheating, playing the game by the rules, and doing so map after map. Not too bad when you think about it. Unfortunately, mods for Half-Life (like Counter-Strike and Team Fortress Classic), even though they have a following larger than retail titles, do not have bot support 'out of the box.' The communities around these games have taken it upon themselves to make worthwhile bots.
Team Fortress Classic: AI Bots: The FoxBot
Valve's original development goals for Team Fortress Classic did not include bot support. At the time, there was no way to code bots without having them be a part of the mod code itself. Botman figured out a way to change this, allowing third party bots to be added into a mod without the original source code. As a result, many teams took on the task of creating a TFC bot. Certain projects have done better than others; some focusing exclusively on one class (sniper bots, for example) some not ever seeing a stable release. Of these projects, the FoxBot has set the precedent for a quality TFC Bot.
Being A Bot
Aside from the entire challenge of getting a bot to play by the dynamic rules of the game, the problem that every AI bot must contend with is the essence of being a bot. The goal is to make the bot not act like a bunch of code, but act like a human. Example: Once a bot can identify and attack enemies, the bot does not miss until it is programmed to have a certain level of inaccuracy. If the programmer takes time and care to bring the realism of the bot to the next level, factors such as distance and movement affect the hit and miss ratio. The FoxBot addresses issues of realism fairly well. The only area where being a bot stands out is navigation (probably the most difficult; no professionally made bot can make claim to perfect navigation) around a given map. Even though the navigation is not perfect, the FoxBot does support more maps and with more precision than other TFC bots available.
Map Flexibility / Navigation
I like that.
Waypoints are usually another hindering element of AI Bots, as creating waypoints is time consuming to do well, and as a result are usually not created for all the popular maps that people wish to play on. For the FoxBot, waypoint support is actually a strength. Containing waypoints for all the standard Valve maps and a selected amount of custom maps from the main install, you start off from the initial install with plenty of waypoints to get started. If you wish to venture further, the FoxBot Waypoint Database contains over 300 waypoints created by the FoxBot team and regular users. Each waypoint has reader rankings, so you know ahead of time the quality available for the map of your choice. So, the FoxBot can run around any map we want; but what about the gameplay?
Gameplay
When it comes right down to it, gameplay is all that matters. The FoxBot delivers. For general TFC combat, you'll notice the FoxBot acting and reacting as humans should during the course of the game. In straight up combat, going toe to toe with a FoxBot feels the same as a human opponent: weapon selection is made by distance, grenades and attack maneuvers are used effectively, concussion grenades throw off their aim, injured legs will slow them down, and they have priority movements to go for the flag when visible. I have played on a public server before when I didn't know bots were present until I tried talking with them… I would call that impressive.
Mmmm, yeah.
The bots are goal based for each map, reporting the zone a flag is dropped (very cool), heading for a dropped flag, using detpacked routes when opened during the course of a map, always attempting to accomplish the map objective. Additionally, the FoxBot has been customized for each class to follow its designed role properly. For the offensive classes: Scouts have prioritized flag capping, Soldiers and Pyros are designed to shoot rockets at the feet of the enemy (for best accuracy), Medics support teammates by healing them, Spies use full disguise advantages (switching frequently, only attacking when safe, and grenading sentries when possible), Demomen place detpacks to complete objectives or open alternate routes, and the Heavy Weapons guy -- while having no special features -- is one tough opponent. On the defensive side, Snipers have designated sniping positions to protect the fort (If you want to brush up on your sniping skills, start a lan game and toss a few snipers in on the enemy team. Prepare for a wholloping.) and Engineers select locations, build, and maintain sentry guns and dispensers via specific waypoints available. If an enemy attempts to use the Engineer's dispenser, he will detonate it immediately. Also, engineers will upgrade friendly sentry guns if they see them. You may have noticed that only two classes play true defense, which brings us to what I consider the main flaw with the FoxBot.
The FoxBot does have room for improvement. The main feature I felt lacking was the ability to assign any class to offense or defense. While combat is engaged wherever bots run into each other, the only defensive bots that actually stay home are the engineer and sniper classes as their waypoints design them to. The next version of the FoxBot should address this issue, and I do hope to see it happen.
Future
RedFox, coder of the FoxBot, recently revealed that's he's working to eliminate waypoints entirely for FoxBot version .7, opening up a realm of new possibilities:
"Quite a few bots have claimed to be able to navigate maps without waypoints (i.e. no user intervention)… but so far I haven't seen many good results, so I'm working on my own version. I've (half) built an automatic compiler system that scans a map and splits it up into areas that can be used to navigate it with. It basically means that users will no longer need to waypoint levels, and any map will be playable after you have run the compiler on it (sorry waypointers). Using this new system will also mean that bots will be able to take multiple paths and conc/gren/rocket jump. But that's still to be worked on."
You can see a just released demo of a Heavy Weapons guy using this new compiled waypoint technology by visiting the FoxBot Homepage.
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