Playing EraserBot:  Magical fun!

Adjusting the Skill Level

Creating EraserBots as Deathmatch Opponents

Creating EraserBots as Team-Play Opponents

Creating EraserBots as Capture the Flag Opponents


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 EraserBots 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 everytime you face a bot. Ok, now this is how you set the skill of the bots.

A. Adjusting the Skill:
    1). Load Quake2 via
your Start Menu/Programs/EraserBot Shortcut.

Wait until Quake2 finishes loading and you are at the main Quake2 screen.
    2). Hit the [~] key.

The console will now be activated in full screen mode.
    3). Type: "skill 2".
    4). Hit [ENTER].

This specifies that all the bots created will be at skill 2.

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.

Quake2 will restart. Wait until you reach the main Quake2 screen.

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:

and

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 EraserBots:
    1). Bring down the console. ("~" key)
    2). Type: "deathmatch 1".
    3). Hit [ENTER].

This will tell Quake2 you wish to play a deathmatch style game.
    4). Type: "map base1".
    5). Hit [ENTER].

The map "base1" will now load. When the map is done loading, you will be in the level with the console still activated.

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].

Three bots will now enter the game.
    8). Hit the "~" key to close the console.

Editor's Note: In the command "bot_num 3", the three defines the maximum number of bots to be spawned. Change to any value up to 128.

There. Hit [F1] and look at the scoreboard. See? In the game with you are EraserBots 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 EraserBots 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 EraserBots:
    1). Load Quake2 via your Start Menu/Programs/EraserBot Shortcut.

Wait until the main Quake2 screen appears.
    2). Hit the [~] key.

The console will now be activiated
    3). Type: "deathmatch 1".
    4). Hit [ENTER].

Deathmatch 1 defines what style game you want to play.
    5). Type: "map base1".
    6). Hit [ENTER].

Quake2 will load "base1" as the designated playing map. When the map finishes loading, you will be in the level with the console still activated.
    7). Type: "players_per_team 6".
    8). Hit [ENTER].

This command defines the maximum number of bots on a team.
    9). Type: "cmd teams".
  10). Hit [ENTER].

A list of all teams present in bots.cfg will be displayed.
  11). Type: "addteam gb".
  12). Hit [ENTER].

The team "GibBrothers" will enter the game.
  13). Type: "join gb".
  14). Hit [ENTER].

You will join the "GibBrothers" team.
  15). Type: "addteam gp".
  16). Hit [ENTER].

Team "GirlPower" will join the game. In this case, they are the enemy team.
  17). Hit the "~" key to close the console.

Editors Note: You can only create teams that are specified in bots.cfg.

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 EraserBots:
    1). Load Quake2 via
your Start Menu/Programs/EraserBot Shortcut.

Wait until the main Quake2 screen appears.
    2). Select "MULTIPLAYER" from the main Quake2 menu.
    3). Select "START NETWORK SERVER".
    4). Locate the map "McKinleys Revival" (Q2ctf1).
    5). Begin the game.

A menu will appear after the map is finished loading.
    6). Use the "[" key to move to "JOIN BLUE TEAM".
    7). Hit [ENTER].

You will enter the game on the blue team.
    8). Hit the "~" key.

The console will be activated.
    9). Type: "sv bluebots "Sniper" "Recon" "Scout" "Rampage"".
  10). Hit [ENTER].

The designated bots will join the blue team.

Editors Note: Using the specified command "sv bluebots" or "sv redbots" you can spawn up to maximum of 10 bots.


  11). Type: "sv redbots "Venus" "Cobalt" "Flak" "Grunt" "Ensign"".
  12). Hit [ENTER].

The designated bots will join the red team.
  13). Hit the "~" key.

The console will close.

Editors Note: You can only add bots that are specified in bots.cfg.

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".

 

Understanding "bots.cfg"

Creating a custom bot

Creating custom teams

Learning about models

Installing Fuel4.46

Setting up Fuel4.46


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 ingame bot chatter. So what are you waiting for? Read on.

What is "bots.cfg"?

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 feild 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 remeber when editing "bots.cfg" is to make sure that the beginning of anything you enter alligns 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:
    1). Click on "START".
    2). Move the mouse cursor to "FIND".
    3). Move the mouse cursor to "FILES OR FOLDERS".

You will be at the "FIND" dialogue box.
    4). Type: "bots.cfg".
    5). Click on "FIND NOW" button.

A new field will open and "bots.cfg", 7k, will be listed.
    6). Double click on "bots.cfg".

NotePad will now load with "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".

This will create a row for us to enter our custom bot.
  10). Move the cursor up to the begining of the blank row created in step 9.
  11). Type: ""(clOck-wOrk)"".

Editor's Note: Feel free to use any name so long as it is contained within a pair of quotations.
  12). Move the cursor until you reach the begining of column 2.
  13). Type: ""male/sniper"".

"male/sniper" refers to what model/skin the bot is to use.

Editor's Note: Use this column for custom models and skins. All models/skins are read from the quake2/baseq2/players directory. "male/sniper" defines the model of "male" with the skin "sniper".
  14). Move to the begining of column 3.
  15). Type: "3".

This column handles the value for the bots accuracy. (min/max 1-5)
  16). Move the cursor to the begining of column 4.
  17). Type: "4".

Column 4 defines the aggressiveness of the bot. (min/max 1-5)
  18). Move the cursor to the begining of column 5.
  19). Type: "4".

Column 5 contains the values for the combat efficiency of the bot. (min/max 1-5)
  20). Move the cursor to the begining of column 6.
  21). Type: "9".

Values in this column refer to the bots preference in weapon. Values correspond with the weapon numbers. (min/max 1-10)
  22). Move the cursor to the begining of column 7.
  23). Type: "1".

Column 7 denotes whether the bot is a Quad freak. (min/max 0-1)
  24). Move the cursor to the begining of column 8.
  25). Type: "1".

Column 8 contains the values if the bot is a camper. (min/max 0-1)
  26). Move the cursor to the begining of column 9.
  27). Type: "100".

Column 9 handles the values for the ammount of lag the bot experiences. (min/max 0-999)
  28). Save "bots.cfg".
  29). Close Notepad.

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:
    1). Load Quake2 via
your Start Menu/Programs/EraserBot Shortcut.

Wait until the main Quake2 screen appears.
    2). Hit the [~] key.

The console will now be activiated
    3). Type: "deathmatch 1".
    4). Hit [ENTER].

Deathmatch 1 defines what style game you want to play.
    5). Type: "map base1".
    6). Hit [ENTER].

Quake2 will load "base1" as the designated playing map. When the map finishes loading, you will be in the level with the console still activated.
    7). Type: "bot_name "(clOck-wOrk)"".
    8). Hit [ENTER].

The custom bot, (clOck-wOrk) will enter your game.

Editor's Note: Substitue "(clOck-wOrk)" for any other bot name in "bots.cfg" to add the specific bot. The command "bot_name" only works with bots defined in "bots.cfg".
    9). Hit the "~" key.

The console will close.

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 alligned 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:
    1). Click on "START".
    2). Move the mouse cursor to "FIND".
    3). Move the mouse cursor to "FILES OR FOLDERS".

You will be at the find dialogue box.
    4). Type: "bots.cfg".
    5). Click on "FIND NOW" button.

A new field will open and "bots.cfg", 7k, will be listed.
    6). Double click on "bots.cfg".

NotePad will now load with "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".

This will create an area for us to enter our custom bot.
  11). Move the cursor up to the begining of the blank row created in step 10.

Editor's Note: In step 12, I added the teams "GirlPower" and "GibBrothers" to give you the idea where your team should be. Type ONLY what you see in red.
  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"]

NOTE: You CANNOT use a space to seperate a team name more than two words long. Example: "The Thrashers" is incorrect, it must be "TheThrashers" inorder for it to work.

  13). Review your work.
  14). Save "bots.cfg".
  15). Close NotePad.

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]
          |                            |             |                                                                                  |
          |                            |             |                                This is where you enter the names of the bots, you want on this particular team.
          |                            |     Team skin/model
          |                Team abbriviation
  Team name (no spaces allowed between words)

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:
    1). Load Quake2 via the shortcut created in the first section.

Wait until the main Quake2 screen appears.
    2). Hit the [~] key.

The console will now be activiated
    3). Type: "deathmatch 1".
    4). Hit [ENTER].

Deathmatch 1 defines what style game you want to play.
    5). Type: "map base1".
    6). Hit [ENTER].

Quake2 will load "base1" as the designated playing map. When the map finishes loading, you will be in "base1" with the console still activated.
    7). Type: "players_per_team 6".
    8). Hit [ENTER].

This command defines the maximum number of bots on a team.
    9). Type: "cmd teams".
  10). Hit [ENTER].

A list of all teams present in bots.cfg will be displayed.
  11). Type: "addteam tt".
  12). Hit [ENTER].

The team "TheThrashers" will enter your game.

Editors Note: You can also use the "addteam" command variation: "addteam TheThrasers".
  13). Hit the "~" key.

The console will close.

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. . .


Learning about Quake2 directory structure

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 "GIJOE". 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 "GIJOE" is a new model, I would make a directory called "GIJOE". Simple as that. Now I would move into the "GIJOE" directory and then unzip the file there, and only in there. It's that easy. The only thing you have to remeber 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...


List of Commands:  For EraserBot v.99


Deathmatch Commands:

bot_num X bot_name


Teamplay Commands:

players_per_team X addteam cmd teams cmd join group disperse


Capture the Flag Commands:

sv redbots sv bluebots ctf X rushbase redflag/blueflag bot_tarzan X cam (mode)


Miscellaneous Commands:

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 goning 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

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: Inorder to use the "bot_name '(name)'" command the custom bots name must be specified in the "bots.cfg" file.


If you have more specific questions regarding problems when running EraserBot, or any suggestions that would make any future help guides better, tap me on the shoulder and tell me what's up. Please include the version of EraserBot you are running, details about your specific problem, and what you have done to try to solve the problem.