Starcraft AI blog

Why doesn’t this version of Steamhammer ever play its 5 pool on SSCAIT? I found a bug in parsing the configuration file.

There’s a bug in parsing a strategy combo which is nested inside another strategy mix. The syntax as I intended to implement it is inconsistent, and the parsing code only partially takes that into account.

In Steamhammer as configured, the effect of the bug is that whenever it should play 4 pool or 5 pool, it plays its default 9 pool speed instead. In other words, there’s not much difference, but it does reduce the bot’s unpredictability a little. In a bot with a different configuration, the effect might be worse.

the fix

If you are using the code, the fix is to make the syntax consistent.

1. In ParseUtils::ParseConfigFile(), make this snippet of code look like this. All you have to do is change "StrategyMix" to ourRaceStr in 2 places.

			// If we have set a strategy for the current matchup, set it.
			if (strategy.HasMember(matchup) && _ParseStrategy(strategy[matchup], strategyName, mapWeightString, ourRaceStr, strategyCombos))
			{
				Config::Strategy::StrategyName = strategyName;
			}
			// Failing that, look for a strategy for the current race.
			else if (strategy.HasMember(ourRace) && _ParseStrategy(strategy[ourRace], strategyName, mapWeightString, ourRaceStr, strategyCombos))
			{
				Config::Strategy::StrategyName = strategyName;
			}

2. Make the matching change in the configuration file. Everywhere it says "StrategyMix", change it to the race of the bot at that point, like "Zerg". It’s redundant, but it’s the same syntax for strategy mixes no matter the context.