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new zerg bot Zia

Speaking of zerg being easiest, I’m pleased with the aggressive new zerg bot Zia (games cast by Nepeta). Zia’s description says it’s “just for fun.”

Zia goes for middle game play with mutalisks and zerglings, complete with upgrades that eventually reach 2-2. (One game in the video also has a hydralisk switch which did not seem advisable.) Other mutalisk bots follow the lead of the Berkeley Overmind and spread out their mutas for (what is advertised as) maximum overall damage rate. Zia doesn’t seem to care about bot fashion. Zia concentrates its mutas into a bunch more like a human player, which may be less efficient in creating damage from an operations research point of view but is aggressive and can be more efficient at actually killing targets—and that’s how you win games.

Attack-oriented opponents, even strong ones like Iron and tscmoo terran, seemed unable to defend against so many mutas flying so aggressively and backed by lings. Defense-oriented bots like LetaBot (which holds its base with active defense and saves up its strength for mighty strikes) didn’t have much trouble, though. I also saw Krasi0, a hardened veteran that learned mutalisk defense facing the Berkeley Overmind, adapt effortlessly and win.

I like Zia, but by now you must realize that I’m not psychologically capable of finishing a post without asking for more. Mutalisk targeting looks a little haphazard—too much zipping about, hitting the wrong enemies, and taking incidental damage. When you concentrate your force, it becomes much more important to concentrate it in the right place! One thing the Berkeley Overmind did right was to fly around the perimeter of the defended area looking for weak points. Also the lings are not attacking as much as they should, as if they were sometimes ordered to move while next to a target. Would that be fun stuff to improve?

Update: Zia starts +1 attack for its mutalisks before spending on the first mutalisk. That’s dedication!

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