Starcraft AI blog

I meant to write another post or two about how particular bots keep their squads in formation, but after grepping source code for every keyword I could think of, I didn’t turn any up. We already know that OpprimoBot keeps its squads compact with a flocking algorithm, so my search was definitely not comprehensive... but I still gave up.

Instead I’ll write a short series about interesting skills coded into Skynet. Of bots whose source I have, the three candidates for Bot With the Most Hand-Coded Skills are ICEbot, Skynet, and Tscmoo, and Skynet is the easiest to read.

As an appetizer, here is a comment from TaskManagerClass::getPriorityList, which sorts tasks related to build order, research and production into priority order:

	// If I am vulnerable to counter attack / have no map control, place defense higher
	// If I am not behind on army size but its not safe to attack, tech
	// If I am not behind on army size but its safe to attack, produce
	// If I'm behind on army supply, produce

The ideas in the comment are not implemented. Skynet is already one of the cleverest bots in adapting its build to the game situation. Imagine how much cleverer it could be if Andrew Smith had had enough time to implement these ideas.

Tomorrow: Killing undetected lurkers.