Starcraft AI blog

Microwave’s history files include both pre-training games and tournament games. I removed the pre-training games, and these tables show only tournament results. I looked at it both ways and decided this way was more informative. Yesterday’s table includes both prepared data and tournament games.

The enemy strategies listed in the form “HeavyRush -> SafeExpand” are the initially predicted and the later recognized enemy play, as explained by MicroDK in a comment. When they’re the same, the prediction was correct.

Stardust always plays the same strategy, so it’s no wonder that Microwave was able to predict it. Not that it helped. 3HatchMuta was tried repeatedly because it scored some wins in training.

PurpleWave opened with 2 gate most games. Microwave was able to predict it, but as we saw in UAlbertaBot’s table, the zealots are a Microwave weakness and PurpleWave was able to exploit it. Nevertheless, Microwave was no pushover. The more successful zerg tries were zergling openings, especially variants of the Styx build (9PoolHatchGasSpeed).

BananaBrain is not predictable, and Microwave could not predict its play. Again, the more successful zerg builds were zergling openings.

Microwave was moderately successful in predicting Dragon’s play, because Dragon tends to stick with a successful strategy as long as it remains successful. Look at that mix of zerg openings! 4 pool, hydra builds, and mutalisk builds.

Microwave tried a lot of stuff versus McRave—three hatch before pool hydralisk opening in ZvZ? And it worked sometimes? I should try to find some of those games.

Microwave recognizes turtle builds in most games. That will be Steamhammer’s OverpoolTurtle opening, which builds as many sunkens at it can afford (2) without delaying mutalisks. It’s tough for bots to handle, because the build is safe on the ground while giving nothing away in the air. Microwave mainly preferred speed zergling openings in response, taking advantage of its superior zergling-on-zergling micro (which is not really a difference in micro as much as in engagement skills).

It looks like ZZZKBot played its 4 pool about 2/3 of the time, and the rest of the time did something that Microwave could not recognize. But no matter, Microwave played overpool nearly all the time, fast enough to stop the rush and, in Microwave’s hands, flexible enough to counter ZZZKBot’s other builds.

Compare this to UAlbertaBot’s table. Microwave did not do perfectly against any UAlbertaBot race, and suffered badly against the zealot rush. Microwave had neither a universal build that works against all UAlbertaBot plays (which is how Steamhammer succeeded against UAlbertaBot), nor was it able to adapt its build well enough to counter what it saw (compare ZZZKBot above). Still, it found that 4 pool and 5 pool were not bad! Fight fire with fire.

Microwave did not understand how to recognize EggBot’s cannon play, but it knew from training how to win.