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AIIDE 2020 - what BananaBrain learned

#3 BananaBrain had pre-trained data, 3000 (!) games versus Stardust and 100 each against PurpleWave, Dragon, McRave, Microwave, and DaQin. Other opponents did not rate. The main tables here include only tournament games, not pre-training games. BananaBrain scored higher in training games than in tournament games against every opponent except the carryover DaQin (training 61% of 100 games, tournament 66% of 150 games, statistically close enough). It looks as though BananaBrain might have won the tournament if it had played against the same versions of opponents that it trained against. I take it as a sign that secret tournament improvements may be worth it.

A couple conclusions: 1. Enemy strategy recognition seemed to have some misfires with terran opponents. 2. BananaBrain would have scored slightly better if it had never played the Stove. It’s a for-fun build more than a for-real build—though bots are often poor at adaptation, so perhaps on BASIL it is more effective than here.


#1 stardust

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvP_10/12gate1040%12119
PvP_12nexus20%1166
PvP_2gatedt617%28145
PvP_2gatedtexpo70%0140
PvP_2gatereaver2924%3149
PvP_3gaterobo425%50106
PvP_3gatespeedzeal30%465
PvP_4gategoon2665%31144
PvP_9/9gate40%29146
PvP_9/9proxygate1741%8142
PvP_nzcore20%268
PvP_zcore10%118118
PvP_zcorez540%42117
PvP_zzcore3453%5148
14 openings15038%
enemygameswins
P_1gatecore2335%
P_2gate475%
P_2gatefast1030%
P_4gategoon9444%
P_unknown1911%
5 openings15038%


BananaBrain was the only bot to leave a dent in Stardust. Its plan recognition was not precise enough to pin down Stardust’s 4 gate goon strategy consistently, likely because Stardust ejected the bananascout before the build was complete. Still, BananaBrain’s 4 gate goon opener defeated Stardust’s 4 gate goons 65% of the time in 26 games. BananaBrain is deliberately unpredictable, but against this opponent consistency may have been better: Stardust played without learning, so its opponents should have sought the single best opening as an answer rather than the best mix of openings. It’s possible that #3 BananaBrain could have upset Stardust if it had done that, though it would not have gained enough wins to pass #2 PurpleWave.

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvP_10/12gate603%112934
PvP_12nexus560%42915
PvP_2gatedt11231%82978
PvP_2gatedtexpo27853%52921
PvP_2gatereaver111066%62988
PvP_3gaterobo603%22935
PvP_3gatespeedzeal11626%72916
PvP_4gategoon560%32917
PvP_9/9gate13636%122995
PvP_9/9proxygate43761%132936
PvP_nzcore560%12918
PvP_zcore10221%02989
PvP_zcorez7212%92986
PvP_zzcore34967%102999
14 openings300051%

This is the table of pre-trained games. It looks different from the tournament table; the overall score and the individual results by strategy do not match up. The training may have been against an older version of Stardust on the Starcraft AI Ladder, or it may have been against Locutus, which was wrapped around an encrypted Stardust binary on SSCAIT and played instead of Stardust if it didn’t have its encryption key.

The misleading training cannot have helped BananaBrain’s results. It did adapt, but notice that BananaBrain’s most effective counter of 4 gate goon was only played 26 times in 150 games, less often than P_2gatereaver and P_zzcore which scored highest in training.


#2 purplewave

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvP_10/12gate714%1146
PvP_12nexus714%2125
PvP_2gatedt1136%22142
PvP_2gatedtexpo1040%36141
PvP_2gatereaver922%20144
PvP_3gaterobo1323%3148
PvP_3gatespeedzeal933%9108
PvP_4gategoon1669%4137
PvP_9/9gate922%13128
PvP_9/9proxygate922%10147
PvP_nzcore1443%7149
PvP_zcore714%29115
PvP_zcorez1242%0143
PvP_zzcore1765%5139
14 openings15037%
enemygameswins
P_1gatecore10638%
P_2gate580%
P_2gatefast367%
P_4gategoon1436%
P_ffe10%
P_unknown2124%
6 openings15037%


Again, 4 gate goon was BananaBrain’s best, though zealot-zealot-core was statistically equal. PurpleWave learns, so mixing it up was likely correct. Judging by the names, the last 4 builds here, the ones that mention “core”, are nonspecific tech builds that might aim for any tech and unit mix in the midgame. Do the names accurately describe them?

Again the training data was somewhat misleading (52% win rate in 100 training games and entirely different best counters), but BananaBrain tried its strategies in a fairly even distribution so I think it made little difference in this case. Presumably 100 games of training provide a smaller bias than 3000 games.


#4 dragon

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvT_10/12gate1771%8145
PvT_10/15gate1242%15147
PvT_12nexus812%16132
PvT_1gatedtexpo743%36134
PvT_1gatereaver50%10118
PvT_28nexus1145%25149
PvT_2gatedt933%2128
PvT_2gaterngexpo729%32131
PvT_32nexus825%12124
PvT_9/9gate1878%7146
PvT_9/9proxygate1457%4148
PvT_bulldog60%5120
PvT_dtdrop825%0117
PvT_proxydt1471%1140
PvT_stove60%11125
15 openings15045%
enemygameswins
T_1fac3842%
T_fastexpand475%
T_unknown10844%
3 openings15045%


BananaBrain could not recognize most of Dragon’s builds. It looks like Dragon was vulnerable to mass zealots, an important weakness, and to hidden dark templar, which any terran might die to if unscouted. But what is the Stove doing there? Does it work against decent terran bots? Maybe the key is that there are few mid-rank terran bots, they are mostly in the upper and lower tiers.

67% overall win rate in training, but this time BananaBrain’s best counters matched between training and the tournament. The training helped, even though it was against a weaker version of Dragon.


#5 mcrave

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvZ_10/12gate1369%24144
PvZ_1basespeedzeal1250%8133
PvZ_2basespeedzeal933%25148
PvZ_4gate2archon617%29132
PvZ_5gategoon1656%7129
PvZ_9/9gate2796%1145
PvZ_9/9proxygate1050%0147
PvZ_bisu520%1987
PvZ_neobisu1145%5149
PvZ_sairdt1030%4141
PvZ_sairgoon1765%3146
PvZ_sairreaver520%2691
PvZ_stove922%2140
13 openings15055%
enemygameswins
Z_9pool2882%
Z_overpool11847%
Z_unknown475%
3 openings15055%


According to McRave’s tables, McRave played overpool every game against BananaBrain. BananaBrain was able to correctly recognize that most of the time, but strangely won at a higher rate when recognition failed. Does BananaBrain perhaps have a reaction to overpool which was detrimental in this case? Or was BananaBrain perfectly right, and McRave sometimes slips up in its build order and goes 9 pool instead of overpool? I think it’s more likely that BananaBrain misrecognized it.


#6 microwave

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvZ_10/12gate1771%6148
PvZ_1basespeedzeal1984%2141
PvZ_2basespeedzeal1164%1145
PvZ_4gate2archon956%4147
PvZ_5gategoon743%20125
PvZ_9/9gate1155%19123
PvZ_9/9proxygate1258%0130
PvZ_bisu1471%5138
PvZ_neobisu1060%11121
PvZ_sairdt1050%8146
PvZ_sairgoon1145%3149
PvZ_sairreaver956%7143
PvZ_stove1050%17136
13 openings15061%
enemygameswins
Z_10hatch1377%
Z_12hatch2085%
Z_12pool3749%
Z_4/5pool875%
Z_9pool5052%
Z_9poolspeed786%
Z_overpool1258%
Z_unknown367%
8 openings15061%


BananaBrain’s openings scored roughly similarly against Microwave, only a couple below 50% and only one above 75%. I think that argues that Microwave is well balanced in its skills.


#7 steamhammer

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvZ_10/12gate17100%4148
PvZ_1basespeedzeal1377%8124
PvZ_2basespeedzeal1173%11130
PvZ_4gate2archon933%6140
PvZ_5gategoon944%19147
PvZ_9/9gate17100%27149
PvZ_9/9proxygate1694%5142
PvZ_bisu838%2145
PvZ_neobisu60%18129
PvZ_sairdt1493%0137
PvZ_sairgoon1164%7146
PvZ_sairreaver1040%14144
PvZ_stove956%1139
13 openings15071%
enemygameswins
Z_10hatch3453%
Z_12hatch8769%
Z_12pool1191%
Z_4/5pool2100%
Z_9pool8100%
Z_overpool3100%
Z_unknown5100%
7 openings15071%


The 2 gate zealot openings whomped Steamhammer. Steamhammer survives the zealot attack in many cases, but usually by spending more than it can afford so that it falls far behind in economy.


#8 daqin

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvP_10/12gate1070%15140
PvP_12nexus757%49146
PvP_2gatedt1688%8147
PvP_2gatedtexpo1471%9133
PvP_2gatereaver1681%3149
PvP_3gaterobo1362%4138
PvP_3gatespeedzeal729%11121
PvP_4gategoon850%32118
PvP_9/9gate1694%16148
PvP_9/9proxygate1060%1135
PvP_nzcore1164%10139
PvP_zcore743%0130
PvP_zcorez729%2137
PvP_zzcore850%31145
14 openings15066%
enemygameswins
P_1gatecore6668%
P_4gategoon6860%
P_ffe1100%
P_unknown1580%
4 openings15066%

#9 zzzkbot

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvZ_10/12gate12100%6133
PvZ_1basespeedzeal12100%25148
PvZ_2basespeedzeal14100%2149
PvZ_4gate2archon1191%3144
PvZ_5gategoon1283%0142
PvZ_9/9gate12100%21135
PvZ_9/9proxygate978%4146
PvZ_bisu1191%17145
PvZ_neobisu12100%10143
PvZ_sairdt12100%5147
PvZ_sairgoon12100%18136
PvZ_sairreaver1080%1132
PvZ_stove1191%12141
13 openings15094%
enemygameswins
Z_4/5pool9998%
Z_9pool4885%
Z_overpool2100%
Z_unknown1100%
4 openings15094%


ZZZKBot is the first opponent that BananaBrain outclassed. It did not much matter what protoss played.


#10 ualbertabot

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvU_10/12gate2190%2145
PvU_9/9gate2291%4147
PvU_9/9proxygate1872%1133
PvU_ffe2391%0146
PvU_nzcore2085%10139
PvU_zcore2696%3149
PvU_zzcore2085%9148
7 openings15088%
enemygameswins
P_1gatecore2195%
P_2gate580%
P_2gatefast1794%
P_4gategoon2100%
P_unknown20%
T_2fac22100%
T_2rax1894%
T_unknown15100%
T_wallin1100%
Z_12hatch1493%
Z_4/5pool3266%
Z_unknown1100%
12 openings15088%


It’s interesting that BananaBrain recognized a terran wall in one game. UAlbertaBot does not know how to build a wall, and in fact places its early buildings near the command center. Terran is also the opponent race with the highest number of unrecognized (“unknown”) builds. BananaBrain suffered recognition trouble against Dragon too.


#11 willyt

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvT_10/12gate12100%6148
PvT_10/15gate11100%12129
PvT_12nexus978%8146
PvT_1gatedtexpo1080%7139
PvT_1gatereaver1080%14143
PvT_28nexus862%5144
PvT_2gatedt1173%1145
PvT_2gaterngexpo978%29127
PvT_32nexus12100%0142
PvT_9/9gate12100%2149
PvT_9/9proxygate13100%3147
PvT_bulldog978%4141
PvT_dtdrop978%19108
PvT_proxydt967%25133
PvT_stove650%22131
15 openings15084%
enemygameswins
T_1fac888%
T_2rax5296%
T_fastexpand2677%
T_unknown6477%
4 openings15084%


The Stove did not work well against WillyT.


#12 ecgberht

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvT_10/12gate10100%2127
PvT_10/15gate10100%6137
PvT_12nexus10100%24129
PvT_1gatedtexpo10100%9148
PvT_1gatereaver10100%11131
PvT_28nexus10100%15139
PvT_2gatedt11100%12142
PvT_2gaterngexpo10100%1140
PvT_32nexus10100%10125
PvT_9/9gate10100%18147
PvT_9/9proxygate10100%0145
PvT_bulldog10100%25149
PvT_dtdrop10100%8143
PvT_proxydt978%17146
PvT_stove10100%3144
15 openings15099%
enemygameswins
T_1fac8100%
T_2fac24100%
T_2rax7100%
T_fastexpand21100%
T_unknown9098%
5 openings15099%


The Stove did as well as anything against Ecgberht. But then, only one opening had any losses (it had 2 losses).


#13 eggbot

openinggameswinsfirstlast
PvP_10/12gate12100%1145
PvP_12nexus11100%16142
PvP_2gatedt12100%19148
PvP_2gatedtexpo1292%10137
PvP_2gatereaver10100%27122
PvP_3gaterobo989%12104
PvP_3gatespeedzeal12100%0146
PvP_4gategoon12100%3149
PvP_9/9gate12100%2143
PvP_9/9proxygate875%22136
PvP_nzcore989%13130
PvP_zcore11100%5147
PvP_zcorez11100%8138
PvP_zzcore989%11131
14 openings15096%
enemygameswins
P_cannonrush14796%
P_proxygate3100%
2 openings15096%

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