Difference between revisions of "Strategies"

Break down a problem into two or more sub-problems and solve each of them separately. Complex sub-problems can again be divided. In Gladiabots this could be done by creating sub-AIs for each sub-problem. The complexity is reduced leading to a better maintainability.

AIs are written once, but read many times. Overlapping nodes, links crossing each other and great distances between linked nodes are difficult to read and should be avoided. AIs should have meaningful names revealing their purpose. One should consider to align nodes to the grid.

Avoid using the exact same set of nodes in several places. Sometimes duplicate nodes can be prevented by using bot specific filters or additional conditions. If its not possible to prevent duplicate nodes in the first place one can try to move them to sub AIs.

The size of an AI has a significant effect on the error rate. A simple solution should be preferred over a complex one leading to the same or very similar results. One should ask the question: "Has this AI been implemented with the least amount of nodes necessary?". The more complex the AI is the more likely it is to be buggy.

"If debugging is the process of removing bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in." (Edsger Wybe Dijkstra) As no developer is perfect, new nodes should be tested and debugged right after they were added.

Retreat early when being attacked by several units at medium range. Don't wait until your shield is 0-25%, otherwise those enemy units attacking you at medium range will continue to attack you as you move into long range, which is something you want to avoid with such a low shield. If you're being attacked by a machine gun and a sniper at medium range then you'll probably want to retreat at all shield/health levels.

Don't retreat because your shield is low, but because someone attacks you. If no one attacks you anymore stop the retreat process.

Usually a bot should continuously attack the bot it started to attack. (by filtering a target attacked in the previous tick) Create strict rules for when to switch targets. For the sniper and machine gun, whose reload time is quite long, it's especially important.

Prioritize enemies that are already being attacked by your allies. Also prioritize enemies with 0-25% shield.

Pay a lot of attention to your opponent's sniper. Your sniper should prioritize attacking the enemies sniper. If your sniper hits the opponent's sniper then it's probably worth changing the attack target of all your nearby units to it, even if they are attacking medium range units. (and only if it is safe/worthwhile doing so)

Aggressively push to medium range. Little damage is done at long range, so pushing to medium maximizes your damage and also pushes your opponent, especially if you have many pushing at once. Careful, a bad push can be a big risk too.

Don't push when being attacked. Sometimes the pushing process should be aborted, because too many enemies are around.

Flanked and circled bots get easily destroyed. For flanking moves one can use an APS (use a combination of moving to and fleeing from bases, resources and bots to navigate).

Mid game scoring has pros and cons. Scoring to much leaves you defenseless against an aggressively pushing enemy. Scoring not at all will probably result in a game lost 0:1. Keep an eye on the health values of your bots and if the enemy team is scoring.

Try to rush for early resources or smuggle resources mid game. Sometimes also picking 2 or 3 resources at once works.

The shotgun should not always start shooting at the first bot it sees at medium range. Its good to get as close as you can to medium range units, especially if they are retreating or being attacked by an ally. This will give your shotgun more medium range shots as the enemy unit tries to escape from medium range. For example only stop moving towards medium range units when at least 2 units are in medium range.

Don't use to complicated structures, map and bot specific stuff. It's easier to make one generic AI then to handle a truckload of specialized ones.

New players can totally ignore tagging. (especially for combat) They will probably waste a lot of time (ticks) using them.

Don't follow rules. Sometimes you have to break a rule to dominate. Some rules also have cons one should be wary about.